The awards recognise innovation, deal repeatability, best practice, problem solving, risk mitigation, value for money and speed of delivery in financing.
Nord Stream was singled out in particular for the fact that almost $US3.4 billion was raised towards the end of 2010 – close on the heels of the $US5.29 billion which was raised earlier in the year – despite a very restricted lending climate when the deal first approached the market in 2009.
Since the banking crisis of 2008, all deals have been judged in the context of the lending climate at the time of finance close, and repeatability of deal structure in the new climate has been given a slightly higher weighting than in previous years.
All deals are vetted by journalists from Project Finance Magazine and shortlisted via a weighting system based on these categories. The shortlist is then debated by the team and independent industry representatives. The final decisions are made through a further, more detailed, weighting system. On average 300-350 of the best deals of the given year in Europe and Africa are entered for the awards.
Nord Stream AG – a joint venture between Gazprom, BASF SE/Wintershall Holding GmbH, E.ON Ruhrgas, N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie and GDF SUEZ S.A. – is the proponent of the project, which involves connecting Russia and the European Union through the Baltic Sea via twin 1,224 km, 48 inch diameter parallel pipelines.