The Russian state gas company Gazprom has again temporarily stopped the supply of gas via Nordstream 1. This was reported by international news agencies on Wednesday. Gazprom says it is temporarily suspending the gas supply due to maintenance that was not announced in advance. As a result, no gas will flow from Russia to Germany until next Saturday. The gas supply has been reduced to just 20 percent of the previously daily amount since July, also due to maintenance.
Earlier this month, German Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck said Nord Stream 1 is “fully operational” and there are no technical problems, as the Kremlin claims, according to Reuters news agency. European governments, which are strongly trying to reduce their dependence on Russian gas, fear that Russia will use the reduced gas supply in retaliation for Western sanctions for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In July, Nordstream 1 had already been shut down for ten days for maintenance. At the time, the European Commission feared that the gas supply would not be resumed at all. Gazprom had informed European customers by letter that it could not guarantee that deliveries could be resumed after the works due to ‘exceptional’ circumstances. Partly due to the uncertainty about the supply of gas, energy prices have risen sharply since the war in Ukraine. The European Union is examining measures to reduce energy prices.
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