Germany’s energy regulator the Bundesnetzagentur announced on Tuesday that it has suspended the certification process for a major new pipeline connecting the country and Russia, after ruling that its operator within Germany does not comply with conditions set by German law. The watchdog said on Tuesday it had temporarily halted the certification process because the Swiss company behind Nord Stream 2 had decided not to turn itself into a German company but had instead set up a subsidiary under German law to deal with the section of the pipeline on German territory. The Swiss-based consortium first needs to form a German subsidiary company under German law to secure an operating licence, the regulator said. “Nord Stream 2 AG, which is based in Zug (Switzerland), has decided not to transform its existing legal form but instead to found a subsidiary under German law solely to govern the German part of the pipeline. This subsidiary is …