Eastern Germans helped finish Nord Stream 2. More documents came to light

The government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern finally found the hitherto lost documents and gave them to the inquiry committee on the Nord Stream 2 . The government itself is mired in the scandal.  The papers reveal its commitment to protecting the gas pipeline from Russia from US sanctions.

Economic Affairs Minister Ines Jesse and Interior Minister Christian Pegel (both from the socialist SPD) found the missing data needed for the investigation initiated by the commission dealing with irregularities in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, in which the Local Government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was involved.

Data collected on more than 300 pages of port documents describe the involvement of Rokai GmbH, which helped to complete Nord Stream 2 in 2021, when U.S. sanctions were already in place on companies assisting in the construction of the disputed pipeline, but could not include entities related to allies.

The company was acting on behalf of the Stiftung Klimaschutz, a foundation created by the Land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern officially engaged in tree planting and other environmental activities, but actually helping to complete Nord Stream 2. Rokai GmbH received a logistics base in the port of Rostock from the foundation.

It is not clear if more documents will be revealed, but previously it was reported that some of them perished in a fireplace, triggering another scandal dubbed in Germany “Kamingate”. Allegedly, the Minister of Interior, who back then was dealing with energy generation, deleted some emails related to the case. The CDU and the Greens, an opposition party, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern said the discovery of new, unreported data was proof that the local government lacked credibility.

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany was completed in 2021 despite US sanctions and opposition from some European countries, including Poland and Ukraine. It never started deliveries because its certification in Germany was stopped after Russia invaded Ukrainian territory. On September 26, 2022, one of its two threads was destroyed in a sabotage operation that is still under investigation in Denmark, Germany and Sweden.

NDR / Wojciech Jakóbik