German Agency Suspends Approval Process for Russia Pipeline

FILE -- A Russian construction worker speaks on a mobile phone in Portovaya Bay some 170 kms (106 miles) north-west from St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, April 9, 2010 during a ceremony marking the start of Nord Stream pipeline construction. Dmitry Lovetsky/AP
FILE -- A Russian construction worker speaks on a mobile phone in Portovaya Bay some 170 kms (106 miles) north-west from St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, April 9, 2010 during a ceremony marking the start of Nord Stream pipeline construction. Dmitry Lovetsky/AP
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German Agency Suspends Approval Process for Russia Pipeline

FILE -- A Russian construction worker speaks on a mobile phone in Portovaya Bay some 170 kms (106 miles) north-west from St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, April 9, 2010 during a ceremony marking the start of Nord Stream pipeline construction. Dmitry Lovetsky/AP
FILE -- A Russian construction worker speaks on a mobile phone in Portovaya Bay some 170 kms (106 miles) north-west from St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, April 9, 2010 during a ceremony marking the start of Nord Stream pipeline construction. Dmitry Lovetsky/AP

Germany's network regulator said Tuesday that it has suspended its procedure to certify the operator of a new pipeline that would bring Russian gas to the country under the Baltic Sea because of an issue with the company's status under German law.

Construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was completed earlier this year, but it is not yet in operation. It is a contentious project that Ukraine and the United States have opposed, reported The Associated Press.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country could quickly boost natural gas supplies to the European Union once German regulators allow the new pipeline to start operation. Energy prices have soared in Europe, which imports much of its natural gas from Russia, and led to pain for businesses and households.

It wasn't immediately clear to what extent the move by the German network regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, to suspend the procedure to certify Nord Stream 2 AG as an independent transmission operator might delay those plans. The step is required before gas can legally flow.

“Following a thorough examination of the documentation, the Bundesnetzagentur concluded that it would only be possible to certify an operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if that operator was organized in a legal form under German law,” the regulator said in a statement.

The operating company is based in Zug, Switzerland, and “has decided not to transform its existing legal form but instead to found a subsidiary under German law solely to govern the German part of the pipeline,” it added. That will become the owner and operator of the German section of the pipeline.

The agency said the certification will remain suspended “until the main assets and human resources have been transferred to the subsidiary” and it can verify the documentation is complete.

Owned by Russian-controlled gas giant Gazprom with investment from several European companies, Nord Stream 2 was built under the Baltic Sea and bypasses Poland and Ukraine, raising objections from those countries.

The US has strongly opposed the construction of Nord Stream 2, but it reached a deal with Germany in July to allow the pipeline's completion without imposing US sanctions on German entities.



North Korea's Kim Makes Rare Visit to Father's Tomb, Says Devoted to 'Sacred Struggle'

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the groundbreaking ceremony for building flats at the fourth stage in the Hwasong area, Pyongyang, North Korea, February 16, 2025, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the groundbreaking ceremony for building flats at the fourth stage in the Hwasong area, Pyongyang, North Korea, February 16, 2025, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
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North Korea's Kim Makes Rare Visit to Father's Tomb, Says Devoted to 'Sacred Struggle'

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the groundbreaking ceremony for building flats at the fourth stage in the Hwasong area, Pyongyang, North Korea, February 16, 2025, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the groundbreaking ceremony for building flats at the fourth stage in the Hwasong area, Pyongyang, North Korea, February 16, 2025, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid his respect at a family mausoleum to mark the birthday of his late father and former leader Kim Jong Il, state media KCNA said on Monday, pledging to continue the "sacred struggle" for prosperity and security.
Kim Jong Il's birthday, which falls on February 16, is widely celebrated as a major holiday in North Korea, called the Day of the Shining Star.
But it was the first time in four years that the young Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of Sun in the capital Pyongyang, which houses the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather, for the anniversary, The Associated Press reported.
Accompanied by Kim Yo Jong, his sister and a senior ruling Workers' Party official, among other aides, Kim Jong Un paid homage "in the humblest reverence," KCNA said.
"He expressed his solemn will to devote himself to the sacred struggle for the eternal prosperity of the country, the security of the people and the promotion of their well-being," it said.
In another dispatch, KCNA said Kim attended a groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday for the final phase of his pet project to build 50,000 new homes in Pyongyang.
The ambitious initiative was launched in 2021 as part of Kim's five-year plan to boost the economy, and designed to distribute at least 10,000 new apartments in Pyongyang each year, though some analysts have questioned its feasibility amid international sanctions and economic woes.
Photos and a video released by KCNA showed Kim receiving thunderous applause from thousands of people many wearing protective helmets attending the ceremony, against a backdrop showing images of modern apartments and high-rises.
Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesperson for South Korea's unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs, said North Korea appears to be focusing on producing tangible outcomes by mobilizing manpower and material where they can relatively easily make progress, such as housing construction.
During the ceremony, Kim lauded construction workers and officials for achieving nearly 400% progress last year compared to 2020, and pledged another plan to continue expanding the city.
The project would "usher in a new era of prosperity of Pyongyang in which the ideal streets of the people to be proud of in the world are built every year," KCNA said.