Gas should no longer flow to Germany until July 21. The reason is maintenance work.
(Photo: dpa)
Ottawa, Lubmin The last most important connection for Russian natural gas to Germany will be shut down on Monday morning. The reason for this is annual maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline, which the operator announced a long time ago. As the operating company Nord Stream AG announced, the work should last until July 21. During this time, no gas will be transported to Germany.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has expressed concerns that Russia might not be able to turn on the gas tap even after maintenance is complete – in response to Western sanctions over Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. But soon there will be no more reason for that. Because now Canada has announced the delivery of a turbine that is important for the operation of the pipeline.
>> Read here: Reconstruction of a state failure – How Germany ran into Putin’s energy trap
Review: In June, the Russian state-owned company Gazprom massively reduced the delivery volume through Nord Stream 1 – and also justified this with the lack of a turbine from Siemens Energy. It was serviced in Canada, but was not returned to Russia because of the sanctions. Since then, only about 40 percent of the usual amount of natural gas has flowed through the more than 1,200-kilometer pipeline from Russia to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
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On Saturday evening, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, said his country would facilitate the delivery of the turbine. For this purpose, “a time-limited and revocable permit” is intended for Siemens Canada. The turbine is to be delivered from Canada first to Germany and then to Russia.
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Among other things, Wilkinson justified the exemption from the sanctions with the fact that Russian President Putin wanted to divide the Allies against Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine with his energy policy. “We can’t allow that,” he said. Canada stands with Ukraine and will continue to impose sanctions on Moscow and work with European leaders to end dependence on Russian gas imports and stabilize energy markets as soon as possible.
Russia announces increase in gas volume
Also, without the necessary gas supply, the German economy would suffer greatly and Germans might not be able to heat their homes in winter. The aim is to ensure that Europe has “access to reliable and affordable energy” as it slowly breaks away from Russian oil and gas, Wilkinson said.
“If the turbine comes after the repair, then that allows for an increase in scope.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Russia rejected the accusation that its gas was used as a means of exerting political pressure. “If the turbine comes after the repair, then that will allow for an increase in volume,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, according to the Interfax agency. “The only question is why it wasn’t done that way.”
However, Russian gas deliveries via other lines to Germany had recently declined. At the same time, several European countries have already stopped receiving gas from Russia. Since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine at the end of February, the supply of gas to Europe from Russia has been considered endangered.
More: 30 percent less than possible: Gazprom supplies significantly less gas through Nord Stream 1
