MOSCOW, August 30. /TASS/. Nothing hampers the supply of Russian gas to Europe, except sanctions-related technological problems, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
Gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream gas pipeline will be suspended for three days from August 31 due to the repair of the only gas pumping unit remaining in operation.
"For sure, apart from technological problems caused by sanctions, nothing hampers supplies. Russia was and remains ready to fulfill all its obligations," the Kremlin spokesman said in response to a question about whether there are guarantees of resuming supplies via this route after the work was completed.
He recalled that EU countries, the UK, Canada and the US had imposed sanctions against Russia, which "do not allow normal service and repair work, and gives no rooms for the legal registration of the return of necessary units and assemblies to their places of operation." There are no other obstacles facing Russia to fulfill its obligations, Peskov noted.
"This concerns those irrational actions of Europeans, which are very difficult to understand and, probably, impossible to explain, but for which ordinary citizens have to pay a lot," he concluded.
The Nord Stream gas pipeline, which supplies gas from Russia to Europe, has been operating at about 20% of its maximum capacity since July 27 due to the shutdown of several gas turbines. One of them, made in Canada by Siemens Energy, was sent to Montreal for repairs. Due to Ottawa’s sanctions against Russia, the manufacturer initially refused to return the repaired turbine to Germany, but after numerous requests from Berlin, the company decided to do it. On July 25, Gazprom announced the forced shutdown of another gas turbine engine at the Portovaya compressor station. Consequently, only one turbine remains in operation.