Schwerin (dpa/mv) - The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Climate Protection Foundation has moved eight times more money to complete the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline through its commercial business operations than was made available to it for climate protection purposes. "All in all, contracts with a total volume of 165 million euros have been concluded with around 80 companies," according to a statement by the foundation distributed in Schwerin on Thursday. The economic part, which is clearly separated from the public interest branch, was financed from its entrepreneurial activity, which was remunerated by Nord Stream 2 as agreed.
Nord Stream 2 made 20 million euros available to the foundation for climate protection. This money flowed exclusively into the area of the foundation that was oriented towards the common good and was only available to finance the office and climate protection work, the foundation emphasized. "After a year of work in the field of climate protection, which also included setting up the office, around one million euros of the grant has been used up," it said.
The economic business operation "stepped in as a supplier and client for services," the statement continues. Since January 2021, materials and machines have been purchased on a larger scale to be passed on to third parties or used by third parties. The foundation cites compressors, pipeline recovery machines and vehicles as examples. The purchase of the ship "Blue Ship", which was used to spread rock fill onto the gas pipes, was also confirmed, but the purchase price was not mentioned. "For reasons of confidentiality, no information on the contracting parties and the amount of the fee is given for the individual contracts," the letter says.
The foundation was set up by the state in early 2021 with a state contribution of 200,000 euros. As has now emerged, Nord Stream 2 had a direct influence on the wording of the foundation's charter. Critics speak of a fake foundation in which climate protection was only intended to cover up the actual purpose of completing the gas pipeline while circumventing the threat of US sanctions.
The pipeline has now been completed, but was not allowed to operate because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The aim of the state government is to dissolve the foundation, but there are still legal hurdles to be overcome.
