Nord Stream

Russian state-backed energy company Gazprom is ready to pay the Kremlin 2.5 billion rubles after posting record profits.

The company reported a net profit of 2.5 billion rubles for the first six months of this year. Oil and gas prices rose during that period, pushed up by supply concerns following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has stopped the supply of natural gas through the Nord Stream pipeline, Russian and Western news agencies reported.

Russian energy giant Gazprom cut off its gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for maintenance work on Wednesday, further raising tensions on an already taut electricity market.

Entsog, the operator of the pipeline, announced that gas deliveries had been halted shortly before 0600 GMT.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine more than 6 months ago has caused a dramatic spike in natural gas prices and caused repeated energy shocks in Europe. The EU has accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon, while Russia denies this and blames western sanctions for the drop in exports.

The price of natural gas on the Dutch exchange TTF reached 341 euros per megawatt hour yesterday, and electricity supply contracts in Germany and France broke all records. Against this background, the Czech Presidency of the European Union announced that it is preparing an extraordinary meeting of energy ministers.

The price of electricity in Europe jumped by more than 25%, according to the prices of the European Electricity Exchange, Bloomberg reports. That's about 14 times the seasonal average over the past five years. The increase in prices is due to the concerns related to the shutdown of the Nord Stream.

Ukraine has offered to provide its gas transmission network for the delivery of Russian gas to Europe after Nord Stream 1 has been failing so much lately and constantly having to shut down the gas on it.

"Gazprom" announced that it will stop the gas on this pipeline again for a technical inspection from August 31 to September 2.

According to data from the London Stock Exchange ICE, natural gas prices on the European market crossed the $3,000 mark for 1,000 cubic meters for the first time since the beginning of March.

Russian gas deliveries to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline will cease from August 31 to September 2 for "maintenance", Russian energy giant Gazprom has said, raising the prospect of energy shortages in Europe.

European gas prices soared to a new record high at the close of trading on Aug. 19 after Gazprom's announcement. 

The price of gas on the spot market in Europe rose to 261 euros per megawatt hour after Gazprom announced that it would temporarily stop the supply of blue fuel through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.