A maintenance operation that turns into a diplomatic incident. At least one turbine needed to operate the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which supplies Russian gas to Germany and other Western European countries, has been sent to Canada, to a site belonging to the German group Siemens . The operations completed, Ottawa gave the green light on Saturday to the return to Europe of this precious equipment, necessary for the operation of the gas pipeline. Once repatriated by Siemens, the turbine must be handed over to Russia. The decision was welcomed on Tuesday July 13 by the European Commission.
Like many Russian entities and personalities, the Gazprom company has nevertheless been subject to sanctions since the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army. The Canadian Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, therefore had to sign a permit “revocable and of limited duration” to allow the return of valuable equipment. To justify this exception, the Minister stressed the need to support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as it continues its transition away from Russian oil and gas”.
This Canadian decision was strongly condemned in kyiv, where President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced a “absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia”. The authorities fear that this precedent will pave the way for other exceptions to Western sanctions. The affair caused the Canadian ambassador to be summoned to kyiv for an explanation of the text. To make matters worse, the Canadian government later confirmed to the Politico website (in English) that a total of six turbines were to be returned to Nord Stream – the number was previously unknown.
In Canada, demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of Siemens in Montreal to denounce the return of the turbines. Two men even started a hunger strike in front of Parliament in Ottawa. This decision creates “a dangerous precedent in bending to Putin’s blackmail on Europe, and will have a negative impact on Canada’s position on the world stage”, also denounced three Conservative MPs, quoted by La Presse. The Ukrainian World Congress, an organization representing the Ukrainian diaspora and organizations, has announced that it has taken the Canadian government to court.
“It’s not just about one turbine or possibly several turbines (…). It’s about succumbing to Russian blackmail.”
Paul Grod, President of the Ukrainian World Congressin a press release
Germany is very dependent on Russian gas and its government had been for several weeks “in close contact” with Ottawa, in order to find a diplomatic solution and allow the parts to be returned. Berlin fears a complete shutdown of exports, which would be catastrophic when natural gas stocks must be replenished for the winter. Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, considered that this decision to repatriate the turbines to Europe would be seen in Moscow as “a sign of weakness”. Russia, according to him, could moreover, if it so wished, “Completely shut off gas supplies to Europe at the most acute moment”.
Gazprom had already reduced flows by 60% on the Nord Stream gas pipeline in June (100 million cubic meters per day, against 167 planned). In mid-June, the Siemens Energy group told the Associated Press (in English) that he was unable to return these parts intended for the compressor stations, which are scheduled for maintenance every ten years. The Russian company had used this as an excuse to partially close the taps, even if several Western players doubted this explanation.
The gas pipeline has also been cut since Monday and for ten days, for conventional annual maintenance operations. This judgment was, in theory, to be only a technical formality, but the context calls for caution. Germany and other European countries are now waiting to see if gas delivery will be restored. As a warning, Gazprom has also reduced its gas deliveries to Italy and Austria, respectively by a third and 70%, indicated the Austrian energy companies OMV and Italian ENI. The two countries are partly supplied by the TAG gas pipeline, which passes through Ukraine, but also by Nord Stream.