Canada brings back sanctions against Nord Stream turbines PHOTO

Canada said it would revoke a time-limited sanctions waiver that allowed turbines for Nord Stream 1, Russia’s biggest gas pipeline to Europe, to be repaired in Montreal and returned to Germany.

This announcement came by Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly in a joint statement with the country’s Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, published on Joly’s official Twitter account on December 14.

Caliber.Az recalls, that the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was shut down by Russia due to alleged repair works on August 31, but never restarted and subsequently damaged by the series of yet unexplained explosions that occurred in the Baltic Sea in September 2022.

“Canada is making this decision recognizing that the circumstances around granting the waiver have changed, it no longer serves its intended purpose”, the statement reads.

As Bloomberg reported earlier, the mentioned turbines are being manufactured by the German Siemens Energy AG but they need regular servicing at a facility in Montreal. A return shipment was halted when Canada unveiled sanctions in June that prohibited companies from providing services to Russia’s energy industry.

The publication argues, that with Nord Stream being down due to the explosions and Germany signing contracts for other sources of gas, the turbine issue has faded in importance, giving the Canadian government room to revoke its waiver.

This theory is also partially reflected in the Canadian statement, reading “Given that Putin has been forced that his intention was never to return Nord Stream 1 to full operation, […], the Government of Canada has decided to revoke the time-limited sanctions”.

It further states, that Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister announced the transfer of Canadian $115 million collected in tariff revenues on imports from Russia and Belarus to repair works on Ukraine’s power grid.

Our joint statement regarding the Nordstream 1 turbine. pic.twitter.com/i8swuGpmQw

— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) December 14, 2022