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A plausible theory for why Russia has done this could be to avoid fines. It is likely that Russia has agreements with steep penalties for if they voluntarily do
by _kbh_ 4y ago
A plausible theory for why Russia has done this could be to avoid fines. It is likely that Russia has agreements with steep penalties for if they voluntarily don't provide gas like they agreed too (like what they are doing with Nord Stream 1).
Blowing large holes in the pipelines could allow Russia to claim that they cannot provide gas because the pipelines are broken, effectively avoiding the fines.
- colinmhayes 4y agoHow would fines work? Russia has already had its assets seized.
- _kbh_ 4y agoRussia hasn’t had all of its assets seized. Additionally it may not even be about asset seizure, but about not wanting to look like a unreliable business partner. But even as I say that the actions of Russia lately make them seem unreliable already.
- lm28469 4y agoSo illgellay invading a country is no big deal but a fine for breach of contract would warrant what could be seen as an act of war on a nato country ?
- _kbh_ 4y agoI never said it was a rational action just that it’s a reason. There’s more evidence to support that this wasn’t someone like the US or Ukraine as well. One of the pipes of Nord Stream 2 remains intact and there’s only one country that benefits from forcing the certification and opening of Nord Stream 2 and that’s Russia.
- adventured 4y agoWho said invading was not a big deal? Nobody said that. If they plan to ever sell gas to Europe again, they'd have to pay the fines most likely. This does avoid the fine issue by sabotaging their own pipelines in a way that can be fixed later, at a relatively trivial cost, and it adds confusion into the situation for the allies. Russia can now say: we can't turn the gas on even if we wanted to, we're not to blame, and we don't have to pay any breach of contract fines for it being off.
- hackerlight 4y agoThey also really don't want to default on their foreign debt. What's your point?