Economic sanctions imposed on Russia put Canada in a difficult situation as it must decide whether to send back to Europe a turbine essential to the Russian company Gazprom for the supply of gas to Germany, even if Ukraine opposed this decision.
Posted at 1:50 p.m.
Questioned by The Canadian Press on Friday morning, the Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, acknowledged that Canada finds itself stuck between the tree and the bark and that regardless of its decision, some partners could be offended.
“We are discussing this with the Ukrainian government and the German government and it is not a simple question”, summed up Minister Wilkinson.
The Reuters news agency was the first to report that Ukraine objected to Canada handing over a piece of equipment for Gazprom’s Nord Stream pipeline.
The turbine is in a factory of the German company Siemens in Montreal “to be refurbished”, according to Minister Wilkinson, who did not explain why it ended up in the country.
The Minister of Natural Resources told The Canadian Press that the Gazprom pipeline “supplies not only Germany but a number of other European countries with gas and the Russian government uses the turbine as an excuse to reduce the gas supply to Germany and other countries.
The situation “is not simple”, repeated Jonathan Wilkinson, explaining that Canada “must be sensitive to the fate of the Ukrainians” and “continue to fully support the sanctions against Moscow”, but on the other hand, ” the purpose of the sanctions is not to penalize our allies and thus destroy the economy of Germany, Italy, Slovakia and Austria”.
He added that “we are working to try to find a solution that will work for everyone”.
Deliveries of Russian natural gas through the Gazprom pipeline to Europe will fall by around 40% this year, Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom said weeks ago after sanctions Canadian Forces Against the War in Ukraine prevented the German partner Siemens Energy from delivering equipment parts.
In June, Siemens Energy told The Associated Press that a gas turbine that powers a compressor station on the Gazprom pipeline had been transported to Montreal for planned repair. But because of sanctions imposed by Canada, the company was unable to return the equipment to the customer, Gazprom.
“In this context, we have informed the Canadian and German governments and are working on a lasting solution,” Siemens Energy told The Associated Press.
In response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Canada imposed various sanctions on the Russian oil industry.
Item 9A991 of the “List of Controlled Goods and Technology as Referenced in the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations” would include the type of turbine used by Gazprom which is located in Montreal.
With information from The Associated Press