Ukraine war: Russia’s Gazprom says delivery of Nord Stream turbine ‘impossible’, raising fears of more gas cuts
- The energy giant blamed Western sanctions, amid suspicions that Moscow is looking for an excuse to throttle fuel supplies to Europe
- The turbine was being serviced in Canada, and the delay in its return was purportedly behind a drop in flows via the pipeline
Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Wednesday that delivery of a turbine needed to keep gas flowing to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was “impossible” due to sanctions on Moscow.
“Sanctions regimes in Canada, in the European Union and in Britain, as well as the inconsistencies in the current situation concerning the contractual obligations of [turbine maker] Siemens make the delivery impossible,” Gazprom said in a statement.
The statement risks further increasing concern in European countries who suspect Moscow is looking for an excuse to delay the turbine’s return to Russia and further reduce its gas deliveries.
Earlier on Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz accused Russia of blocking the delivery of the key turbine to throttle gas supplies to Europe, as he raised the possibility of keeping nuclear plants going.
Standing next to the turbine on a factory visit to Siemens Energy in Muelheim an der Ruhr, Scholz said it was fully operational and could be shipped back to Russia at any time – provided Moscow was willing to take it back.
“The turbine works,” Scholz said, telling reporters that the point of his visit was to show the world that the turbine worked and “there was nothing mystical to observe here”.
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“It’s quite clear and simple: the turbine is there and can be delivered, but someone needs to say ‘I want to have it’”.
The continent’s biggest economy has been scrambling for energy sources to fill a gap left by a reduction in gas supplies from Moscow. The delayed return of the turbine from Canada, where the unit was being serviced, was behind an initial reduction in gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline in June, according to Gazprom.
Supplies via the energy link were further reduced to around 20 per cent of capacity in late July, after Gazprom halted the operation of one of the last two operating turbines due to the “technical condition of the engine”.
On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dangled the prospect of Europe receiving gas through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a Moscow-led project that was blocked by the West as Russia sent troops into Ukraine.
For Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, whose government has faced criticism for returning the turbine in violation of its own sanctions, the present impasse was worth it as an illustration of the Kremlin’s purpose.
“We called his bluff,” she said at a meeting with her German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Montreal. “It is now clear that Putin is weaponising energy flows through Europe.”
Agence France-Presse and Reuters
