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Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 – Putin threatens with less gas

2022-07-20T00:34:27.032Z


Even after the current maintenance, far less gas could flow through the Baltic Sea pipeline than before: Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin made this clear in Iran. He points to problems with the turbines.


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Vladimir Putin arriving in Tehran (July 19)

Photo: KONSTANTIN ZAVRAZHIN / AFP

Concerns in Europe about a lack of gas supply this autumn and winter are growing.

Now Russia's President Vladimir Putin has spoken directly on the subject - and his statements are unlikely to mitigate the fears in Germany and other European countries.

The Kremlin chief warns against a further reduction in Russian gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. If Russia does not receive the turbine repaired in Canada, the daily throughput capacity of the pipeline threatens to fall significantly at the end of July, the Kremlin chief said in passing on Wednesday night meeting in Tehran, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline was commissioned in 2011 and has a capacity of around 55 billion cubic meters per year.

Since June, however, Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom has reduced gas deliveries to Germany by more than half the daily maximum - to 67 million cubic meters.

The pipeline is also currently completely shut down for annual maintenance work – until Thursday as planned.

If Russia does not get the repaired turbine back, the daily throughput capacity of the pipeline threatens to fall further at the end of July because of the necessary repair of "another unit," Putin said, according to Tass.

Turbine causes international upheavals

“There are two working machines there, they pump 60 million cubic meters a day ... If one doesn't come back, there is one that pumps 30 million cubic meters.

What does Gazprom have to do with it?” the Kremlin chief said.

The justification for the throttling with the missing turbine had previously been described by critics as a pretext.

But Putin also said: "Gazprom has fulfilled its obligations, is fulfilling them now and will continue to fulfill them in the future."

The turbine repaired in Canada was not handed back to Russia because of Western sanctions as a result of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Most recently, at the request of Berlin, the Canadian government decided to hand over the Siemens Energy turbine to Germany, so that it can be installed again.

This should give Russia an excuse to permanently stop gas supplies or continue to curtail them, it said.

However, Moscow emphasizes that it has not yet received the machine or the associated documents.

Russia's President refers to the blocked Nord Stream 2 project

Putin's statements in Tehran suggest that even after the maintenance work is completed and even if the turbine is installed, the pipeline may not be brought back up to full capacity.

"We still have a finished route - that's Nord Stream 2. We can put it into operation," Putin also said.

It is conceivable that Moscow wants to force the commissioning of Nord Stream 2.

The pipeline was built in 2021, but the certification documents are still missing.

The permitting process for the line was suspended by Germany after the Russian attack on Ukraine.

Even after the maintenance of Nord Stream 1, the federal government is apparently not assuming sufficient delivery volumes from Russia.

According to a report in the "Bild" newspaper on Monday, she expects an emergency in the gas supply in individual federal states.

According to the newspaper, a prime ministerial conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz is to be convened if Russia does not resume gas supplies after maintenance work on Nord Stream 1.

jok/dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-07-20

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