German Economy and Climate Action Minister Robert Habeck speaks during a news conference on the future use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), in Berlin, Germany August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
BERLIN, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Germany faces the "bitter reality" that Russia will not restore gas supplies to the country, the German economy minister said on Monday, ahead of planned halt by state energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) of exports to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
"It won't come back ... It is the bitter reality," Robert Habeck said in a panel with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Russia will halt natural gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month for unscheduled maintenance to the Nord Stream pipeline, Gazprom said on Friday, piling pressure on the region as it seeks to refuel ahead of winter.
Already Russia has only been supplying 20% of the usual capacity of the Nord Stream 1 link from Russia to Germany.
It was not immediately possible to clarify whether Habeck meant the outage would be permanent or just that full supplies would not resume.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register
Reporting by Christian Kraemer Writing by Riham Alkousaa; editing by Barbara Lewis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
antaryon on August 29th, 2022 at 21:48 UTC »
Why are they the ones stopping it? We should be the ones not buying it.
Dazzling-Ad4701 on August 29th, 2022 at 20:04 UTC »
Well, this is good in a way. If Germany accept that door is closed, russia can't play them with it any more.
AltNationReality on August 29th, 2022 at 19:23 UTC »
The gas is there.... but no one wants the gas if it has strings attached.