Europe, Britain ‘Have Been Panicking’ After Gazprom Closes Nord Stream Indefinitely – UK Media

The US and the EU have repeatedly accused Russia of “using energy as a weapon” and deploying it against the West as part of a “hybrid war” over Ukraine, allegations that Moscow vehemently rejects.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to close the Nord Stream gas pipeline has left the UK panic-stricken, Angela Knight, former chief executive of the trade association Energy UK, told Times Radio on Sunday.

She described the move as the Russian president’s attempt to unleash an economic war against the Western countries.

“He's actually playing the economic war extremely well. He's playing the psychological war extremely well. We have been panicking as a country - Europe has been panicking as well - and it's not surprising and I'm not critical of it,” Knight said.

The ex-CEO of the Energy UK also accused the government of pursuing “wrong” energy policy, which she claimed “has resulted in a lot of dependencies from external countries, and they're not all that friendly.”

Speaking of “a really nasty shock” that Britons “have had”, Knight warned that getting through this winter would be a “difficult” and “pricey” task.

“ […] There is a huge ability to reset a lot of our strategies and our policies and do that quickly so we get some more back of that sufficiency, and that will be helpful not only in the short-term but actually in the medium and long-term as well,” she added.

Nord Stream Gas Pipeline Closed Indefinitely

The remarks came after the Russian gas giant Gazprom announced on Friday that it had received a warning from the country’s technical watchdog Rostekhnadzor about a malfunction of the only remaining working engine for the Nord Stream pipeline, and that the facility has been shut down indefinitely until the issues are resolved.

“Until the issues concerning the operation of the equipment are eliminated, the transport of gas via the Nord Stream gas pipeline has been completely stopped,” Gazprom said.

According to Gazprom, an oil leak was detected during maintenance work at the Portovaya compressor station, which was carried out jointly with representatives of Siemens corporation.

Late last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Western anti-Russian sanctions had led to the suspension of Nord Stream's operations. He underlined that Moscow and Gazprom “have been committed and remain committed to their obligations and contracts, but that they “simply cannot fulfill them at present because of the restrictions and sanctions imposed by the EU, the UK and by other countries.”

Nord Stream, which is presently the only remaining major route for Russian gas deliveries to Western Europe, saw its throughput slip dramatically this summer after Canadian authorities delayed the delivery of a Siemens turbine necessary for its operation.

60% of UK Factories May 'Shut Up Shop' Due to Soaring Energy Bills

In a separate development this week, a survey conducted by the lobby group MakeUK warned that Britain’s soaring energy bills may result in the closure of at least 60% of all factories in the country.

“The current crisis is leaving businesses facing a stark choice - cut production or shut up shop altogether if help does not come soon,” the survey noted, adding that 13% of factories now have reduced hours of operation or are avoiding peak periods, while 7% are halting production for longer stretches.

MakeUK’s chief executive officer Stephen Phipson told Bloomberg news agency that “emergency action is needed by the new [UK] government,” adding that Britain is “already lagging behind” its “global competitors.”

This followed the UK energy regulator Ofgem announcing a decision last week to increase the energy price cap by 80%, to 3,549 pounds per year, starting October 1 due to soaring global energy prices.

The move was preceded by the Telegraph reporting that the UK government is considering a COVID-style grant scheme for small businesses to present to the next British prime minister, after the winner in the leadership race between Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak is announced on September 5th.

After Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the US and its allies slapped several sanction packages on Moscow, the energy situation in Europe deteriorated considerably, with inflation in the UK reaching its highest point since March 1982.

The rising cost of living has ridded roughshod over millions of UK households, prompting tens of thousands of rail and postal workers to go on strike. A study conducted last month by the University of York suggested that at least 45 million Brits may be in the grip of fuel poverty by January 2022 due to the looming energy price cap increase.