Kremlin: Hope to install Nord Stream 1 turbine “sooner rather than later”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the gas turbine in Russia’s Nord Stream 1 pipeline had not yet arrived from Canada, where it is undergoing maintenance. Still, Moscow hopes it will be installed “sooner rather than later”.

The European Union has repeatedly accused Russia of resorting to energy blackmail, while the Kremlin says supply shortages result from maintenance work and the impact of Western sanctions.

Peskov reiterated that the sanctions imposed on Russia complicate the work of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, reducing gas supplies to Europe to only 20 percent of the pipeline’s capacity during maintenance work.

The Kremlin-owned Gazprom, which monopolizes Russian gas exports, said that gas flows will drop to 33 million cubic meters per day as of tomorrow, Wednesday, half their current level, because it needs to halve gas turbine operations at a compressor station, according to the directives of a supervisory body in the sector.

Gazprom expects the arrival of a turbine for maintenance work with Siemens Energy from Canada after the completion of the maintenance.