Russia will halt natural gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of August via its main pipeline into the region, energy giant Gazprom said on Friday.
The decision will put immense pressure on the region as it seeks to refuel ahead of the upcoming winter, reports Reuters.
According to the report, the unscheduled maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, deepens an energy standoff between Moscow and Brussels which has already helped send inflation surging in the region.
The Nord Stream pipeline had already been running at just a fifth of its capacity, stoking fears that Russia could halt flows completely heading into the winter heating season and make it more difficult to fill up storage facilities.
In a statement, Russian multinational company Gazprom said the shutdown was because the pipeline's only remaining compressor requires maintenance. Gas flows via other pipeline routes also have fallen since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
The European Union has accused Russia of using energy as a weapon. Moscow has denied the charge and has blamed sanctions for the drop in exports.
The move will bring further disruption, particularly for Germany, which depends largely on deliveries from Moscow to power its industry.
"We are monitoring the situation closely with the Federal Network Agency," a spokesperson for Germany's economy ministry said.
The shutdown, to run from 31 August- 2 September, follows a 10-day maintenance curtailment in July, and raised fears over whether Russia would resume supplies, which have been reduced since mid-June.
Ukraine's gas transmission system operator said it and the Polish gas pipeline system can compensate for the Nord Stream halt, and allow Russian gas to reach Europe.
Germany has had to give Uniper - its largest importer of Russian gas and the highest-profile corporate victim of Europe's energy crisis so far - a 15 billion euro ($15.1 billion) bailout after Russia drastically cut flows, forcing it to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices.
Before Gazprom announced the shutdown, gas prices in Europe remained close to five-month highs.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
