by Steve Scherer and Tom Käckenhoff
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada will grant a sanctions waiver to return repaired Russian turbines needed for maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Germany, Canada’s natural resources minister announced on Saturday.
The Canadian government said its decision to issue this “revocable, time-limited permit” would support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as it emerges from its dependence on gas and oil. Russians”.
Canada also announced that it would expand sanctions against Russia’s energy sector to include industrial manufacturing activities.
Russian giant Gazprom has cut capacity on the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which links Russia to Europe, to just 40% of its usual levels, citing the delay in delivering equipment repaired by German firm Siemens Energy to Canada.
In a statement, Siemens Energy said it is working to get the turbine to the Nord Stream pipeline as quickly as possible.
Canada estimated that “without a necessary supply of natural gas, the German economy will suffer very significant difficulties and Germans themselves may be unable to heat their homes as winter approaches”.
The German government welcomes “the decision of (its) Canadian friends and allies”, said a spokesperson.
The Ukrainian ministries of energy and foreign affairs have declared that this decision, which they are asking for the cancellation, amounted to adapting the sanctions imposed on Moscow “to the whims of Russia”.
The Kremlin announced on Friday that it would increase gas deliveries to Europe if the turbines were returned.
(Report Steve Scherer in Ottawa and David Shepardson in Washington; with Thomas Escritt in Berlin; French version Camille Raynaud and Laetitia Volga)
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