The Russian government is surprisingly optimistic and never leaves hope for the bright future. The Power of Siberia project has been almost abandoned and construction of the sanctioned Nord Stream 2 project is long-delayed, but policymakers came up a perfect solution for dealing with these problems. They decided to launch the Nord Stream 3 project. Such an unexpected move came after Europe started to consume more gas. Thus, Russia is going to meet the EU’s gas needs.

At the same time, Europe strives to achieve independence from Russia’s gas supplies, so relevance of the Nord Stream 3 construction is questionable. Nonetheless, Deputy Minister of Energy Anatoliy Yanovskiy thinks positive. He said that economic aspects are more important than the political ones in this case, and additional cost of construction and exploitation should be factored in. If the demand for gas from the EU increases, then the project should be given a chance, he added.

Perhaps, thoughts about the Nord Stream 3 help the Russian authorities distract attention from the Nord Stream 2, which is, by the way, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019 despite the strong US opposition and Europe’s reluctance to participate in this project. Still, Russia claims that the pipeline will be built anyway. The construction cost is estimated at 10 billion euros. The pipeline will pass through the Baltic Sea in the territorial waters of five countries: Russia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Denmark.