Habeck on Gazprom cutbacks: “We are in a serious situation”

After the recent throttling, is there a threat of a complete stop to Russian gas supplies? According to Economics Minister Habeck, Gazprom will decide “at its own discretion”. One is prepared, but the situation is serious, he said in the daily topics.

According to Economics Minister Robert Habeck, the Russian energy company Gazprom will decide “at its own discretion” whether there will be a complete failure after the renewed throttling of gas supplies. “The 40 percent recovery after the maintenance of Nord Stream 1 was never a security,” said the Green politician in the daily topics. It is “no surprise now, although annoying that Gazprom puts forward other reasons”. Instead of clearly stating that they see themselves in an economic war, the group tells “farce stories about these turbines, which is simply not true”.

According to Habeck, Putin uses the means he has. That’s no surprise either. One is prepared for it, but it is a “serious” situation. The minister stressed that even if Russia stopped delivering altogether, gas would continue to come – “from Norway, from the Netherlands, from the import terminals that we are building and that are already there.” They are working “at high speed” to ensure that more gas comes. “We will also be able to continue to fill the storage tanks. How quickly and how big remains to be seen.”

“Won’t have gas in abundance”

The minister again appealed for gas consumption to be reduced. “We will not have gas in abundance.” Whether the quantities are sufficient depends on “how collectively this country works to make it possible”.

With a view to concerns about restrictions on industry in the economically strong south of Germany, Habeck said: “It is of course a big concern, which I also share, that this can happen. Then certain production chains in Germany or Europe would simply no longer be manufactured. That applies to avoid it with all the power we have.” The way is to bring gas consumption down by 15 to 20 percent in Germany. “If we can do that, then with all the measures we have taken, we have a very good chance of not having to take this step.”

Deliveries reduced to 20 percent

The Russian state-owned company Gazprom had previously announced that it would restrict gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline even more from July 27. Another turbine had to be taken out of service for maintenance, the company said. Gas supplies would thus be reduced to 33 million cubic meters per day from more than 160 million cubic meters at full capacity. That’s only about 20 percent.

Federal Network Agency head Klaus Müller wrote on Twitter that bookings for gas deliveries via Nord Stream 1, the so-called nominations, had been halved for Wednesday.

Putin threatened throttling

Gas deliveries via the currently most important connection to Germany for Russian natural gas were only resumed on Thursday after a ten-day routine maintenance. However, only at the greatly reduced level of around 40 percent of capacity, which also applied before the maintenance. At the time, Gazprom justified the reduction by saying that a turbine that was being repaired in Canada was missing. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened further cutbacks if the turbine didn’t arrive in Russia. In addition, the repair of “another unit” would be necessary, said Putin at the time.

The federal government, on the other hand, considers the missing turbine to be an advanced argument. It is only a spare part, Russia can deliver more gas without the turbine. However, Berlin still advocated delivery of the turbine so as not to give Russia an excuse for supply cuts. The Siemens Energy machine was initially stuck in Canada because of Western sanctions as a result of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

“Transport of the turbine could start immediately”

According to the Ministry of Economics, the turbine has been in Germany since the beginning of last week. According to EU sanctions law, no exemption is required for onward delivery to Russia. “The transport of the turbine is prepared and could start immediately,” a spokesman for Siemens Energy told the AFP news agency. “What is missing, however, are the necessary customs documents for importing into Russia. This information can only be provided by the customer.”

The spokesman also said the Canadian government’s current permit allows additional Siemens Energy turbines to be serviced and subsequently exported in Canada. The company sees “therefore no connection between the turbine and the implemented or announced gas throttling at the present time”.

Gazprom: “Additional Questions”

Gazprom, whose subsidiary Nord Stream AG owns the turbine, previously cited a lack of documentation as the reason for the delay in transport. Today, the company said it had received documents, but stated “that they do not solve the aforementioned risks and raise additional questions”.

Gazprom demanded that the turbine be removed from the scope of Canadian sanctions. This must also be documented, otherwise the operation represents a significant risk of sanctions, according to the company.

In addition, questions remain about the sanctions imposed by the EU and Great Britain, which are important for the delivery of this turbine and the repair of other units of the Baltic Sea pipeline.