The Russian energy group Gazprom wants to have the turbine of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline that was repaired in Canada. The state gas company has asked the German Siemens, which carries out maintenance, to return the turbine.
According to Gazprom, the part is needed to make the gas pipeline between Russia and Germany work again.
Gazprom began maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Monday, which will temporarily stop gas from being transported through the channel. Maintenance is scheduled to take ten days. The European Union, in particular Germany, is anxiously waiting to see if the taps will open again after the maintenance. Moscow had already cut deliveries by 60 percent in recent weeks, citing the absence of the turbine as the reason.
Despite Western sanctions against Russia in connection with the invasion of Ukraine, Canada has granted the local Siemens facility a temporary permit to allow the return of the turbine. However, Gazprom claims it has received no guarantees that the machine will be returned.
The annual work on the gas pipeline was planned well in advance. Now that relations between Russia and Western countries have reached an all-time low, there are fears that Gazprom may be shutting down the gas tap.