Russia reduces natural gas through European pipeline again

Berlin: Russia's Gazprom announced a reduction in natural gas flows through a key European pipeline for the second day in a row on Wednesday, hours after Germany's vice chancellor said its initial move appeared to be political rather than a result of technical problems.

The state-owned energy giant said on Twitter that deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany would be cut again Thursday, bringing the overall reduction through the undersea pipeline to 60%.

The new cut came a day after Gazprom said it would reduce flows by 40% after Canadian sanctions over the war in Ukraine prevented German partner Siemens Energy from delivering overhauled equipment. It blamed the same issue for the additional reduction.

Gazprom also told Italian gas giant Eni that it would reduce gas through a different pipeline by roughly 15% on Wednesday. The reason for the reduction has not been made clear, and the Italian company said it was monitoring the situation.