Zurich Insurance Withdraws From Nord Stream 2 Project Amid Sanctions Concern
January 19 2021 - 12:14PM
Dow Jones News
By Petra Sorge
Zurich Insurance Group AG has dropped out of providing insurance
coverage related to the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline
project amid concerns about sanctions imposed by the U.S.
administration under President Trump.
"We have been in close coordination with the U.S. Department of
State to discuss the sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and we
have terminated all of our insurance coverages that were
sanctionable under the National Defense Authorization Act for 2021,
passed into law in January," a spokesman told The Wall Street
Journal.
The 9.5-billion euro ($11.47 billion) pipeline, aimed at
transporting natural gas from Russia to Germany, is opposed by
Republicans and Democrats in Washington alike, who fear it will
increase Europe's dependency on Russia. The project is led by
Russian state company Gazprom.
The Swiss insurer didn't believe it faced any sanctions exposure
from the U.S. or any other regulator with respect to Nord Stream 2,
the spokesman said.
"Zurich will continue to work closely with the State Department
and all other regulators worldwide to ensure that all of our
activities are compliant with applicable laws and regulations," the
spokesman said.
Members of the Trump administration had told government
officials in Berlin and other European capitals that the sanctions
under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
would come into force Tuesday, according to German newspaper
Handelsblatt.
The sanctions are aimed at the Russian pipeline building vessel
"Fortuna" and its owner KVT-RUS as well as any other European
company that helps the ship in finalizing the pipeline project.
Write to Petra Sorge at petra.sorge@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 19, 2021 11:59 ET (16:59 GMT)
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