Kharkiv under Russian artillery fire

Germany, and with it Europe, entered a period of great uncertainty on Monday regarding their imports of Russian gas, already sharply reduced in recent weeks and which could soon dry up completely. The Russian group Gazprom began maintenance work on the two Nord Stream 1 gas pipelines in the morning, which carry a large quantity of Russian gas to Germany and several other countries in western Europe. “Nord Stream is stopped (…), which means that the gas no longer circulates”the German economy ministry confirmed on Monday.

This stop, for ten days, of the two pipes, announced for a long time, was in theory only to be a technical formality. Nevertheless, in the context of the war in Ukraine, no one can bet on what will happen next. “We are facing an unprecedented situation, everything is possible”recognized this weekend the German vice-chancellor, Robert Habeck, questioned on the German public radio. “It is possible that the gas will flow again (…). It is possible that nothing more will come, and we must prepare, as always, for the worst.he added.

Moscow, citing a technical problem, has already reduced gas deliveries via Nord Stream by 60% in recent weeks, a decision denounced as ” Politics “ by Berlin. Elsewhere in Europe, Gazprom has done the same, reducing its supplies to some countries and cutting them off completely to others (France, Bulgaria, Poland, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands).

Since the start of the war, Germany has closed another Russian gas pipeline that was to be put into service, Nord Stream 2, and is making efforts to reduce its dependence, but it still remains significant: 35% of its gas imports come from Russia, compared to 55% before the war.

A lasting shutdown of Nord Stream 1 would not only penalize Europe’s largest economy: the gas that arrives in Germany continues to be transported to all of Europe. In France, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, called on Sunday to “quickly get into battle order” to deal with the possibility of a total cut in supplies, “most likely option”. A prolonged stoppage of deliveries would therefore aggravate the energy crisis in which Europe is already plunged: prices would soar and we could fear a very difficult winter. In Germany, the authorities are already considering rationing plans and calling for savings.