MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian natural gas giant Gazprom said on Monday that sanctions were still hampering maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, a strong signal that energy supplies to Europe remain at risk unless the West eases sanctions imposed over Ukraine.
State-controlled Gazprom said it had received papers from Siemens Energy and Canada about a turbine for Nord Stream 1 that is on a slow journey back from Montreal to Russia.
But it added that there were still problems regarding Russia’s biggest gas pipeline to Europe.
“Gazprom has studied...the documents, but has to acknowledge that they do not remove the previously identified risks and raise additional questions,” it said in a statement.
“Additionally, there are still open questions from Gazprom regarding the EU and UK sanctions, the resolution of which is important for the delivery of the engine to Russia and the urgent overhaul of other gas turbine engines for the Portovaya compressor station.”
Politicians in Europe have repeatedly warned that Russia could cut off gas flows this winter, a step that would thrust Germany into recession and lead to soaring prices for consumers already grappling with higher prices for food and energy.
The Kremlin has denied that it is seeking to use Russia’s vast energy resources to blackmail the European Union, which together with the United States and other Western nations has imposed waves of sanctions on Moscow.