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September 2, 2022
18:43 pm
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Moscow – AFP
The Kremlin announced on Friday that the work of the Nord Stream gas pipeline that supplies Europe was “threatened” due to a lack of spare parts as a result of sanctions imposed on Moscow over its attack on Ukraine.
This warning increases the uncertainty surrounding the future of gas supplies through this pipeline, which is currently suspended due to maintenance work that is supposed to end Saturday, according to Moscow.
“Technically speaking, there are no precautions, only one turbine is working,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“The reliability of the operation of the entire system is under threat,” he added, stressing that this was not the result of a “mistake on the part of Gazprom”, the Russian group that provides supplies through the pipeline.
Moscow has severely reduced gas supplies to Europeans since the start of the military offensive on Ukraine at the end of February, in response to Western sanctions imposed on it.
The Europeans accuse the Kremlin of using gas as a means of pressure on it because of its heavy dependence on this energy source, but Moscow denies this, citing technical problems resulting from sanctions or delays in paying dues.
Russia in particular asserts that sanctions prevent it from recovering a Siemens turbine that was sent to Canada for repair, while Germany, where the turbine is supposed to be installed, asserts that Moscow is hindering the recovery of this basic piece.
On Tuesday, the Russian giant Gazprom announced the suspension of its gas shipments to the French group Engie “completely”, stressing that it had not paid for the shipments for the month of July.
On the other hand, Gazprom suspended, on Wednesday, its supplies via Nord Stream, which transports gas from Russia to northern Germany and from there to other European countries.
It is expected to resume supplies via Nord Stream Saturday morning following the end of maintenance work announced by Moscow at a gas compressor station in Russia.
In light of the growing concerns over supplies, especially with the approach of winter, European countries are seeking to find other suppliers and reduce their consumption of gas amid a sharp rise in prices in the market.
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