By Julian Röpcke and Luisa Volkhausen
Because of an alleged oil leak on a turbine, Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin (69) stops deliveries of Russian gas through the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1. When gas should flow again: unclear!
The supposed reason: an oil leak in the Portovaya compressor station that was discovered during maintenance work. A gas turbine could no longer be operated safely because of the damage.
The Russian state-owned company Gazprom said on Friday evening that the leak was discovered during maintenance work on the station, which was carried out jointly with experts from Siemens Energy. The turbine can therefore no longer be operated safely.
► BUT: Siemens Energy disagrees!
From the point of view of the manufacturers of the turbines, such a finding represents “no technical reason for the cessation of operation”, according to a spokesman for Siemens Energy to BILD.
“Such leaks do not normally affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site. It is a routine operation as part of maintenance work,” he continues. “Even in the past, the occurrence of this type of leak has not brought operations to a standstill.”
At the Nord Stream 1 facility in Lubmin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), no more gas will arrive from Russia until further notice Photo: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/REUTERS
Siemens Energy is currently not commissioned with maintenance work, but is ready.
“Regardless of this, we have already pointed out several times that there are enough additional turbines available in the Portovaya compressor station for operation of Nord Stream 1,” Siemens Energy unmasks the Putin lie.
Actually, gas should have flowed again from Saturday morning after a three-day delivery stop. Now the stop indefinitely!
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (64, FDP), Chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, does not believe in the alleged oil leak either. “It’s an advanced argument that we’ve heard a lot in the past few weeks. I neither believe in the Easter Bunny nor in it,” she said on Friday evening on BILD TV.
Nevertheless, it is not surprising that the Kremlin ruler is resorting to such means, explained Strack-Zimmermann. “Putin is reaching for where he has leverage – and that is our dependence on Russian energy. The fact that the old federal government maneuvered us into this dependency is really getting on our feet right now.”
Strack-Zimmermann clearly contradicts the initiative by FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki (70) to open Nord Stream 2: “Vladimir Putin’s will to supply us with gas does not change if we suddenly have 23 pipelines. It’s about him wanting to put pressure on us.”
BEven before the “maintenance” delivery stop, the pipeline was only being used to about 20 percent – here, too, the supposed reason: technical problems.
The head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller (51), warned on Twitter: “In view of the Russian decision not to allow any gas to flow via Nord Stream 1 for the time being, the LNG terminals, the relevant storage levels and the need for significant savings are becoming more important. It’s good that Germany is now better prepared, but now it depends on everyone.”
A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics did not want to comment on the delivery stop on Friday evening.
However, she explained: “We have already seen Russia’s unreliability in the past few weeks.” Measures to strengthen independence from Russian energy imports have been continued unwaveringly and consistently. “As a result, we are now much better equipped than we were a few months ago. As of today, storage is at 84.3 percent.”