Ukraine's vaccine deal and a pipeline completed in the Baltic
A look back at 30 December 2020, when Kyiv signed for Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines as work on Nord Stream 2 was reported finished in German waters.
What did Ukraine's government have to show for the end of 2020? On 30 December 2020, it had a signed contract for vaccines against COVID-19.
The agreement covered up to 1.8 million doses of CoronaVac, made by Sinovac. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the first shipment could arrive in February. The wording mattered: the deal set a ceiling on the doses, and the delivery date was a possibility rather than a firm commitment.
Two days earlier, on 28 December 2020, the Russian-led consortium Nord Stream AG said it had completed construction of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline in Germany's exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea. The United States had previously threatened wider sanctions on the project if work continued.
The two items were separate stories, but they marked the same closing days of the year. One was a public health purchase made in Kyiv. The other was an announcement about a pipeline in the Baltic. Both were reported as concrete steps, with outcomes still ahead: vaccines that might arrive in February, and a project whose backers said another stage of construction was done.
