The russian gas pipeline Nord Stream discontinued gas supply this July 11 until next July 21 Germany for “maintenance” reasons, according to the operator of the infrastructure Nord Stream AG.
Since last June, the gas pipeline, laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, has been operating at 40% of its capacity, since, according to Russia, Canada has not returned some turbines that were under repair and that are needed for pumping fuel.
After the surprise announcement, the German government avoided speculating about what will happen after July 21, the official date on which maintenance tasks should end and the flow of Russian gas be restored. In this context, he also acknowledged that the situation is “tense” and “very serious.”
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In an ordinary press conference, Susanne Ungrad, deputy spokesperson for the Economy, assured that “as of today, security of supply is guaranteed.” In addition, he added that, for the moment, there is no question of declaring the next level in the gas emergency plan, which would imply the intervention of the State in the market to regulate the flow, a project that has been in force since last June 23, declared in the face of reduced supplies from Russia and high prices.
Russia announced in June two consecutive reductions in gas supplies through the Nord Stream. First it was 40%. Then another additional 33%. The Russian gas giant Gazprom justified these actions with the technical revisions of the turbines of the German company Siemens that are used in the pumping stations.
The Kremlin has rejected any suggestion that Russia is using oil and gas as a weapon of political pressure, referring to the halting of the Nord Stream gas pipeline due to technical problems.