(Moscow) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday questioned the condition of a repaired Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline turbine in Canada, fueling uncertainty about the future of gas deliveries from Moscow that worries European countries.
Posted at 12:14 p.m.
This Siemens turbine is presented by Moscow as essential to the proper functioning of Nord Stream 1, a gas pipeline which supplies Germany and Europe and which is currently shut down for maintenance scheduled to end on Thursday.
Canada, where it had been sent to be repaired in a factory of the German group, returned the turbine to Germany, but the timetable for its delivery to Russia remains uncertain.
“They say they’re going to send these (turbines) back, at least one of them. But in what condition will they send it back, what will be the technical parameters after the repair? said Putin, quoted by the Tass news agency.
“Maybe they (the pipeline operators) just have to turn it off at some point, and then Nord Stream 1 will stop,” he continued.
These remarks are likely to fuel the concern of Europeans who are wondering about the future of Russian gas deliveries.
They fear that Moscow will use a technical problem that was discovered during maintenance as an excuse not to resume deliveries via Nord Stream 1, and thus put pressure on them in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
Before the shutdown of Nord Stream 1, Russia had already greatly reduced deliveries in recent weeks, justifying them by the lack of Siemens turbines.
On Wednesday, Mr Putin accused Canada of delaying sending the repaired turbine back to its soil in the hope of boosting its own gas sales to Europe.
“The motivations (of Canada) are linked to its efforts to enter the European market, because it wants to develop its own gas production there. That’s all,” he said.
The controversy over the turbine was described by Berlin on Wednesday as a “pretext” taken by Russia to stop its deliveries and the European Union accused Moscow of using the gas “as a weapon”.
These difficulties around deliveries via Nord Stream 1 come at a time when European countries are trying to fill their gas reserves for the winter.
In this context, European countries are trying to diversify their gas supplies, turning in particular to the United States, Qatar, Azerbaijan and other countries.