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Germany cannot do without Russian gas, which accounts for 55% of the country’s gas needs, fueling the economy, boosting jobs, feeding the manufacturing giants and families. This dependency will be gradually reduced to zero, but according to the latest forecasts by Economics Minister Robert Habeck, it will last at least until the end of 2023, but not until mid2024.
The Scholz government does not want to hear about an extension of the sanctions to Gazprom and Gazprombank because it fears that Germany would cause more damage than Russia. The nerve in Berlin, however, remains in the Russian gas. The surprising announcement on Friday afternoon of the ambiguous “interruption” of Gazprom’s 100 percent stake in Gazprom Germany and all its subsidiaries shook the Chancellery and the traffic light coalition.
Another crisis front is opening up
The federal government would have gladly dispensed with another front of the crisis, since it was already very busy defending itself on 17 points against the presidential decree wanted by Vladimir Putin to unilaterally impose new payment methods on the “Russiahostile countries”, from the euro to the euro dollar to ruble, gas, oil and coal supplies. Further details on Gazprombank’s implementation of the decree are expected in Berlin: they will serve to ensure that the “no” to ruble payments by German companies is respected without blocking deliveries that sanctions against the Russian central bank are not circumvented, since which Gazprombank has done so has been excluded.
Berlin temporarily takes control of Gazprom Germany
Gazprom Germany is now another concern. Although the first step could have been taken by the Scholz government. In the last few days, a report in Handelsblatt announced the Berlin project to nationalize two subsidiaries in Germany of Russian giants Gazprom and Rosneft, namely Gazprom Germany and Rosneft Germany.
The federal government announced on Monday the temporary takeover of Gazprom Germany. The Federal Network Agency will be the trustee. “The provision of the trust serves to protect and maintain the security of supply,” said Economics Minister Robert Habeck: “This step was urgently needed.” The President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, explained: “We are aware of the responsibility for the security of the gas supply that this task entails. Our goal will be to ensure that Gazprom Germany is run in the interests of Germany and Europe. We want to take all necessary measures to continue to ensure security of supply. In this sense, the activities of Gazprom Germany and its subsidiaries must be continued in a controlled manner». The step also serves to loosen the strings of dependency on Russia.