Gazprom announces a drastic reduction in the shipment of gas to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline | International

The gas war in the shadow of the Russian invasion of Ukraine knows no rest. The Russian gas giant Gazprom has announced that, as of this Wednesday, it will halve the current flow through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which reopened on July 21 after a maintenance stoppage. The company has reported through its Telegram social network account that it will drastically reduce deliveries of Russian gas to Europe to 33 million cubic meters per day. That means that it will work at 20% of its capacity compared to 40% with which it had resumed its activity. The company argues the decision on the need for maintenance of a turbine.

Germany feared that, in the shadow of the turmoil generated by the war against kyiv, the temporary closure, which began at six in the morning on July 11, would end up becoming permanent. Now, after the reopening of last Thursday, a new incident arrives with the announcement this Monday of a new closure of the tap. For Berlin, everything is a “pretext” and a “political” decision, reports Agence France Presse. “According to our information, there is no technical reason to reduce deliveries,” a spokeswoman for the German Economy Ministry told this agency.

The infrastructure of this gas pipeline, essential to complete the German gas reserves in anticipation of winter, was already operating at 40% of its capacity while waiting for a turbine that, according to the company, is still returning from Canada, where it was subjected to a repair. According to Gazprom, the reduction in flows is due to the state of another turbine at the Portovaya pumping station.

For its part, Germany states that “there are no technical reasons” to reduce gas supply. Gas prices have shot up to 10%, while the Kremlin has promised, through its spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, to resume flows to what was previously established.

Ukraine hopes to resume grain exports this week following the UN-brokered deal on Friday, two Ukrainian government ministers said on Monday. Peskov has assured that the bombardment by Russian forces on Saturday in Odessa “cannot and should not” affect the output of these seeds. Moscow admitted on Sunday to having carried out that attack, but argued that it was about destroying “military infrastructure” in the town on the shores of the Black Sea, strategic for the export of Ukrainian seeds. The day before, Moscow had denied responsibility for the events to the Turkish Foreign Minister. The Ukrainian authorities, on the other hand, maintain that the bombing has damaged the port facilities.

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