Federal Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson speaks to the media at the COP15 biodiversity conference Monday, December 12, 2022 in Montreal. Jonathan Wilkinson says 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. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
OTTAWA – Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says 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.
In July, Siemens Energy was granted an exemption to Canada’s sanctions against Russia to repair up to six turbines for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which carries natural gas to Germany.
The federal government defended the decision by saying that it was “calling the bluff” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Canada accused of withholding gas exports to Europe.
In September, an explosion on part of the pipeline that runs under the Baltic Sea rendered it inoperable in what Swedish investigators have called an act of sabotage.
As a result, Wilkinson says the sanctions waiver “no longer serves its intended purpose.”
He says in a written statement the decision was made with allies in Ukraine, Germany and the rest of Europe.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2022.
