Ukraine War: Germany Fears Permanent Russian Gas Supply Cut-Off, Warns EU Countries To Be Prepared For Crisis

The supplies of Russian natural gas to Germany through the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 have been stopped for the last ten days due to annual maintenance work. The German lawmaker Robert Habeck has warned the European Union (EU) countries to be prepared if the gas supplies don't resume beyond maintenance work. The lawmaker has also accused the Kremlin of using 'Gas as a Weapon' in response to sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Amid the ongoing war, countries like Germany could dip into recession if Russia didn't resume the natural gas supply as the country heavily relies on gas imports for production works in the domestic industry. The lawmaker Habeck too admitted that Germany is massively dependent on Russia to meet its gas requirements. He said, "a grave political mistake as we can see today, which we are trying to remedy as quickly as we possibly can".

In June 2022, Russian gas firm Gazprom halted gas supply through Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 to just 40 percent of the pipeline's total capacity. Following this, it blamed hindrance in return of serviced equipment by German's Siemens Energy. As in summer, pipeline maintenance works are common as gas demand overseas is lower compared to winter months, but the Germans now fear discontinuation in gas supply by Russians.

'Europe Needs To Prepare'

The Russian energy producer has already cut natural gas supplies to countries including Bulgaria, Poland, Netherlands, Finland, and Denmark over their defiance of the new Russian payment scheme. The pipeline shutdown is also affecting Italy as their energy group 'Eni' received about a third less gas from Russia than the volumes supplied over the past few months.

The chief of the International Energy Agency, Faith Birol, has now warned the European nations that Russia may completely shut down its gas supplies. In such circumstances, 'Europe Needs to Prepare,' reported BBC. Countries, where Russian gas supplies go through the pipeline crossing Ukraine, are also affected.

However, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, Germany has consistently pulled out of its dependency on Russian supplies. Germany's Siemens Energy has already reduced its reliance on natural gas supply from Russia by 20 percent and wants to stop relying entirely upon it. A German lawmaker confirmed that two floating terminals for the production of liquefied natural gas, LNG is all set to be ready by the end of the year. Since Germany is dependent on Russia to make ends meet, the sudden cut in natural gas supplies could trip the country into recession, believes economists.

'Tit For Tat' Situation

Jointly, European nations and the United States have conducted an operation over the last three months to restrict multi-national companies like Apple Inc., Airbnb, and American Express from entering the Russian market in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germany is not behind in the race as even they banned companies like Adidas, Allianz, and BASF from existing in the Russian market. This move by US and EU nations has severely affected the economy of Russia and is still affecting it. In a possible rebuttal, Russia now might restrict services to these nations.

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