Canadian Government Will Allow Return of Pipeline Turbine to Gazprom

July 11, 2022 (EIRNS)—Reuters reported July 10 that Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson announced the Siemens-built turbine, which was shipped to Siemens in Montreal for reconditioning in May, would be returned to Gazprom. He said the government is issuing a “time-limited and revocable permit” to exempt the return of turbines from its Russian sanctions, to support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas.” (In other words, as they panic and ration natural gas.) Russia had said only on July 8 that the flow of gas to Europe, now cut by 60% on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, would be restored when and if it got back the repaired turbine. That pipeline shuts down today for the annual 10 days of maintenance. Wilkinson said, “Absent a necessary supply of natural gas, the German economy will suffer very significant hardship and Germans themselves will be at risk of being unable to heat their homes as winter approaches.”

To palliate NATO and Ukraine, which have demanded that Canada keep the turbine and are driving a Ukrainian diaspora campaign in Canada to block its return, Ottawa’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced on July 9 a new wave of anti-industrial sanctions against Russia: “These new sanctions will apply to land and pipeline transport and the manufacturing of metals and of transport, computer, electronic and electrical equipment, as well as of machinery. Once the measures are in effect, Canadian businesses will have 60 days to conclude contracts with targeted industries and services.”