Canada revokes Russian sanctions exemption that allowed return of Nord Stream turbine | Globalnews.ca

Canada is revoking the exemptions to sanctions that allowed a Montreal company to repair turbines for a natural gas pipeline operated by Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.

A joint statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson on Wednesday said the decision to revoke the temporary waiver was made after Russia failed to return the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to full capacity once Canada agreed to return an under-repair turbine in July, which Moscow claimed was essential for the pipeline’s operation.

“In fact, Russia has refused to accept the turbine that had been repaired and returned under this waiver, and it remains in Germany to this day,” the statement reads.

The permit granted Siemens Canada an exemption to sanctions against Russia for two years starting in early July and would allow the company to import and repair up to five more turbines as per their maintenance schedule.

The parts would be sent back to Germany for use in Gazprom’s Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which ordinarily supplies natural gas to that country but is currently shut down, with the Russian state-controlled company blaming problems on a gas leak.

That leak was created in September by an explosion on part of the pipeline that runs under the Baltic Sea that Swedish investigators have called an act of “sabotage.”

The Ukrainian government criticized Canada for issuing the waiver this summer, which Ottawa said at the time was necessary to support Europe during the energy crisis caused by the war.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress urged the federal government in September to “show strength” by cancelling the permit and to further toughen its sanctions regime against Russia.

The statement from Joly and Wilkinson said Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been forced to show that his intention was never to return Nord Stream 1 to full operation” despite the Kremlin blaming Canada for prolonging its reduced exports at the time.

Issuing the permit was Canada’s way of calling “Putin’s bluff,” it added.

With the pipeline inoperable, the ministers said the sanctions waiver “no longer serves its intended purpose.” The decision to revoke it came after discussions with Ukrainian, German and other European allies, they added.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed “Europe’s energy security, in particular related to critical supply chains” with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday, according to a readout from the prime minister’s office.

—With files from the Canadian Press

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