The months of Russia’s brinkmanship over the flow of natural gas to Germany and other parts of Europe could reach its peak later this week, when the temporary outage of the Nordstream 1 pipeline is due to end. ..
NordStream1, the main pipeline between Germany and Russia, is operated by Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom. Gazprom recently warned European buyers that it could block the flow of gas and closed the pipeline on July 11 for annual maintenance. Gazprom plans to reopen the pipeline in about 10 days, as it did in the last few years.
But this year’s closure has raised concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin will continue to close the pipeline to punish Germany and other European countries for opposition to the war in Ukraine. According to German pipeline regulators, other pipelines through Poland and Ukraine have not been used as alternative links for sending gas, as they have been during temporary outages in the last few years.
Gazprom had already reduced gas transport by up to 60% prior to its closure, accusing it of having no turbines sent to Canada for repairs and could not be returned due to economic sanctions on transportation technology to Russia. German authorities disputed Gazprom’s allegations.
Russia’s gas restrictions since the beginning of the war have put one of Germany’s largest energy suppliers at risk of financial collapse. The company’s Uniper said Monday that it had run out of € 2 billion in credit lines from Germany’s state-owned investment bank and applied for more money.
Uniper, Germany’s largest importer of Russian gas, has lost tens of millions of euros daily since Russia stopped flowing gas to Germany last month, at a much higher price than other sources. I am forced to buy gas.
