On July 1, Gazprom announced that it stops supplying gas to Europe due to planned repairs in Nord Stream. A representative of Nord Stream AG said that both lines of the pipeline will be stopped for routine maintenance. Gas supplies will be reduced from 11 to 21 July. All Nord Stream partners were warned in advance.
Nord Stream’s deliveries will be cut in mid-July as the company reportedly faced problems with its gas compressor units. Repair or replacement of the units is needed. They are made in Canada, and the return after repair in Montreal is complicated by Canadian sanctions against Russia. In particular, the operation of mechanical components and automation systems will be checked.
The company said that in this regard, the daily volume of supplies has been reduced to 100 million cubic meters.
In turn, Germany said that Gazprom took the pipeline out of service for political reasons. German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck said that repair work on the pipeline, which affects the volume of pumping, was not to be carried out by Siemens Energy until the fall.
The temporary shutdown of Nord Stream comes amid a sharp decline in Russian gas supplies to Europe. The pipeline itself is currently operating at only 40% of its capacity, and Russia is refusing to increase its supply.
Robert Habek also said that Russia is cutting off gas supplies and thus manipulating gas prices on the market to increase gas prices in Europe and make society more fragmented.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president, held the European Union responsible for reducing gas supplies. He said that from a technological point of view, the mechanical infrastructure of this pipeline is suffering because of sanctions imposed by the European Union.
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