Miami financier plans to secretly buy Nord Stream 2 to influence russia in negotiations - WSJ
Kyiv • UNN
Financier Stephen Lynch is asking for US permission to participate in the Nord Stream 2 auction. He plans to use the pipeline as leverage against russia in peace talks over Ukraine.
American billionaire and financier Stephen Lynch has asked the US government to grant him permission to participate in the auction for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline if it is put up for auction in the Swiss bankruptcy process. This was reported by UNN with reference to the Wall Street Journal.
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Lynch, who spent two decades doing business in moscow, now wants to buy the pipeline that connects russia to Germany. He has argued to U.S. officials and lawmakers that American ownership of the pipeline would be leverage in any peace talks with russia to end the war in Ukraine and serve U.S. long-term interests.
This is a unique opportunity for America and Europe to control European energy resources before the end of the fossil fuel era
According to a letter written by his lawyers at WilmerHale and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Lynch applied for the license from the US Treasury Department in February. The license would allow him to negotiate the construction of the pipeline with entities that are currently under US sanctions.
The letter says that the Swiss bankruptcy proceedings for Nord Stream 2 have set a hard deadline of January for Nord Stream 2 to restructure its debt (which the letter says is unlikely) or face liquidation. Lynch argues that when the war is over, both Russia and its former customers in Germany and Europe will be tempted to turn on the pipeline, regardless of who owns it.
Sources report that Lynch said he thinks he could buy Nord Stream 2, which is estimated to be worth about $11 billion, for a dollar. He said that many investors would not bid because of the complex geopolitics surrounding the pipeline, and that other bidders would likely include russian proxies, Chinese entities, or others who are against US interests.
A group of U.S. senators, as well as officials from the Treasury and State Departments, were briefed on Lynch's plan.
During the last election, Lynch gave more than $300,000 to Trump's committees and the Republican National Committee.
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A series of explosions occurred on the Nord Stream pipelines - Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which transport gas under the Baltic Sea, suffered a series of explosions in September 2022. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden launched an investigation, and the Swedes found traces of explosives on several items recovered from the explosion site, confirming that the explosions were deliberate acts.
