Ukrainian World Congress seeks to stop Nord Stream turbine's return via court
MOSCOW. July 13 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) has appealed to a court for declaring unauthorized and unreasonable the Canadian government's decision to let Siemens Canada return the repaired turbines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany, as it seeks a repeal of the respective waiver, the UWC said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
"Over the past several days, the Ukrainian World Congress together with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress has been pleading with the Government of Canada to revoke the waiver provided to Siemens Canada, which allows the return of repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to Germany," the statement said.
"To date, our efforts have been unsuccessful, and we have had no choice but to take legal action. Today in the Federal Court of Canada, the Ukrainian World Congress has filed a notice of application for judicial review together with Daniel Bilak, a Canadian citizen, practicing lawyer, and current resident of Ukraine," it said.
"If the court decides that the decision to grant the permit was unreasonable, it can quash the permit, effectively upholding the sanctions regime," Monique Jilesen, Partner at Lenczner Slaght and legal counsel to the co-applicants said.
The Nord Stream pipeline, the main channel for Russian gas supply to Europe, suspended operation in the morning of July 11 for scheduled maintenance, which is due to end in the morning of July 21.
Previously Nord Stream operated at 40% capacity, because one of the pipeline's turbines has not returned from the major overhaul at the plant in Montreal owing to Canadian sanctions.
Siemens said it was unable to deliver the repaired gas turbine of the Nord Stream pipeline due to the Canadian sanctions against Russia. The German Ministry of Economic Affairs said the turbines could be returned as they would be delivered to Germany instead of Russia.
The Canadian authorities said on July 11 they were planning to bring the Siemens turbine back to Europe as a waiver from the sanctions.