The Kremlin commented on the recent meeting between Gerhard Schröder and Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Gazprom claims return of Nord Stream turbine is ‘impossible’ All voices and developments on the Ukraine war can be found here in the ticker.
8:44 p.m .: According to the Russian gas company Gazprom, a delivery of the turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that is available in Germany to Russia is “impossible” because of the sanctions imposed on Moscow. In a statement released on Wednesday, the company also cited “ambiguities in the current situation regarding Siemens’ contractual obligations.” Both together make “the delivery impossible”.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had previously accused Russia of blocking the delivery of the important turbine in order to continue to throttle the amount of gas delivered. Germany is desperately looking for alternative energy sources to fill the gap left by reduced gas supplies from Moscow.
With the lack of the Siemens turbine, which had been serviced in Canada, the Russian energy company Gazprom had justified the reduction of gas deliveries to only 20 percent of the possible extent.
Schröder was “like all thinking and understanding people and specialists in Europe very, very concerned about (…) the energy crisis that has flared up in Europe,” said Peskow. The 78-year-old asked Putin to explain the situation from a Russian perspective. The Kremlin boss denied any guilt.
Schröder also wanted to know whether it would be possible to put the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline into operation, the Kremlin said. Putin replied that this was technologically possible, but that a maximum of 27.5 billion cubic meters of gas could still be pumped through the Baltic Sea pipes to Europe by the end of the year. In view of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the German government has ruled out using Nord Stream 2. Schröder is chairman of the board of directors for the pipeline.
When asked by journalists whether Schröder was being discussed as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine in the war that has been going on for more than five months, Peskov said: “Schröder has not expressed any desire to become a mediator.” Russia is quite ready to become one diplomatic settlement of the “problem” – but only on Russian terms.
2:42 p.m .: Chancellor Olaf Scholz has indirectly accused Russia of using pretexts for the lack of gas deliveries. The turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline can be used at any time and can be delivered, said the SPD politician on Wednesday during a visit to the energy technology group Siemens Energy in Mülheim an der Ruhr. The machine is temporarily stored there on its way from Canada to Russia. According to Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), the unit has been in Germany since July 18.
“The turbine is there, it can be delivered, someone just has to say I want it, then it will be there very quickly,” emphasized Scholz. Nothing will then stand in the way of gas transport through Nord Stream 1. “It is obvious that nothing, absolutely nothing, stands in the way of the onward transport of this turbine and its installation in Russia.”
Not only is the turbine in perfect condition, there are no gas sanctions against using it. In view of the Russian war in Ukraine, however, one must be aware “that there can always be any pretended, put forward reasons that lead to something not working,” said the Chancellor.
Scholz said there was “significant capacity at Nord Stream 1”. There is no shortage of opportunities to fulfill all the contracts that Russia has concluded for the whole of Europe with the help of this pipeline and the Ukraine pipeline, which is also still in operation. It should not be forgotten that there is still a pipeline through Belarus and Poland that has been in operation for decades. “Russia itself decided to sanction the pipeline.”
Since June, Russia has cut back gas supplies via Nord Stream 1. The energy company Gazprom justified this with the missing turbine. It is important in order to build up the pressure required to pump the gas through. Gazprom repeatedly accused its contractual partner Siemens Energy of not having sent the necessary documents and information to repair the machine. Siemens Energy rejected the allegations.
With his visit to Mülheim, he wanted to “demystify” the debate, said Scholz. He thought it might make sense “if we look at it together so that you can see that it really exists, it’s here, it’s ready for action”. “And by the way, in the world we live in today, it’s something very easy to transport. Only one person has to say: please send them off.”
The ship, loaded with around 26,000 tons of corn from Ukraine, arrived on Tuesday evening at the Black Sea entrance to the Bosphorus Strait, which runs through Istanbul, and is anchored there. The experts were brought to the freighter in two boats, as TV images showed. After the release, the freighter is to pass the Bosphorus and continue across the Mediterranean to Lebanon.
The “Razoni” left the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa on Monday as the first ship under the agreement signed by Ukraine and Russia at the end of July. According to Kyiv, more ships are already waiting to cast off. They are to be guided through a safe corridor through mined waters in the Black Sea and checked by Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and UN experts before leaving for the Mediterranean. This is intended to secure the export of millions of tons of grain that are stuck in Ukraine because of the Russian war of aggression.
9.51 a.m .: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has made it clear that from a technical point of view there is no reason to reduce gas deliveries from Russia to Germany. “There are no technical reasons for non-compliance with the supply contracts,” said Scholz on Wednesday during a visit to Siemens Energy in Mülheim an der Ruhr, where he inspected a turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that was ready for delivery to Russia.
With the lack of this turbine, which had been serviced in Canada, the Russian energy company Gazprom justified the reduction of the gas delivery volume to only 20 percent of the possible volume. The turbine “can be installed and used at any time,” emphasized Scholz. The arguments put forward by the Russian side are “not comprehensible on a factual basis”. In addition, apart from Nord Stream 1, there is also capacity to deliver gas via pipelines through Belarus or Ukraine.
The CEO of Siemens Energy, Christian Bruch, also made it clear during Scholz’s visit with regard to the reduction in gas deliveries: “From our point of view, we cannot understand it technically.” As far as the turbine is concerned, the only thing missing is for its delivery to Russia a requirement by Gazprom.
8:29 a.m .: In June, Germany’s exchange of goods with Russia increased again. According to preliminary figures, German exports increased by 14.5 percent compared to May, and imports rose by 4.8 percent, as the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced on Wednesday. The trade volume is still significantly lower than before the Russian attack on Ukraine: compared to June 2021, exports to Russia fell by 40.3 percent.
According to the Federal Office, Germany increased its exports worldwide in June by 4.5 percent to 134.3 billion euros, while imports rose by 0.2 percent to 127.9 billion euros. In a year-on-year comparison, however, the foreign trade surplus halved from EUR 13.5 billion to EUR 6.4 billion.
The most important buyer country for German products in June was the USA with 14.2 billion euros. Most imports came from China (17 billion euros), although they fell by 3.9 percent compared to May. In trade with Great Britain, exports increased while imports fell significantly over the same period.
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