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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Russia’s Gazprom has told customers in Europe that it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of “extraordinary” circumstances, according to a letter seen by the Reuters news agency, upping the ante in an economic tit-for-tat with the West over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian state gas monopoly said in a letter dated July 14 that it was retroactively declaring force majeure on supplies from June 14. The news comes as Nord Stream 1 (NS1), the key pipeline delivering Russian gas to Germany and beyond, is undergoing 10 days of annual maintenance scheduled to conclude on Thursday.
The letter added to fears in Europe that Moscow may not restart the pipeline at the end of the maintenance period in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine, heightening an energy crisis that risks tipping the region into recession.
Known as an “act of God” clause, force majeure is standard in business contracts and defines extreme circumstances that release a party from their legal obligations. The declaration does not necessarily mean that Gazprom will stop deliveries, rather that it should not be held responsible if it fails to meet contract terms.
[...] Russian gas supplies have been declining via major routes for some months, including via Ukraine and Belarus as well as through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea.
[...] The grace period for payments on two of Gazprom’s international bonds expires on July 19, and if foreign creditors are not paid by then the company will be technically in default.
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Thursday July 21 2022, @07:17PM (3 children)
Or is the government sticking their collective head in the sand?
I don't know, but politicians do like kicking the can down the road. If Germany is smart, they ought to be finding ways to live with no Russian gas this winter. Really, they ought to turn off the tap at their end.
Anything else is opening themselves to Russian blackmail.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2022, @07:31PM
Easy to say, not so easy to do. Natural gas is the most common house heating fuel in Germany,
https://www.wingas.com/fileadmin/wingas_news/2020/2020-07-23-BDEW-Umfrage-WEB-EN.pdf [wingas.com]
(Score: 2) by RedGreen on Thursday July 21 2022, @07:37PM
"Anything else is opening themselves to Russian blackmail."
They are more than happy for that there response from the start of this has proven it. They are apologists chicken shits who only grudgingly got in on the hard part of supporting Ukraine when it became obvious the Ukrainians were not going to just roll over and accept being a Russia lapdog. They still only do half measures even with all that has happened they try to have it both ways pretending full support while not doing anything like the needed measures. More than a few of the scummy countries that supposedly support the Ukraine do this like my useless fucking country Canada, sending back the gas pipe turbines so Russia has the blackmail option still at their disposal.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 2) by looorg on Thursday July 21 2022, @08:31PM
Nice heating/energy system you have there ... would be ashamed if something was to happen to it ...
But yes. They all got sucked down into the green wave of the future after Fukushima cause apparently all German nuclear plants was going to be swept away in a Gojiro like tidal wave; even tho there is no German Gojiro or earthquakes or tsunamis etc. I guess we call that feelgood-planning or something.
A lot of European countries that have been sucking on Putins gas-pipeline are currently desperately trying to find alternatives -- Green Coal is a thing right? Or buying Gas from someone slightly less volatile etc. The problem with their nuclear plants is that they can't just be turned on again cause a lot of them have already started their decommission cycle and there is no big red abort button. Some are planning to build new once but that is going to take years and well the problem is now and it's hard to keep warm during the winter on future planning.
So I guess a better question is how long until certain countries start to waiver on that whole free Ukraine thing. Slightly depending on how cold the winter is going to get. If it gets real cold and shitty then they might be starting to lose friends by every single drop of the Celsius.