SCHWERIN (dpa-AFX) - The support of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was logical from the point of view of energy group Uniper and BASF subsidiary Wintershall Dea at the time. The gas demand in Europe, the price difference between pipeline and liquefied natural gas and the lower CO2 footprint were all arguments in favor of the participation, Wintershall board member Thilo Wieland told the parliamentary investigative committee of the state parliament on the controversial climate protection foundation MV on Friday. Uniper CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach made similar comments. Both said that they regarded Russia as a reliable supplier country.

The committee wants to shed light on the background against which the climate foundation, financed with 20 million euros mainly with money from Russian gas deals, was founded. It was criticized primarily for its contribution to the completion of the pipeline construction - despite US sanctions.

Both managers claim that the foundation had no influence on their deliberations and risk assessments. Maubach stressed that the decisive yardstick for assessing Russia's political actions - such as the annexation of Crimea in 2014 - had been the attitude of the German government under Chancellor Angela Merkel. This had supported the project throughout, even when threats of sanctions had been voiced from the USA.

The companies also agree that economic considerations played a major role in the decision to act as financiers. Instead of investing in pipeline gas from Russia in LNG, they say, it was not a competitive alternative at the time. There had been no broad economic interest in buying LNG in Germany, although Uniper had wanted to build an import terminal. Referring specifically to U.S. shale gas, Maubach said, "The difference between the market price for gas in the U.S. and the EU was too small to make transportation economical.

The companies said they were certain that Germany and Europe needed more gas supplies. Wieland referred to the World Energy Council, according to which Europe's own natural gas production was expected to fall from 135 billion to 90 billion cubic meters a year between 2015 and 2030. Demand, on the other hand, was expected to increase.

The committee had been set up by the opposition. FDP faction leader René Domke judged: "The state and federal governments created an atmosphere in which financial investors did not have to consider geopolitical risks as a serious danger due to Russia's aggressive behavior, which had already been shown before (the) investment decision, as well as threats of sanctions."

Committee Chairman Sebastian Ehlers of the CDU also sees a surprising lack of concern on the part of the companies: "I was particularly surprised that the financiers of the pipeline apparently assumed a largely risk-free business" - despite speculation that the Russian government saw Nord Stream 2 as a geostrategic project./ssc/DP/nas