Russia’s Gazprom has halted the flow of natural gas to Europe through Nord Stream 1
(Picture: Bloomberg via Getty Images)Russia has halted the flow of natural gas through a major pipeline to Europe, claiming it needs to carry out maintenance.
State-controlled energy giant Gazprom announced in advance it would be cutting the flow through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
It said earlier this month that the flow of gas would cease for just three days, until Saturday.
According to Gazprom, the only remaining turbine, which is located at the Portovaya compressor station, needs routine maintenance.
The head of Germany's Federal Network Agency, Klaus Mueller, has said the maintenance work is technically incomprehensible and he considers it a way of punishing Germany for siding with Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
Gazprom has repeatedly reduced the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1 claiming technical issues such as equipment repairs. Germany calls these cuts a political move to sow uncertainty and push up prices amid the war in Ukraine.
Russia has also reduced the flow of gas to other European countries which have sided with Ukraine in the war.
Russia recently has accounted for about a third of Germany's gas supplies. The government said last week that the drop in gas flows confirmed that Germany can't rely on Russian deliveries, announcing that it would step up its gas storage requirements and take further measures to conserve supplies.
