Germany’s E.ON rejects halting Nord Stream 1 pipeline – paper

BERLIN (Reuters) – E.ON, Europe’s largest operator of energy networks, rejected demands to shut down the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline as part of sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine, the company told Rheinische Post newspaper on Monday.

After the German government put the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on hold last week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday called for shutting down Nord Stream 1, which has transferred Russian gas to Germany since 2011.

Nord Stream is a joint venture of Russia’s Gazprom, Germany’s oil and gas producer Wintershall DEA, PEG Infrastruktur E.ON , Dutch Gasunie and French Engie.

E.ON, which holds a 15.5% stake in Nord Stream 1, said the project was “completely different from the ongoing discussions about the Nord Stream 2 line”.

“Nord Stream 1 is a permitted and fully operational gas import pipeline,” a spokesperson for the company told the paper, adding that the line’s capacity was fully utilized in the past two years.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Maria Sheahan)