Moscow The Russian energy giant Gazprom on Wednesday raised doubts about the continued operation of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea. The company said it could not guarantee the safe operation of a “critical facility” that is part of the gas pipeline due to doubts about the return of a Siemens turbine from Canada. Gazprom does not have a single document allowing Siemens Energy to bring back a gas turbine from Canada for Portovaya station, it said in a statement.
The federal government, on the other hand, had previously stated that with the delivery of the turbine serviced in Canada, there was no longer any reason for Russia to throttle gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The pipeline is currently being maintained until July 21 anyway.
The Canadian government officially announced at the weekend that the turbine could be delivered to Germany. A direct delivery to Gazprom would have violated Canadian sanctions against Russia.
The US State Department expressly welcomed Canada’s move on Monday. Chancellor Olaf Scholz thanked Canada again on Wednesday, as he did on Sunday. Ukraine, on the other hand, had sharply criticized the move, and a Ukrainian exile organization wants to sue.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday it was a “very difficult decision” to grant an exemption from sanctions imposed on Russia for the turbine’s return. Canada will continue to stand “unequivocally” with Ukraine.
It remained unclear whether the Canadian exemption only applies to the one turbine that is now being serviced or to six Siemens turbines that will still have to be serviced in the next two years. The Economics Ministry in Berlin spoke of the decision about a turbine and did not want to comment on Gazprom’s statements. At the end of 2024, Germany intends to stop purchasing Russian gas altogether.
Germany considers Russia’s reasons for the gas shortage to be false
Last month, Russia reduced the flow rate to 40 percent of the pipeline’s total capacity, citing the delay in returning equipment serviced by Siemens Energy in Canada. Chancellor Scholz had described technical reasons for the throttling as advanced and accused Russia of using gas supplies as a political weapon.
The government had announced that they had nevertheless campaigned for the delivery of the turbine so as not to give Russia an excuse. A Kremlin spokesman said last Friday that the turbine could pump more gas west again.
A spokesman for Siemens-Energy said that the political decision in Canada to allow the turbine to be exported is a necessary and important first step. “Our experts are currently working flat out on all other formal approvals and logistics,” he said when asked. These are, among other things, processes that are subject to export and import controls. “Our goal is to transport the turbine to its place of use as quickly as possible.”
More: New immediate program: This type of heating will be phased out from 2024