US investor Stephen P. Lynch, who has decades of business dealings in Moscow, has reportedly asked US officials for permission to bid on the sabotaged Nord Stream 2 pipeline if it is auctioned off in a Swiss bankruptcy court, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Lynch has discussed with US senators, Treasury officials, and State officials the possibility of American ownership of the sabotaged NS2 pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea.
"The bottom line is this: This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for American and European control over European energy supply for the rest of the fossil-fuel era," Lynch told the Journal.
Lynch, who lives in South Florida and supports President-elect Donald Trump, sounds like he understands that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is highly probable in Trump's second term. This suggests that NatGas flows from Russia to Germany could restart once again.
Beware of sailboats operated by rogue Ukrainian special forces—Lynch is likely well aware of this risk.
It is a good question why Lynch has decided to go public about the potential ownership transfer of the 765-mile-long pipeline.
WSJ provided more color on the situation:
Lynch sought a license from the US Treasury Department in February, according to a letter written by his lawyers at WilmerHale and viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The license would allow him to negotiate for the pipeline with entities currently subject to US sanctions.
The letter said there is a hard deadline in January in the Swiss bankruptcy proceeding for Nord Stream 2 to either restructure its debt—which the letter says is unlikely—or face liquidation. Lynch argues that once the war is over it will be tempting for both Russia and its former customers in Germany and Europe to turn on the pipeline, regardless of who owns it.
Lynch believes he can purchase the slightly used pipeline - with some wear and tear - for pennies on the dollar (the pipeline was once valued at around $11 billion)...
He has told people that he thinks he can buy Nord Stream 2, which has been valued at around $11 billion, for pennies on the dollar, according to people familiar with matter. He has said many investors won't bid because of the complex geopolitics tied to the conduit, and the other bidders are likely to include Russian proxies, Chinese entities or others at odds with US interests.
"The Biden administration and incoming Trump administration should be able to agree on this," Lee Wolosky, a former special counsel to President Biden and a friend of Lynch, said, adding, "His background as an American investor who has navigated Russia adeptly makes him well-suited to lead the effort."
Lynch's potential move to control NatGas transportation to Europe looks brilliant on paper, but what will stop Western adversaries from sabotaging it afterward?