(Moscow) The Russian giant Gazprom announced, Saturday, that it has formally asked the German group Siemens to deliver a turbine that has been repaired in Canada to ensure the operation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline that supplies Europe.
Posted at 7:58
The fate of these turbines, which Gazprom presented as necessary to operate the Nord Stream gas compressor plant, have cast doubt on the future of shipments of Russian blue gold to Europe for several weeks.
This equipment was sent by Siemens to Canada for repair. Despite sanctions targeting Moscow for its attack in Ukraine, Ottawa announced that it would return the turbines to Germany, and Siemens had to hand them over to Gazprom. But the Russian group says it has no guarantee that it will be able to take it back.
“On July 15, Gazprom officially submitted a request to Siemens for documentation […] “It will allow the export of the gas turbine engine of the Portovaya compressor station, which is an essential infrastructure for Nord Stream” to Russia, the Russian company said in a statement on Saturday.
“Gazprom depends on the Siemens Group to fulfill its commitments to repair and maintain gas turbine engines, on which the reliability of Nord Stream pipeline operations and the delivery of natural gas to European consumers depend,” he added.
These statements come at a time when the Nord Stream gas pipeline is currently closed for maintenance reasons, and European countries fear that Moscow will use a technical reason not to resume deliveries and thus put pressure on it in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
Prior to Nord Stream’s shutdown, Russia had already significantly reduced deliveries in recent weeks, justifying this by the lack of Siemens turbines.
These difficulties around Nord Stream deliveries come at a time when European countries are trying to fill their gas reserves for the winter.
Germany described Moscow’s decision to cut off supplies via Nord Stream as “political”.