«Gazprom: the return of the turbine for Nord Stream is hampered by sanctions and contractual obligations of the Company, official explanations from the EU and Britain are needed that the repair and transportation of turbines will not fall under sanctions, Gazprom said. Siemens Energy and the German authorities insist that there are no restrictions for its transportation The Siemens turbine cannot be returned to the Portovaya compressor station of the Nord Stream gas pipeline due to the sanctions imposed against Russia by Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom, as well as existing contractual obligations on the part of Siemens, Gazprom said in a Telegram. The Russian company recalled that the contract for engine repair in Canada was signed with the British Industrial Turbine Company Limited (part of the Siemens Energy group of companies). Upon completion of the repair, the turbine was supposed to be transferred to Gazprom, however, due to Canadian sanctions, it was sent to Germany, which does not comply with the terms of the contract. Ottawa has issued documents for the export of the engine to Siemens Energy Canada Limited, which is not a party to the contract, Gazprom said. According to the Russian company, there is a risk that Ottawa may consider the transportation of the turbine to Russia a violation. This, in turn, may lead to the revocation of the permit and the impossibility of repairing other Nord Stream engines in Canada, Gazprom believes.
The Russian company warned that the supply of the engine from Canada to Germany may also entail the application of EU sanctions. Gazprom recalled that the sale, supply, transfer or export of gas turbine engines, technologies and other goods specified in the sanctions lists (regardless of whether they were produced in the EU) are prohibited for use in Russia.
In addition, Gazprom added, since Industrial Turbine Company Limited is a party to the contract, UK sanctions may be applied to it.
“In the absence of official explanations from the EU and the UK on the application of sanctions, it is not clear that the repair and transportation of gas turbine engines for the Port Company will not be subject to export restrictions,” Gazprom said.
A representative of Siemens Energy told RBC that the turbine is ready for operation and it can be sent to Gazprom immediately if the Russian company wants it.
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The head of Siemens Energy, Christian Bruch, previously stated that all customs documents for the transportation of the turbine are ready, but the company cannot yet send it to Russia due to non-participation by Gazprom. He noted that the engine has been at the plant in Mulheim-on-Rurey for about a week now, the company is “extremely interested” in returning it to the Russian side. Representatives of the company called the statements of Gazprom about problems with transportation due to sanctions restrictions unreliable.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also pointed out that all the necessary permits from Germany, the European Union, Great Britain and Canada already exist, Russia only needs to say: please send it.
The Russian side insists that “just words in this case are absolutely not enough”. “Of course, against the background of the sanctions that have been imposed on Gazprom, it must insure itself, insure its property,” said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“Gazprom” explains the reduction of gas supplies via the “Nord Stream” by the absence of a turbine. In mid-June, fuel pumping dropped from 167 million to 100 million cubic meters of gas per day, then by another third. Gazprom also suspended pumping for two weeks due to maintenance work. At the end of July, it dropped to 35 million cubic meters. m per day, this amounted to 20% of the design capacity of the gas pipeline.
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