LONDON: Nord Stream is seeking more than 400 million euros ($436 million) from its insurers over explosions in 2022 which ruptured pipelines designed to transport Russian gas to Germany, court filings show.
Nord Stream AG names Lloyd’s Insurance Company and Arch Insurance (EU) DAC as defendants in its lawsuit, which was filed at London’s High Court last month.
Switzerland-based Nord Stream confirmed in an email there is a contractual dispute in London commercial courts between itself and insurers of the pipeline system.
“However, we ask for understanding that we are not in a position to provide any detailed comments to the legal proceedings,” Nord Stream’s communications team said.
Court filings state that Nord Stream’s current preliminary estimate of “the costs to dewater and stabilize the pipeline, to undertake a full repair and to replace the lost gas inventory” is between 1.2 billion and 1.35 billion euros.
Nord Stream’s lawsuit also says one of the pipelines looked “mangled and deformed” in one area where it had been damaged, but “appeared smooth and to have been cut” in another.
Lloyd’s declined to comment. Arch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit focuses on the explosions in September 2022 that ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. Sweden – which last month dropped its investigation – and Germany have both found traces of explosives relating to the incident, suggesting it was a deliberate act.
Russia and the West, at loggerheads over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, have pointed fingers at one another. Each has denied any involvement, and no one has taken responsibility.
Nord Stream in its lawsuit is suing all insurers subscribing to its offshore operating all-risks policy as well as its excess all-risks policy.
According to court documents, Nord Stream is suing Lloyd’s on its own behalf and as the representative of others subscribing to policies issued by insurers including Munich Re, which declined to comment.
Nord Stream sues insurers in London over 2022 pipeline blasts
https://arab.news/9enxm
Nord Stream sues insurers in London over 2022 pipeline blasts
- Nord Stream AG names Lloyd’s Insurance Company and Arch Insurance (EU) DAC as defendants in its lawsuit
- Nord Stream’s lawsuit also says one of the pipelines looked “mangled and deformed” in one area where it had been damaged
Philippine lawmakers start VP Duterte impeachment hearings
- The revived impeachment bid leans heavily on allegations that the younger Duterte misused public funds
MANILA: A Philippine congressional committee began impeachment hearings Monday that could dash Vice President Sara Duterte’s run for the country’s top job.
The daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who recently announced her candidacy for the 2028 presidential election, was impeached by the country’s House of Representatives last year only to see the Supreme Court toss the case out over procedural issues.
The revived impeachment bid leans heavily on allegations that the younger Duterte misused public funds while in office and will see the House justice committee debate three such complaints.
A fourth case was dropped by complainants who hoped to speed up the process.
Duterte also stands accused of making a death threat against her former ally and current President Ferdinand Marcos, with whom she is engaged in an explosive political feud.
Under the Philippine constitution, an impeachment triggers a Senate trial. A guilty verdict would result in Duterte being barred from politics and sidelined from the 2028 presidential race.
The latest impeachment bid faces a changed environment with the vice president ahead in recent polls, analysts told AFP.
“The political context will be very different, especially now that Sara declared her candidacy,” University of the Philippines political science professor Jean Franco said.
“It’s definitely going to weigh on the minds of the members of the House of Representatives,” Franco said, adding that a vote for impeachment would effectively see a lawmaker’s career “marked for death.”
Anthony Lawrence Borja, an associate professor of political science at De La Salle University agreed saying: “It is ultimately a question of whether the patronage of the current administration outweighs their fear of Duterte’s condemnation.”
The same committee hearing the case against Duterte last month tossed out a pair of impeachment complaints against Marcos, ruling that allegations of corruption over a scandal involving bogus flood control projects lacked substance.
Michael Wesley Poa, spokesman for Duterte’s defense team, told AFP they were closely monitoring deliberations and trusted “the same standards” used in the Marcos hearing would be applied.
