RUSSIA

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REUTERS

"Exclusive-Nord Stream turbine stuck in transit as Moscow drags feet on permits: sources"


By Holger Hansen

JULY 21, 2022

BERLIN (Reuters) - A missing turbine that Moscow says has caused the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to pump less gas to Europe is stuck in transit in Germany because Russia has so far not given the go-ahead to transport it back, two people familiar with the matter said.

The turbine, which usually operates at the Russian Portovaya compressor station, had been undergoing maintenance in Canada but was flown back to Cologne, Germany, on July 17 by logistics firm Challenge Group, one of the people said.

It is currently unclear when the turbine can be returned, the people said, adding this could still take days or even weeks.

The transport back to Germany happened after weeks of consultations between Berlin and the Canadian government over whether such a move would violate Western sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

Last month, Moscow cut the capacity of Nord Stream 1 by 60%, citing the delayed return of the turbine being serviced by German power equipment company Siemens Energy.

Russia reopened the pipeline on Thursday after a ten-day scheduled maintenance shutdown, but it was still operating at reduced capacity.

Germany dismisses Russia’s argument that the missing turbine is the reason for lower supplies via Nord Stream 1, and has accused Moscow of using gas flows as a political weapon.

Russia has said that the return of the turbine had a direct impact on the pipeline’s safe operation, adding documentation from Siemens Energy needed to reinstall it was still missing.

One of the sources said Moscow had so far not provided the documents needed to import the turbine into Russia, including details on where exactly to deliver it and via which customs station.

“Under normal circumstances, the maintenance of turbines is a routine operation for us,” Siemens Energy said in a statement.

“Naturally, we want to transport the turbine to its place of operation as quickly as possible."

"However, the time it takes is not exclusively within our control.”

The Kremlin said earlier on Thursday that all difficulties with the supply of Russian natural gas to Europe, including the turbine issue, were caused by Western restrictions, and that Russia remained an indispensable part of European energy security.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said of the turbine earlier on Thursday: “Sometimes one has the impression that Russia no longer wants to take it back.

“That means the pretext of technical problems actually has a political background, and that is the opposite of being a guarantor for energy security in Europe.”

Habeck said the government was in close contact with Siemens Energy and that it would communicate when the turbine arrives in Russia and has been handed over to Nord Stream’s majority-owner Gazprom.

A spokesperson for Germany’s Economy Ministry declined to comment further.

Challenge Group, the logistics company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gazprom, Russia’s natural gas export monopoly, did not reply to repeated requests for comment on Nord Stream 1 and turbines.

Reporting by Holger Hansen; Editing by Peter Graff

https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine ... SL8N2Z2644
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RIGZONE

"China Gets Competition For Its Favorite Russian Oil From India"


by Bojan Lepic, Serene Cheong and Sharon Cho

Friday, July 22, 2022

India has ramped up purchases of crude from Russia’s far east, a grade that’s typically favored by Chinese oil refiners.

Four vessels hauling Russian ESPO oil are making their way to India, with two tankers heading for Paradip port on the east coast, where a refinery operated by Indian Oil Corp. is located, according to shipbrokers and data compiled by Bloomberg.

That compares with three vessels in June and one in April, said Emma Li, an analyst at Vortexa in Singapore.

State-owned Indian Oil didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The trade is typically not attractive to Indian buyers due to the long distance from the Russian loading port of Kozmino and because ESPO crude cargoes are usually transported in aframax vessels, which carry smaller volumes.

However, the cheaper price compared with other grades from the Persian Gulf and West Africa are likely to have prompted the buying, according to traders.

Cargoes of ESPO can be shipped to China in around five days, and the nation’s refiners have been eagerly snapping up the cheap Russian barrels, which have displaced flows from other suppliers such as West Africa and Brazil.

--With assistance from Debjit Chakraborty.

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REUTERS

"Russia says it destroyed 4 HIMARS launchers, in claim denied by Ukraine"


Reuters

July 22, 2022

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said on Friday its forces had destroyed four U.S.-supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) in Ukraine earlier this month, a claim that was denied both by Kyiv and Washington.

Between July 5-20, "four launchers and one reloading vehicle for the U.S.-made multiple launch rocket systems (HIMARS) were destroyed," it said in a daily briefing.

Kyiv rejected Moscow's claims, calling them "fakes" designed to undermine the West's support for Ukraine.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the reports of any HIMARS being destroyed were not true.

Reuters could not verify battlefield reports.

Kyiv has hailed the arrival of eight HIMARS in Ukraine as a possible game changer for the course of the war, now about to enter its sixth month.

The advanced weapons are more precise and offer a longer range than other artillery systems, allowing Kyiv to strike Russian targets and weapons depots further behind the front lines.

Moscow has accused the West of dragging out the conflict by supplying Kyiv with more arms, and said the supply of longer-range weapons justifies Russia's attempts to expand control over more Ukrainian territory, beyond the eastern Donbas region, for its own protection.

On July 6, just days after the first HIMARS arrived in Ukraine, Russia's defence ministry said it had destroyed two of them, releasing a video of the alleged strike.


Ukraine has rejected Russia's claims and said it was using the U.S.-supplied arms to inflict "devastating blows" on Russian forces.

Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said on Friday that Ukraine continued to use HIMARS to "cause numerous losses to the aggressor state."

"Russia is trying to stop the supply of weapons from the West and intimidate Ukraine's allies with the fictional power of Russia's armed forces," he said in a media briefing.

This week Kyiv has used HIMARS to strike a crucial bridge across the Dnipro river in Russian-controlled parts of the southern Kherson region, punching huge holes in the asphalt and prompting local Russian-installed officials to warn it could be completely destroyed if the attacks continue.

The United States said on Wednesday it will send four more HIMARS to Ukraine in its latest package of military support.

Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan, William Maclean

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ru ... 022-07-22/
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Re: RUSSIA

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REUTERS

"Gazprom says no additional obligations for Russia to get Nord Stream 1 turbine"


Reuters

July 22, 2022

MOSCOW, July 22 (Reuters) - Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Friday the current contract with Siemens Energy does not require Russia to take any further action in order to facilitate the return of a turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.

Nord Stream 1, which runs on the bed of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, restarted pumping gas on Thursday after a 10-day maintenance, but at only 40% of its capacity.

Gazprom cut the flows in June, saying it could not get back the turbine, which had been sent to Canada for repairs.

Germany, in turn, has said that the turbine in question was meant to be used in September only.

It said on Friday that the company still had not obtained necessary documentation from Siemens Energy confirming the exemption from European Union and Canadian sanctions for the turbine to be returned to the Portovaya compressor station.

On Thursday, two people familiar with the matter said the turbine was stuck in transit in Germany because Russia has so far not given the go-ahead to transport it back.

"Gazprom underscored that the current terms of the contract do not provide for additional obligations of the Russian side to obtain this engine," the Kremlin-controlled company said in a statement after it had again asked Siemens Energy for the papers.

Germany dismisses Russia's argument that the missing turbine is the reason for lower supplies via Nord Stream 1, and has accused Moscow of using gas flows as a political weapon.

Russia has said it was a reliable energy supplier.

Reporting by Reuters, editing by Louise Heavens and David Evans

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-07-22/
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REUTERS

"Fertilizer cargo from Russia heads to U.S. as many worry about food shortages"


By Arathy Somasekhar and Timothy Gardner

July 22, 2022

HOUSTON/WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - A tanker carrying a liquid fertilizer product from Russia is about to arrive in the United States, sources and vessel tracking data showed in recent days, at a time of widespread worry that sky-high global fertilizer prices could lead to food shortages.

President Joe Biden's administration has not blacklisted Russian agricultural commodities, including fertilizers, in the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion.

Still, many Western banks and traders have steered clear of Russian supplies for fear of running afoul of rapidly changing rules.


Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of fertilizer, key to keeping corn, soy, rice and wheat yields high.

Farmers have scaled back fertilizer use due to high prices, and cut the amount of land they plan to cultivate.

Washington sanctioned Russian crude, refined products, coal and liquefied natural gas, and imposed an April 22 deadline to wind down imports.

The Liberia-flagged tanker Johnny Ranger was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on Monday carrying about 39,000 tonnes of urea ammonium nitrate solution, a fertilizer produced by combining urea, nitric acid and ammonia, the sources and Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

The vessel loaded last month at St. Petersburg, according to Eikon data.

Details on the seller and buyer were not immediately available.

The U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency declined to comment.

A State Department spokesperson said the United States has never sanctioned food or agricultural goods from Russia.

"Unlike the Russian government, we have no interest in weaponizing food to create humanitarian crises at the expense of vulnerable populations."

U.S. non-food sanctions will remain in place until Russian President Vladimir Putin stops the war in Ukraine, the person added.

In 2021, the United States imported $262.6 million worth of urea ammonium nitrate fertilizers from Russia, according to the Commerce Department.

This week, the U.S. International Trade Commission revoked hefty anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on urea ammonium nitrate fertilizers from Russia in an effort to ease fertilizer shortages and price increases.


Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar and Marianna Parraga in Houston, Timothy Gardner in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodi ... 022-07-22/
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THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

"Russia vows to cut off oil to countries that sign on to Yellen price cap"


Breanne Deppisch

22 JULY 2022

Russia will not supply crude oil to countries that sign on to a plan to cap the price of its oil exports, the head of the country's central bank said Friday, a form of resistance to the Biden administration's plans to limit the country's war funding.

The price cap plan, which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen promoted in her travel to Asia last week, is a first-of-its-kind effort to form a sort of "buyers' cartel" to slash Russia's oil export revenue and, therefore, its main source of funding for the war in Ukraine.

Asked about the plan Friday during a press briefing in Moscow, Elvira Nabiullina, the governor of the Russian central bank, said, "As far as I understand, we won't be supplying oil to those countries which would impose such a cap, and our oil, [and] oil products will be redirected to the countries which are ready to cooperate with us."

Under the plan, participating countries would agree to cap Russian crude at a lower-than-market price.

The goal would be to set prices slightly above Moscow's marginal cost of production but as close to the number as possible to limit profits.

Nabiullina also suggested the plan could upend global oil markets, echoing former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who warned earlier this month that global oil prices could "exceed $300-$400 per barrel" if the price caps were implemented.

Analysts have also warned there is a risk of an increase, though their estimates are much more modest — projecting somewhere between $140 and $200 a barrel if Russia shuts down production.

A senior U.S. Treasury Department official said yesterday that the price cap could take effect as early as December, to coincide with the European Union's insurance ban on seaborne imports.

"We are following on what the Europeans have done," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

"They introduced the idea of looking to do a price cap, but they also said that, by December, they plan to put in place their insurance ban."

Oil exports accounted for nearly $100 billion in revenue for Moscow during the first 100 days of its war in Ukraine, according to a report from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

But details of the plan, such as where to set a possible price cap, have not yet been decided.

The plan also requires a hefty global buy-in and participation from countries, including China and India, that have benefited heavily from the discounted Russian crude.

Yellen spoke by phone to Chinese Vice Premier Liu He last week and met with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the sidelines of last week's G-20 summit in Bali, though the outcome of those talks is largely unknown.

Striking the right price point is key: too low, and leaders risk Russia retaliating and shutting down production altogether; too high, and the cap fails to achieve its intended effect.

And if the price cap is successful, "you're not going to see any difference in the price of oil," James Stock, a Harvard Kennedy School economist who served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama, told the Washington Examiner in an interview last week.

"The only thing you'd see is a difference in the price of revenues to Russia and the profits of the refiners who are able to purchase the Russian oil," Stock added.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... 64196688d7
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Re: RUSSIA

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RIGZONE

"European Gas Prices Rise Over Russian Pipeline Uncertainty"


by Bloomberg | Anna Shiryaevskaya

Monday, July 25, 2022

European natural gas prices rose for a fourth consecutive session as Russia offered little clarity on future flows via the key Nord Stream pipeline.

While the link is shipping gas to Germany at a consistent rate of 40% of capacity following the end of maintenance on July 21, the Kremlin and gas giant Gazprom PJSC signaled that the European Commission’s sanctions on Russia pose further risks to the supplies.

Benchmark European prices climbed as much as 6.7%.

In a new twist on Monday, Gazprom indicated potential further delays for the return of a turbine that pumps gas into Nord Stream because the paperwork provided doesn’t answer all the gas exporter’s questions.

The documents “raise additional questions” and issues around the sanctions haven’t been resolved, Gazprom said.

The critical piece of equipment was first delayed by sanctions after repairs in Canada.

While it was finally shipped to Germany, it remains there after missing a ferry sailing on Saturday to Helsinki amid paperwork delays, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.

The turbine needs to be reinstalled at a compressor station in Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week warned that flows via Nord Stream could decline to 20% if a turbine isn’t received in time to replace another that’s likely to need repairs.

“Gazprom still has open questions about sanctions imposed by the EC and the UK, and their resolution is important for the delivery of the turbine to Russia and urgent maintenance of other turbines,” the Russian company said in a statement.

The Kremlin earlier on Monday tried to ease the market, saying the repaired component will be re-installed.

However, it warned that any further sanctions on Russia may weigh on how much gas it can supply to Europe.

“The turbine will be installed after all the technical formalities have been completed, and the flows will be at the levels that are technologically possible,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The situation may change “if Europe continues its course of absolutely recklessly imposing sanctions and restrictions,” he said.

Uncertain about the future level of Russian flows, the European Union is on a mission to save as much gas as possible ahead of the peak winter demand season.

The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on all EU member states to participate in the effort to save gas, regardless of how dependent they are on Russia for the fuel.

“Putin has suggested that if the turbine is not back early this week, then gas flow may fall to 20% capacity even though originally this turbine wasn’t expected to be needed until September,” Deutsche Bank AG said in a research note.

“So, watch out for gas politics.”

Still, even limited volumes via Nord Stream have helped Germany and its embattled utility Uniper SE stabilize gas storage levels.

Inventories are now at 65.9%, and the country’s storage is back on a “proper path,” according to federal network agency BNetzA.

Germany’s next goal is to reach 75% by Sept. 1, in line with a government target announced last week, Klaus Mueller, head of the agency, said in a Twitter post on Monday.

Uniper, which was bailed out by the government last week, had to take gas from its storage sites in Germany when Russian flows dwindled.

Its storage facilities in Germany resumed injections on Saturday and are now 53.1% full, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe show.

A Uniper spokesman confirmed the company is filling its own booked storage capacities again.

Nord Stream flowing at only 40% of capacity “is not enough for Germany’s energy hunger and there is still great uncertainty on whether the Russian leadership will turn off the gas tap completely,” said Claus Niegsch, industry analyst at DZ Bank.

“This is particularly worrying for industrial companies because planning for the coming months is becoming increasingly difficult.”

Dutch front-month futures, the European benchmark, rose 5.4% to 168.52 euros per megawatt-hour by 3:14 p.m. in Amsterdam. UK front-month gas edged down 2.6%.

European power also inched up on gas prices.

German front-year power rose as much at 0.9% to 339.50 euros per megawatt-hour.

--With assistance from Elena Mazneva, Vanessa Dezem, and Todd Gillespie.

https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/europ ... 8-article/
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REUTERS

"Europe agrees emergency gas curbs, Kyiv says Russia supply curbs are 'price terror'"


By Kate Abnett

July 26, 2022

Summary

* EU ministers agree to emergency gas use cuts

* Voluntary cuts would become binding in supply emergency

* Final deal exempts numerous countries, industries

* EU racing to save gas as Russia slashes supply


BRUSSELS, July 26 (Reuters) - European Union countries bracing for further cuts in Russian gas supply on Tuesday approved a weakened emergency plan to curb demand, after striking compromise deals to limit reductions for some countries.

Europe faces a tighter gas squeeze from Wednesday, when Russia's Gazprom has said it would cut flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany to a fifth of capacity.

With a dozen EU countries already facing lower Russian supplies, Brussels is urging member states to save gas and store it for winter, fearing Russia will completely cut off flows in retaliation for sanctions over the Ukraine war.

Energy ministers approved a proposal for all EU countries to voluntarily cut gas use by 15% in the August-March period from the average from 2017-2021.

The cuts could be made binding in a supply emergency, provided a majority of EU countries agree.

But members agreed to exempt numerous industries from the binding 15% cut.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the agreement would show Russian President Vladimir Putin that Europe remained united.

"You will not split us," Habeck said.


Hungary was the only country that opposed the deal, two EU officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia was cutting supplies to impose "price terror" against Europe.

"Using Gazprom, Moscow is doing all it can to make this coming winter as harsh as possible for the European countries."

"Terror must be answered - impose sanctions," he said in a video address on Tuesday.

Gazprom has blamed its latest reduction on needing to halt operation of a turbine.

EU energy chief Kadri Simson dismissed that reason, calling the move "politically motivated".

Simson said the agreement should ensure countries save enough gas to survive an average winter if Russia fully cut supplies now, but an unusually cold winter would require more severe measures.

Russia supplied 40% of EU gas before it invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

SOLIDARITY, SAVINGS

The EU deal would exempt from the binding 15% gas cut Ireland, Malta and Cyprus.

These countries are not connected to other member states' gas networks and therefore could not share spare gas if needed.

Countries with a limited ability to export gas to other EU countries can request a lower target, provided they export what they can.

That could include Spain, which does not rely on Russian gas and had initially opposed the plan.

"Everyone understands that when someone asks for help, you have to help," Spanish Energy Minister Teresa Ribera said.

Countries that overachieve an EU target for filling gas storage by August could also face weaker targets, potentially softening cuts for roughly a dozen states with relatively full storage, including Germany and Italy.

States can exempt gas used in critical industries, such as energy-intensive steelmaking.

Italian Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani said the country's binding target would be nearer 7% than 15%, once gas reductions it has made compared with previous years were taken into account.

News of the latest supply drop has driven gas prices higher, adding to the cost of filling storage, while creating incentives to use less.

On Tuesday, the benchmark front-month Dutch contract rose more than 10% and is around 430% higher than a year ago.

The plan has tested countries' solidarity.

Poland approved the deal, but Climate Minister Anna Moskwa said one country's industry should not be forced to use less gas to help other states.

Others were more positive, including Malta and Portugal, which won softer targets.

Maltese energy minister Miriam Dalli said the deal reflected countries' varying energy situations.

"We managed to pass on a strong message of solidarity," she said.

Some raised concern the savings would still not be enough to avert a winter shortage.

Levels vary between countries, but the EU has reduced its combined gas use by only 5%, despite months of soaring prices and Russian supplies.

"Fifteen percent will probably not be enough, given what the Russians have just announced," Irish Environment Minister Eamon Ryan said.

Reporting by Kate Abnett, Philip Blenkinsop, Robin Emmott, Marine Strauss, Gabriela Baczynska, Giselda Vagnoni and David Ljunggren; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop, Matthew Lewis, Barbara Lewis and Jan Harvey

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-07-26/
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REUTERS

"Kremlin: Nord Stream 1 turbine not arrived yet, a second has defects"


Reuters

July 26, 2022

Summary

* Kremlin: second turbine showing defects

* Kremlin: first turbine has not arrived

* Medvedev: the cold is coming to Europe

* Lavrov: no proper explanation on turbine issue


MOSCOW, July 26 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that a gas turbine for Nord Stream 1, Russia's biggest gas pipeline to Europe, had not yet arrived after maintenance in Canada and that a second turbine was showing defects.

The European Union has repeatedly accused Russia of resorting to energy blackmail but the Kremlin says shortfalls in supply have been caused by maintenance issues and the impact of Western sanctions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the sanctions against Russia had critically complicated the work of Nord Stream 1, which is reducing gas supplies to Europe to just 20% of its capacity amid maintenance.

State-controlled gas giant Gazprom has said flows would fall to 33 million cubic metres per day, a fifth of the normal capacity, from Wednesday because it needed to halt the operation of a Siemens gas turbine at a compressor station on instructions from an industry watchdog.

This would halve the current, already reduced, level.

Turbines at the Baltic Sea Portovaya compressor station, which has eight compressors each with at least one turbine, push the gas through the 1,224 km pipeline under the sea to Germany, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

"The removal of gas turbines from the compressor station site to carry out routine maintenance is unusual; the systems are usually designed so that any necessary work can be carried out on site," the institute said in a research note.

"However, the reason for sending the gas turbine to Canada, where it was reportedly manufactured, may have been that it needed major repairs and/or was due a major overhaul."

"It is unclear whether any of the other turbines will need to be sent to Canada for any repairs or major overhaul."

Russia expects the first turbine, serviced by Siemens Energy, to arrive from Canada after maintenance.

"Yes, indeed, there are some defects with the turbines."

"The turbine has not arrived after a major maintenance, it's on its way."

"We hope that it will happen... sooner rather than later," Peskov said.

"The situation is critically complicated by the restrictions and sanctions, which had been imposed against our country," Peskov said, adding that Nord Stream 1 would have worked normally without the sanctions.

Peskov added that a second turbine also had some defects, referring to the equipment which Gazprom is expected to stop on Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking during a visit to Uganda, also said on Tuesday that Gazprom will have to switch off that turbine at the Portovaya compressor station of Nord Stream 1 due to security reasons.

He did not clarify what he meant.

'COLD IS COMING'

Russia has repeatedly cautioned that European customers will face serious price rises if the European Union goes ahead with plans to reduce reliance on Russia's vast energy resources.

Russia is the world's second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and the world's largest exporter of natural gas.

Europe imports about 40% its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia, a point keenly emphasised by some Russian officials.

"The cold is coming soon," former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said on Telegram.

"Nobody has cancelled winter, and alternative supplies of gas, oil and coal are expensive or simply unrealistic," said Medvedev, who once served as chairman of Gazprom's board.

Lavrov said that Moscow had still not received a proper explanation about the status of the first turbine from the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline that was serviced by Siemens Energy in Canada.

"No one can clearly explain to us in the documents, what the status is now, firstly, of this turbine, and other turbines that must undergo routine maintenance in Canada," Lavrov said.

Gazprom said on Monday it had received documentation on the turbine but some issues and risks remained.

The German company has said it saw no link between the turbine issue and the gas cuts implemented or announced by Gazprom.

Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Susan Fenton

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-07-26/
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REUTERS

"Nord Stream gas row deepens as Gazprom airs new complaints on turbine"


Reuters

July 29, 2022

MOSCOW, July 29 (Reuters) - Delivery of a Nord Stream 1 gas turbine to Germany from Canada after maintenance was not in line with the contract, Gazprom's senior manager said on Friday, stepping up criticism of manufacturer Siemens Energy.

The comments signalled a deepening of a row in which Russia has cited turbine problems as its reason for cutting gas supply via Nord Stream 1 - its main gas link to Europe - to just 20% of capacity from Wednesday.


Vitaly Markelov, Gazprom's deputy chief executive, also said Russia had complained repeatedly to Siemens Energy about problems with other turbines.

"We have repeatedly applied to the Russian representative office of Siemens about this, sent 10 letters."

"Siemens fixed no more than a quarter of the identified bugs," he said in a TV interview.

He cited the serial numbers of three other engines that needed repair by Siemens because of faults in May and June that had put them in a state of forced downtime.

Siemens Energy declined to respond to Markelov's comments.

The company referred to a previous statement made on Wednesday in which it said it had no access to the turbines on site and had not received any damage reports from Gazprom and so had to assume the turbines were operating normally.

The European Union disputes Russia's and Gazprom's argument that turbine problems are to blame for the sharp drop in supply through the pipeline that links Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

The shortfall has raised the risk of shortages and gas rationing in Europe this winter.

Siemens Energy has previously countered Gazprom's criticism over its service by saying it is up to the Russian company to file customs documents for the turbine's return.

With both sides trading economic blows since Russia sent its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, the European Union has accused Russia of energy blackmail, something the Kremlin denies.

Markelov said the turbine that had been serviced in Canada had still not arrived back in Russia.

"It was sent to Germany, not to Russia, without Gazprom's consent," he said, adding that this created sanctions risks.

Gazprom also needs to send for repair other turbines from the Portovaya compressor station.

"There is no clarity that the maintenance of the gas turbine engines will not fall under the sanctions," Markelov said.

Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Trevelyan, David Holmes and Jane Merriman

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-07-29/
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