On Wednesday, Russia froze gas supplies to Europe via a major pipeline, deepening an economic struggle between Moscow and Brussels and raising the risk of recession and energy rationing in some of the region’s richest countries.
According to Russian state energy company Gazprom, the interruption for maintenance on Nord Stream 1 means that no gas will flow to Germany between 0100 GMT on August 31 and 0100 GMT on September 3.
Flows were zero at 0600-0700 Central European Time (0400-0500 GMT) on Wednesday, the third hour in a straight, according to data from the Nord Stream 1 operator’s website.
European nations are concerned that Moscow would extend the outage in retribution for Western sanctions imposed on it following its invasion of Ukraine, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of using energy supplies as a ‘weapon of war.’ Moscow denies any involvement.
Further limits on European gas supplies would exacerbate an energy crisis that has already driven wholesale gas prices up by more than 400% since last August, causing a painful cost-of-living problem for individuals and businesses and pushing governments to spend billions to alleviate the burden.
In Germany, inflation reached its highest level in nearly 50 years in August, and consumer sentiment is expected to fall for the third month in a row next month as people prepare for higher energy expenditures.
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