Canadian authorities considered that gas transit through Ukraine would not replace Nord Stream

Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said that the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine will not be able to become an alternative to Nord Stream for Germany. The words of a politician leads Bloomberg agency.

Speaking to lawmakers in Ottawa, Wilkinson noted that Germany cannot rely on gas transit through Ukraine as a replacement for Nord Stream. According to him, such a scheme is not feasible due to bandwidth limitations.

“The bottom line is that the expected flow of gas to Germany through a pipeline from Russia through Ukraine would be significantly less than that which can go through the Nord Stream,” the minister explained. He added that the risks are also associated with the military conflict on the territory of Ukraine.

Thus, Wilkinson responded to the criticism of the Ukrainian side about the transfer of the turbine to Germany Siemens. According to him, Canada’s actions only “exposed the bluff” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and left no excuse for Gazprom to further reduce gas supplies via Nord Stream.

Later, Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Yulia Kovaliv refuted the Canadian minister’s statement about the insufficient capacity of the gas pipeline that passes through Ukraine. Kovaliv said that it supplies more gas to Europe than Nord Stream.

In mid-June “Gazprom” cut deliveries via Nord Stream to 40%, as the German Siemens did not return the turbine on time after repairs in Canada due to sanctions. As a result of the negotiations, Canada agreed to send the equipment to Germany and then to Russia. On July 25, Gazprom confirmed that it had received documents for the turbine from Siemens.

As early as July 27, Russian gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream dropped to 20% of their maximum level. This happened due to the fact that Gazprom decommissioned another gas turbine engine at the Portovaya compressor station. The company explained that the equipment has expired the time between overhauls before overhaul.

In response to the statements of the German authorities about the readiness of the turbine for shipment to Russia, Gazprom noted that they could not deliver the equipment due to the sanctions of the EU, Canada and the UK. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said the day before that the company is waiting for documents from Western countries that the turbine is not subject to sanctions.

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