Funding and market challenges could get in the way of further progress in Russian plans to add on to an existing European gas pipeline, Fitch Ratings says. The existing twin Nord Stream pipeline through the Baltic Sea to Germany carries about 1.9 trillion cubic feet of gas per year to the European market. An expansion, Nord Stream II, would relieve geopolitical constraints on conventional gas network through Ukraine, which hosts about a quarter of the Russian gas headed to Europe. “We believe raising multi-billion dollar project financing for Nord Stream II in the capital markets would probably be much harder now,” Fitch Ratings said in a statement. “This is because Western sanctions have significantly hindered international funding to Russian corporations, even those […]