Norway Expels Russian Gas Company at US Request

Baku/10.05.19/ Turan: Norway under pressure from the United States forced the Russian gas company Novatek to transfer the transshipment of liquefied natural gas from its territory to Russia, the Kommersant newspaper writes.

Publication sources reported that transshipment in Norway was started to optimize the use of Arc7-class icebreaker tankers. Due to Washington"s demand, the company will have to build a new transfer point on Kildin Island, located 1.5 km from the Murmansk coast of the Kola Peninsula.

The company confirmed that the scheme was approved by the Ministry of Transport; however, the new location will also have to be coordinated with the Ministry of Defense because of its proximity to the bases of the Northern Fleet of the Navy. Officially, the called cause of the transfer is "not very good location" of the Norwegian Honningsvog from the point of view of the weather, but sources do not exclude that US pressure played a role.

Earlier, the head of Novatek, Leonid Mikhelson, had already complained about the discontent of the West in connection with the fact that his company was operating in Norway, but then there was no talk of any specific sanctions. -0