Gazprom halts gas supplies to Latvia over violation of purchase rules
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Gazprom announced via Telegram that the company suspended its gas supplies to Latvia due to its violations of the conditions of purchase.
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Gazprom
Russian energy giant Gazprom halted gas supplies to Latvia on Saturday amid tensions with western countries over the Ukraine war and the extensive US and European sanctions against Russia.
"Today, Gazprom suspended its gas supplies to Latvia... due to violations of the conditions" of purchase, the company said on Telegram.
The Russian gas deliveries via the Nord Stream pipeline fell to 20% of their capacity and reached 1.3 million cubic meters per hour on Wednesday, operator Nord Stream AG confirmed.
The decrease in deliveries is due to the withdrawal of another Siemens turbine, as per the operator.
Gazprom said the operation of one of the last two operating turbines for the pipeline has been suspended due to the "technical condition of the engine".
Sanctions disrupting supplies of Russian gas: Kremlin
All of the technical difficulties associated with the disruption of supplies of Russian gas are the result of western sanctions and restrictions, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
These technological issues do not allow an increase in the volume of gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the Spokesperson stressed.
Canada on Sunday shipped to Germany the repaired Nord Stream turbine that has been stranded in Montreal for over a week due to sanctions imposed on Russia, the Russian Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The fixed turbine should arrive in Russia by July 24.
A week earlier, Canadian Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the Nord Stream 1 turbines sent to Canada for maintenance would be returned to Germany instead of Russia due to the anti-Moscow sanctions.
Under the current circumstances, Gazprom said it would be impossible to draw an objective conclusion about any further development of the situation regarding ensuring the safe operation of the Portovaya compressor station, "which is a critical facility for the Nord Stream gas pipeline."
Moscow had repeatedly warned that further maintenance delays could result in a complete shutdown of gas flows via the pipeline network.
Read: Finland: Politicians warned that Russia will cut off gas pipeline
