NYT: Nord Stream will estimate the cost of repairing damaged Nord Stream pipes

The operator of Nord Stream, Nord Stream, has begun estimating the cost of repairing damaged pipelines as a result of the sabotage. About it informs The New York Times, citing a source.

The interlocutor of the publication said that, according to one estimate, the cost of repairs could be at least $500 million. The newspaper notes that Russian specialists are also currently studying how long damaged pipes can withstand exposure to salt water.

The newspaper also notes that even at the construction stage of Nord Stream 1, there were many opponents of this project among Western countries. The main argument was that the gas pipeline would make Europe dependent on Russian gas and would become Moscow’s “levers of pressure”.

At the same time, the head of the Swedish counterintelligence SEPO, Daniel Stenling, told the NYT that investigators “have no concrete evidence” of anyone’s guilt. Previously, the Swedish authorities admitted that a state person could be behind the sabotage.

The day before, on December 25, in an interview with TASS, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak declaredthat the technical capabilities for the repair of Nord Stream exist, but this will require money and time. He clarified that the Russian side has not yet been allowed access to the information obtained during the investigation.

On the night of September 26, pressure dropped on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, and later two leaks were discovered that were located in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Sweden, and two more – in the Danish EEZ. In November, Nord Stream began an independent survey of damage to Nord Stream in Swedish and Danish waters.

The Kremlin admitted that it could be a “terrorist attack at the state level.” On September 30, during his speech in the Kremlin of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin accused the West of sabotage on the Nord Stream highways and the destruction of the European energy structure.

During a press conference on December 22, Putin asked a rhetorical question about an interested person in undermining gas pipelines. “As they usually say in such cases: look who is interested. Who is interested in the line of Russian gas supply to the European market passing only through Ukraine, who is interested in Ukraine receiving money? <...> That one blew up,” the head of state concluded.