In Germany, they saw political overtones in Russia's reduction in gas supplies through the Nord Stream pipeline (SP).
In particular, this opinion was expressed by the Minister of Economics and Climate Protection of Germany, Robert Habek.
“What happened was a political decision, not a technically sound one,” Habek said in Berlin.
On June 14, Gazprom announced in its official Telegram channel that it was forced to reduce the supply of blue fuel through the joint venture due to the untimely return of gas compressor units from repair by Siemens and the identified technical malfunctions of engines at the Portovaya compressor station (CS).
Later, the company announced the shutdown of another Siemens gas turbine engine due to the end of the time between overhauls before overhaul.
Thus, from 01:30 a.m. (Moscow time) on June 16, the capacity of the CS fell by 40% - from the planned volume of 167 million cubic meters.
m per day up to 67 million cubic meters.
m per day.
However, Khabek believes that all justifications for technical problems in the work of Portovaya are "far-fetched."
“Obviously, the strategy is to instill uncertainty and drive up prices,” the minister said.
At the same time, he noted that the volumes needed by Germany are still available on the market, “albeit at high prices.”
“But the current situation also shows that now the most important thing is to save energy.
And of course, we will take government measures if necessary, ”added the head of the German Ministry of Economy.
German Minister of Economics and Climate Protection Robert Habeck
Legion Media
Habek's opinion that Russia's actions are politically motivated is also shared by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
This was announced at a briefing on the same day by the official representative of the German Cabinet, Steffen Hebestreit.
“Scholz on this issue follows the assessment of the minister responsible for the economy and environmental protection,” he said, answering the question whether the chancellor agreed with the words of Habek.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary state secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection of Germany, Michael Kellner, on the air of the RTL television channel on June 15, noted that the country's storage facilities are filled with gas by more than 50%.
However, this, according to him, is not enough for the next winter.
Hostages of sanctions
Meanwhile, Siemens Energy confirmed reports from the Russian side that it could not get back the turbines for its compressor station.
The German company reminded that the equipment was delivered to Portovaya back in 2009 and needs regular maintenance.
“You can get it (maintenance. -
RT
) only in Montreal, Canada.
Due to Canadian sanctions, Siemens Energy is currently unable to supply refurbished gas turbines to customers.
We have informed the Canadian and German governments about this and are working on a reliable solution, ”the concern says in a comment to the German magazine Stern.
In turn, Gazprom emphasizes that the suspension of the operation of the next gas pumping unit was carried out on the instructions of Rostekhnadzor.
Against the backdrop of this step, exchange prices for gas in Europe rose sharply by more than 25% and exceeded $1,300 per 1,000 cubic meters.
m.
Leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund, an expert at the Financial University Igor Yushkov, in an interview with RT, explained that this jump was provoked by panic in Europe due to the uncertainty of the further throughput of Nord Stream.
“It scares the Europeans.
And what if the entire joint venture stops, what will happen then?
The shortage of proposals in the European market will be aggravated.
This starts the panic.
The prices have skyrocketed,” he said.
In general, according to the report of Gazprom over the past five and a half months, published in Telegram, gas exports to non-CIS countries amounted to 65.6 billion cubic meters.
m - by 28.9% (by 26.7 billion cubic meters) less than in the same period of 2021.
The company noticed that they supply fuel according to confirmed applications.
Gazprom also cited data from the Gas Infrastructure Europe association as of June 13, according to which gas reserves in European underground gas storage facilities were replenished by 26.2 billion cubic meters.
m.
“In order to reach the level of 90% occupancy of underground storage facilities, companies will have to pump another 37 billion cubic meters.
m of gas, and to reach the level of the beginning of the 2019-2020 withdrawal season - 46.2 billion cubic meters.
m," the company said.
globallookpress.com
Politicization of any occasion
According to experts, the current position of the German leadership regarding the “real” reasons for the reduction in gas pumping through the Nord Stream is dictated by the political situation, which is based on the demonization of Russia.
“Putin is already imagining to Europeans everywhere.
However, the equipment requires repair even without the intervention of our president.
As a rule, maintenance periods for gas turbines occur during periods of minimum demand for gas.
Summer is just such a period.
And the current situation was created by the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the West, because of which the return of equipment from Canada is now impossible, ”said Alexander Frolov, deputy director general of the National Energy Institute, in an interview with RT.
Alexey Grivach, Deputy General Director for Gas Problems of the National Energy Security Fund, shares his opinion.
He notes that Europe is in its own trap.
“This is further evidence that the sanctions policy played by our European partners rebounds on the energy and economic security of the European countries themselves,” the analyst emphasized in a commentary to RT.
In turn, senior researcher at IMEMO RAS Alexander Kamkin explains
a situation where Canada does not give the turbines to Gazprom, which provides Germany with fuel, the mismatch of the policy of Western countries towards Russia.
“Because of this, Germany has become a hostage of the sanctions war.
But at the same time she
is not ready to completely abandon Russian gas, because this will lead to the collapse of entire sectors of the German economy.
And there is no one to replace Russia in supplies, ”Kamkin explained in a commentary to RT.
According to him, Canada and Germany now have to find some kind of compromise.
After all, if supplies through the Nord Stream are not resumed in full, the consequences will be a shock for European powers, the expert believes.
“By autumn-winter Europe will then be without proper gas supplies.
Their shortage will spur even more stock prices.
This could lead to higher costs for German businesses and higher retail prices for many types of goods.
So here we see how the boomerang of the sanctions war hits the very West very hard, ”summed up Kamkin.