During the construction of Nord Stream 2, Russia was interested in data on NATO submarines. She received some information

Author:
Kostia Andreikovets
Date:

During the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Russia tried to obtain secret information about NATO military submarines in the Baltic Sea through requests to the German authorities.

As Deutsche Welle writes with reference to the dpa agency, this was the conclusion reached by the investigative commission of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament.

The Mountain Authority of the city of Stralsund, on behalf of the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, asked the Bundeswehr for the coordinates of submarine diving zones in the Baltic Sea. This authority was one of the authorities involved in the licensing of the pipeline and in 2018 was responsible for the permit for construction and operation in the coastal waters of Germany.

The commission found that the Russians had provided "very approximate data," but that it had jeopardized the security of Germany and NATO.

The pipeline licensing process was accompanied by corruption scandals, accusations of violations and lobbying of Russian interests through German officials. In Germany, in 2023, an investigation began against the "Protection of Climate and Ecology" fund, created by a decision of the parliament of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He was accused of helping the construction industry to circumvent US sanctions.

Russian Gazprom financed this fund for €20 million. The management of the fund was accused of bribery. After the start of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, the German authorities stopped the certification of the gas pipeline.