- Germany is considering nationalizing Gazprom and Rosneft units in the country.
- The two Russian energy giants have a strong presence in Germany.
- Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is heavily dependent on Russia for natural gas.
Loading Something is loading.
Germany is considering nationalizing Gazprom and Rosneft units in the country, business daily Handelsblatt reported, citing government sources.
The two Russian energy giants have a significant presence in Europe’s largest economy, with Gazprom Germania operating gas storage facilities and Rosneft Germany accounting for a quarter of Germany’s refining business, according to Handelsblatt.
Berlin is also considering expropriating Gazprom assets by forcing the giant to sell its gas storage facilities across Germany, Politico reported on Friday, citing a government official and two other people briefed on the plans.
Plans to nationalize Gazprom and Rosneft units in Germany – which the Handelsblatt first reported on Thursday – met with approval from the governing coalition, the business daily reported on Sunday.
“The situation is serious and requires extraordinary measures,” said Bernd Westphal, spokesman for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s energy parliamentary group in the Bundestag, the Handelsblatt.
If the energy companies were nationalized, they would come under the control of German authorities, which would ease Russian influence on energy security in Germany and better ensure continuity of supply.
The move comes as Germany seeks to bolster the country’s energy security amid the Ukraine war. Last week, Germany activated a contingency plan to deal with disruptions to its natural gas supply after Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded payment in rubles.
Germany is now in the “early warning phase” of its energy emergency plan, Berlin is calling on all consumers – from industry to households – to save energy and reduce consumption. If the situation worsens, the country could start rationing gas in the last of the three phased plans, with industry lined up first in power outages, as outlined by Germany’s economy ministry. The move could devastate the economy and lead to job losses.
Russian gas accounted for 55% of Germany’s gas imports in 2021 and 40% of gas imports in the first quarter of 2022, Reuters reported. The country has pledged to phase out the use of Russian gas by 2024, Economics Minister Robert Habeck said in a March 25 press release.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has opposed reports that Berlin may nationalize Gazprom and Rosneft units, saying it violates international law, Reuters reported on Friday.
No outlier
Germany is not the only country that has been considering nationalizing Russian energy assets since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
In March, the Financial Times and Bloomberg reported that the UK was preparing to temporarily nationalize Gazprom’s UK retail supply unit as it threatens to collapse and cause supply disruptions. The UK move appeared designed, the FT reported, to salvage the Gazprom entity itself, since customers had abandoned it because of the war in Ukraine.
Berlin is also considering restructuring options for Wingas, a unit of Gazprom, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. According to Bloomberg, Wingas supplies around a fifth of the German gas market.
Meanwhile, Gazprom announced Friday that it has terminated its stake in Gazprom Germania and all of its assets, including Gazprom Marketing and Trading, S&P Global Commodity Insights reported, citing a statement.
Germany’s economy ministry, Gazprom Germania and Rosneft Germany did not immediately respond to insiders’ requests for comment, which were sent out after regular business hours.