London court dismisses Nord Stream operator's insurance claim of 580 mln euros

LONDON. July 7 (Interfax) - The High Court in London has ruled that Lloyd's Insurance Company S.A. and other insurers do not need to cover damages suffered by the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which were blown up in September 2022.

The damage to the pipelines was indirectly or directly due to warfare and such damages are excluded from the insurance coverage, the ruling, published Monday, said.

The Financial Times reported that the court ruling allows the insurers "to avoid what would have been among the industry's largest-ever payouts for infrastructure damage," potentially totaling 580 million euros.

Pipeline operator Nord Stream AG filed the lawsuit against Lloyd's Insurance Company to collect 580 million euros in damages for the pipeline explosions.

The explosions in September 2022 ruptured two threads of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and one thread of Nord Stream 2 near the Danish island of Bornholm. Russia opened an international terrorism investigation into the incident.