The Canadian government will finally authorize the delivery to Germany of equipment parts from a major natural gas pipeline that connects Russia to Europe and which have recently been serviced. A decision decried by kyiv who wants to see Canada reconsider its decision.
The economic sanctions imposed on Russia put Canada in a delicate situation since the Trudeau government had to decide whether to send these essential turbines back to Europe to the Russian company Gazprom for the supply of gas to Germany, even if Ukraine oppose it.
According to kyiv, Ottawa’s decision to allow the shipment of such equipment sets “a dangerous precedent” that risks undermining economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the West.
The turbines in question, from Gazprom’s Nord Stream pipeline, are in a factory of the German company Siemens in Montreal “to be refurbished”, confirmed earlier this week the Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, without however specifying why they ended up in the country.
In a statement issued late Saturday evening, Minister Wilkinson said that “Canada will grant Siemens Canada a revocable, time-limited permit to allow the repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to return to Germany, which will support the capacity of the access to reliable and affordable energy as it continues its transition away from Russian oil and gas”.
The Minister maintains that he made this decision with the consequences for the German population in mind when winter arrives.
“Without the necessary supply of natural gas, the German economy will suffer very serious difficulties, and the Germans themselves may not be able to heat their homes as winter approaches”, specifies the written statement.
However, he reiterated Canada’s support for Ukraine, which has been relentlessly defending itself against the Russian invasion since February 24.
Since then, Russia has faced multiple sanctions from the international community, including Canada.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s foreign and energy ministers expressed their “deep disappointment” calling the Canadian decision a “dangerous precedent that violates international solidarity” and “goes against the rule of law”.
For the Ukrainian ministers, Canada’s decision will only have the effect of “reinforcing Russia’s feeling of impunity”.
Siemens Energy told the Associated Press in mid-June, after Gazprom began cutting gas flows, that it had been unable to return to customer Gazprom a gas turbine that powers a compressor station on the pipeline, the maintenance of which was planned after more than 10 years of service.
German politicians rejected the Russian explanation for the 60% reduction in gas flows through Nord Stream 1, saying the equipment should not have been a major problem until the fall and that the Russian decision was a political ploy to sow uncertainty and raise prices.
The equipment maintenance in Canada comes before Nord Stream 1 is shut down for annual servicing starting Monday. In previous summers, work led to a shutdown of around 10 days, but German Vice Chancellor and Economics and Climate Minister Robert Habeck said he suspects Russia could cite ” a few small technical details” as a reason for not resuming gas deliveries.
The reduction in gas supply comes as Germany and the rest of Europe try to reduce their dependence on Russian energy imports. Germany, which has the largest economy in Europe, gets about 35% of its gas to power industry and generate electricity from Russia.
Last month, Minister Habeck went ahead with the second phase of his country’s three-stage contingency plan for natural gas supplies, warning that Europe’s biggest economy was facing a ” crisis” and that the storage objectives for the winter were threatened.
On Friday, energy company Uniper, the biggest importer of Russian gas to Germany, asked the government for financial help to deal with rising gasoline prices.