American investor asks U.S. government for permission to bid on Nord Stream 2 pipeline — WSJ

U.S. businessman Stephen Lynch has asked permission from the U.S. government to bid on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline if it comes up for auction early next year, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In February 2024, Lynch requested authorization from the U.S. Treasury Department to negotiate with sanctioned entities, according to WSJ. In a letter to the agency, Lynch said that in January 2025, during the bankruptcy proceedings of the pipeline’s operator, its debt will either be restructured or the company will be liquidated.

Lynch argued that after the war ends, 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,” the WSJ writes. According to the paper’s sources, the investor believes he could acquire the operator, valued at approximately $11 billion, for “pennies on the dollar.” He has also said that many investors will avoid bidding due to geopolitical risks, while other potential buyers many not align with U.S. interests.

The businessman told the WSJ that the pipeline’s auction 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, who lived in Moscow for 20 years, has a long history of purchasing Russian assets at discounted rates.