The Turbine's Adventures: How the New Gas War Looks Like

Alexey Gromov commented on the current situation with Russian gas supplies via Nord Stream 1 to Forbes.

Gazprom's position is quite expected: since there were problems with the repair of the first turbine, it means that the company must fully insure itself against the risks of further problems with the repair of other equipment, the deadline for which is already approaching, Aleksey Gromov, Principal Director on Energy Studies of the Institute for Energy and Finance says. “In fact, the non-repair interval for these turbines should have come up around September, but Gazprom is preempting events and, in my opinion, is acting quite reasonably, because stopping gas supplies to Europe in September is a much harder story, including for Europeans than to do it in July,” Gromov believes.

What is happening is actions designed to solve, at least in the short term, problems with possible sanctions risks of further repair of gas pumping equipment, the expert notes. Gazprom, Gromov believes, in fact wants to obtain from the EU states and other countries, including Canada, some legal guarantees that further repairs and maintenance of equipment operating on the Nord Stream will be removed from sanctions regime.