An executive from the Montreal company that repaired a turbine for a Russian gas pipeline earlier this year says it sought an export permit to get “guidance” from Ottawa.
Controversy erupted this summer after Canada approved the delivery of the turbine to Germany, despite its simultaneous attempts to punish Russian companies during the invasion of Ukraine.
Siemens Energy Canada Ltd. says it halted its scheduled maintenance work on a turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, owned by Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, when Canada imposed economic sanctions on Russia in March.
The company’s managing director, Arne Wohlschlegel, told a parliamentary committee that the company informed the RCMP about its situation as soon as the sanctions were put in place, “so I would assume that knowledge was shared with the government.”…