Ottawa has granted Siemens a “revocable and time-limited permit” to allow the return to Germany of turbines from Russia’s Nordstream 1 gas pipeline that were repaired and stuck in Montreal due to sanctions against Russia.
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This decision was taken after several discussions with Ukraine, Germany and the European Commission, but also with the International Energy Agency, said the Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson.
“Following these conversations, Canada will grant Siemens Canada a revocable, time-limited permit to allow the repaired Nordstream 1 turbines to return to Germany, which will support Europe’s ability to access reliable power. and affordable as it continues its transition away from Russian oil and gas,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
“Without a necessary supply of natural gas, the German economy will suffer very significant difficulties and Germans themselves may not be able to heat their homes as winter approaches,” he said. he also clarified.
According to the minister, Vladimir Putin’s government would exploit “the instability they have created to justify further destabilization of European energy security”.
Recall that the return of these turbines was demanded by Germany, which saw its gas deliveries decrease due to work in the Russian plant, according to the justification of the Russian gas group Gazprom.
However, Ukraine had asked Canada not to go ahead with this decision.
New penalties
At the same time, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced that Canada was imposing new sanctions on the oil, gas, chemicals and manufacturing sectors.
“The new sanctions will apply to land and pipeline transportation as well as the manufacturing of metals and transportation, computer, electronic and electrical equipment, and machinery,” it added.
Minister Wilkinson took the opportunity to recall that more than 1,600 Russian individuals and entities have received sanctions from Canada since 2014.