Nord Stream 1 turbine being repaired in Canada pits Ukraine and EU over Russian gas supply

• Gas España maintains its imports of Russian gas and Ribera asks the electricity companies to look for "alternative channels"

• Energy crisis Europe fears a recession in Germany due to the Russian gas cut that will drag down the Eurozone and Spain

Western solidarity with Ukraine has limits.

Despite strong opposition from kyiv to Canada's decision to replace the aeroderivative gas turbine necessary for the full operation of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from the German company Siemens Energy, the part will be delivered.

At stake is the sustainability of the German economy and of the European partners that supply themselves with Russian natural gas.

In XETRA trading,

temporarily gained 0.61 percent to

.

The political decision of the Canadian Government is a "necessary and important first step" for the export license.

Our experts are working full speed ahead on all other formal approvals and logistics," a Siemens Energy spokesperson said. The company did not provide further details on the time horizon of the handover, but once it's done, the rest of the process it will be very fast. "Given the smaller size of that unit, it will be able to be transported by air if necessary."

In mid-June, the Russian energy company Gazprom had reduced its gas deliveries to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from the Baltic Sea, citing delays in repairing gas compressors.

The electrical engineering company Siemens Energy then announced that

for the time being due to Russian sanctions.

On Saturday, the Canadian minister responsible for mineral resources,

, announced that there would be a "temporary and revocable permit" to ship the turbine to Germany.

On a typical day, some 150 million cubic meters of gas flows through the Baltic Sea's Nord Stream 1 pipeline from the Russian city of Vyborg, near the

border , to Lubmin near Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Due to a faulty turbine, the Russian operator Gazprom had already reduced this amount to about 100 million cubic meters in mid-June, and now it drops to 0.

on the approximately 1,224-kilometer-long pipeline begins today.

.

Russia had announced on Friday that it would resume power deliveries through the interrupted Nord Stream 1 pipeline from the Baltic Sea if its repaired gas turbine returned from Canada.

However, the president of the Federal Network Agency,

, spoke on Monday in the ZDF magazine Morgenmagazin of the different signals from Moscow about future gas deliveries through the pipeline.

The Nord Stream 1 is currently down for maintenance work.

According to the operating company, it is scheduled until July 21.

There are fears in the West that Russia may use regular maintenance work as a

with natural gas via the Nord Stream.

That would cost the country 70% of Russian gas imports in one fell swoop.

There is no guarantee that once the turbine is installed and routine pipeline work is done, the gas will flow again, and in fact

.

The only thing left for the locomotive of Europa is to wait and try, as has been the case with the aforementioned turbine, to annul possible pretexts from the Kremlin.

Already at the beginning of the month, the federal Minister of the Economy,

of the Greens party, made a public request to the Canadian government to make an exception to the sanctions and release the famous turbine, critical for gas flows to Europe.

“I will be the first to fight for a new strong sanctions package from the EU, but strong sanctions mean that they must hurt and harm Russia and Putin more than our economy. Putin this turbine excuse If it is a legal issue for Canada, I want to make it clear that I am not asking them to hand it over to Russia, but to bring it to Germany," Habeck said.

Canada has weighed the German arguments and relented.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymr Zelensky, on the other hand, has not shown any solidarity or understanding for the risk that a turbine can cause to the countries that have been on his side from the beginning.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Canadian ambassador in kyiv on Tuesday to express its discontent with the decision.

In his speech on Monday night, Zelensky already criticized Canada's move as an "absolutely unacceptable" violation of sanctions against Russia and warned that it would be seen by Moscow as a

.

Ukraine's foreign and energy ministries have said the decision amounts to adjusting sanctions imposed on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine in late February "to the whims of Russia."

Germany

and

, however, have received support from their partners, starting with the United States.

"We are united with our allies and partners in our commitment to promote European energy security, reduce our collective dependence on Russian energy and

" reads the statement released by the Secretary of State in Washington.

"In this sense -he continues- we support the decision of the Canadian government to return a natural gas turbine to Germany for use in the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. In the short term, the turbine will allow Germany and other European countries to replenish their gas reserves , increasing its energy security and resilience, and countering Russia's efforts to militarize energy."

According to the US, work is being done with allies and partners to reduce collective dependence on Russian energy and maintain pressure on President Putin, including exploring ways to further reduce Russia's energy revenues.

At the same time, active steps are being taken to limit the impact of President Putin's war on world energy markets and protect our economies.

Germany faces the prospect of

in the coming months, which would affect businesses and consumers and drag Europe's largest economy into recession.

Officials have warned that Russia could shut down Nord Stream in the long term after a two-week maintenance period on Russia's biggest gas link to Europe.

"We need capacities on Nord Stream 1 to fill our storage. Filled storage capacities in Germany are not only important for the German market, but also for the European market and for security of supply in Europe," says the German Economics Minister. .

The supply constraint has destabilized gas markets.

Benchmark European futures, which have doubled in value in the last month.

Rising prices, coupled with tight supply, put companies like Uniper in jeopardy.

the largest buyer of Russian gas from Germany, which has sought state aid to continue operating.

The situation risks creating "cascading effects" for the German energy system.

Without waiting for what happens to the turbine sent by Siemens Energy to Montreal for repair, the Russian giant Gazprom began maintenance work on Nord Stream 1 on Monday. In theory, the closure would be a technicality, but in the context of the war in Ukraine and the fight between Russia and the West for energy, nothing allows us to predict what is to come.

What will not change for Zelensky is his right to slug it out.

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