Germany and with it Europe entered a period of great uncertainty on Monday on the continuation of their imports of Russian gas, already greatly reduced in recent weeks and which could soon dry up completely.
The Russian giant Gazprom began maintenance work on the two Nord Stream 1 gas pipelines in the morning, which carry a large quantity of its gas, which is still delivered to Germany and several other countries in western Europe.
A stop but above all a warning
This stoppage for ten days of the two pipes, announced for a long time, was in theory only to be a technical formality. But in the context of the war in Ukraine and the showdown between Moscow and the West over energy, no one can bet on the future.
As a warning, Gazprom also reduced its gas deliveries to Italy and Austria on Monday, by a third and 70% respectively, energy companies OMV and ENI said. The two countries are partly supplied by the TAG gas pipeline, which passes through Ukraine, but also by the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
“There are many scenarios under which we could be plunged into an emergency situation,” German Network Agency President Klaus Müller warned on ZDF television on Monday.