LAST UPDATE 18:40
Russian energy giant Gazprom said Western sanctions continued to hamper maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, in another strong signal from Moscow that supplies to Europe remain at risk.
In particular, Gazprom said it had received from Siemens the documents for the maintenance of the pipeline’s turbine, which had been “stuck” for days in Canada and has not yet returned to Moscow, but added that these documents do not address the risks the state-controlled Russian company had pointed out.
“Gazprom has studied (…) the documents, but must recognize that they do not eliminate previously identified risks and raise additional questions,” it said in a statement.
“Furthermore, issues related to the sanctions imposed by the EU and the UK remain unresolved, although the resolution of such issues remains important in order to receive the engine from Russia and to carry out urgent repairs to other turbines.”
“Under these circumstances, Gazprom has again asked Siemens to provide immediate support in obtaining the required documents and clarifications in order to resolve the outstanding issues,” he adds.
— Gazprom (@GazpromEN) July 25, 2022
Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin said another Nord Stream turbine was due to be sent for maintenance on or around July 26.
He had added that it was something that could reduce flows to 20% of the pipeline’s capacity unless the repaired turbine was returned to Moscow.
“We were told that we will soon receive the equipment from Canada. But so far Gazprom does not have official documents on this matter. And of course we must receive them, because they are our property, they are the property of Gazprom,” the Russian president had pointed out. .
As he had emphasized, the Russian side should receive not only the turbines but also the related documents.
Earlier today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the repaired Nord Stream turbine would be reinstalled in the gas pipeline once it returned from maintenance in Canada, and then gas would be supplied in “commensurate quantities”.
“The turbine will be installed after all the formalities are completed… And the natural gas will be piped in the corresponding quantities, which are technically feasible,” he had said.
Peskov had also added that Moscow is not interested in the complete interruption of Russian natural gas supplies to Europe.
Source: Capital
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