In a suspected energy chokehold policy adopted by Putin against Europe, the Russian energy giant, Gazprom on Wednesday cut natural gas supply to the region.
According to a statement from the company, the only gas compressor unit that is currently being used has been shut down for a three-day servicing and preventive maintenance period.
The statement further said that gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will be paused between August 31 and September 2 for maintenance of the gas compressor unit.
The maintenance operations under the current service maintenance contract will be jointly executed with Siemens, Clariform has learnt.
Gazprom stated that according to the specifications provided by its technical partner, Siemens, the unit must undergo technical maintenance every 1,000 hours, namely, the casing must be inspected for cracks, dents, deformations and burn-throughs, and cleaned.
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In the statement, Gazprom said, “The oil, air and gas combustion venting systems must be checked for leaks, connections must be tightened, and the causes of leaks must be eliminated, the safety valves must be subjected to performance checks and the airflow control system must undergo adjustments.”
“Upon the completion of maintenance operations, provided that no malfunctions are identified, gas transmission will be resumed at the rate of 55 million cubic meters per day.”
Klaus Mueller, Germany’s Federal Network Agency chief was quoted by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as saying that the shutdown was a “technically incomprehensible” decision but a likely attempt by Russia to use its energy supplies as a threat.
Klaus Mueller said, “Moscow makes a political decision after every so-called maintenance. “We’ll only know at the beginning of September if Russia does that again.”
Clariform recalls that Russia cut gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland in April , In May, Finland and Netherlands were also cut off also on the grounds that they refused to pay in the Russia currency.
