Russia halted gas supplies via Europe’s key supply route, intensifying an economic battle between Moscow and Brussels. Raising the prospects of recession and energy rationing in some of the region’s richest countries.
European governments fear Moscow could extend the outage in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed after it invaded Ukraine and have accused Russia of using energy supplies as a “weapon of war”. Moscow denies doing this and has cited technical reasons for supply cuts.
Russian state energy giant Gazprom (GAZP. MM) said Nord Stream 1, the biggest pipeline carrying gas to its top customer Germany, will be out for maintenance from 0100 GMT on Aug. 31on Sept. 3. read more
The president of the German network regulator said Germany was now better prepared for the outages as its gas storage was nearly 85% filled and it was securing supplies from other sources.