US predicts Ukraine's economic collapse due to 'Nord Stream-2'

The US State Department's Special Representative for Energy Amos Hochstein said that in case the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project is implemented, the Ukrainian economy will collapse.

Speaking to EurAktiv (Slovakia) correspondent, Mr. Hochstein said that as soon as Ukraine is no longer a transit country for Russian gas, the country will lose 2 billion USD/year.

"You try to take $2 billion in revenue out of the Ukrainian economy at a time when the international community is trying to support the Kiev economy. How do you fix that? The answer is simple: no way. The economy will collapse," the US official said.

Mr Hochstein added that he did not think the Russian Federation was trying to harm Slovakia, but "Moscow does not seem to think about that."

He noted that Bratislava annually earns $1 billion from the transit of Russian gas, and in case of termination of the contract, the budget of the Slovak Republic will lose this source of income.

The representative of the US State Department asserted that it would be a mistake to consider Nord Stream 2 as a small project. According to him, this project will have a major impact on the whole of Europe, and will even restore the "cold war" dividing line of Europe, but not in the military, but in the economic sphere.

“I don't think that's in the interests of Europe and the United States,” Mr. Hochstein concluded.

According to Sputnik