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Paul-Anton Krüger and Mike Szymanski, Berlin
It was a drastic drop in pressure that hit the completed but never commissioned line A of the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 on Monday night: the pressure gauges on the German side of the pipe rushed down from a normal level of 105 bar to just seven , as company spokesman Ulrich Lissek announced. On Monday evening there was a similarly rapid loss of pressure at Nord Stream 1, affecting both lines through which Russia had supplied gas to Germany until September. Since then, the state-owned company Gazprom has reduced its exports to zero.