BERLIN, April 4 (Reuters) – Germany said on Monday its push to lower dependence on Russian oil was a high priority effort that was harming President Vladimir Putin, while it worked to “create the preconditions” for a complete halt to energy imports from Russia.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck was asked in a government news conference whether civilian deaths in Ukraine would prompt Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russia for energy, to back an energy embargo against Russia.
“We are working every day to create the preconditions and the steps toward an embargo, and this is also, in the opinion of the federal government and also in my view, the right way and one that harms Putin daily,” he said.
The next measure would be to “reduce the dependency of Russian influence over oil infrastructure and to overcome it,” he said, making specific reference to the 54.2% share Russia’s Rosneft (ROSN.MM) has in an eastern German refinery, PCK Schwedt.
The government was “working under high pressure” to resolve that dependency, he said.
Schwedt receives most of its crude oil via the Russian pipeline Druzhba through Poland.
Germany is increasing sanctions against Russian executives and politicians as well as Russian technical goods and financial flows, but so far stopping short of blocking itself from receiving oil, gas and coal, arguing a stoppage would harm its economy more than it would hurt the Kremlin.
Germany will face a steep recession if there is a stop to imports or delivery of Russian gas and oil, a top German bank lobby warned on Monday.
Germany cannot simply cut off Russian gas. It would cause a ten year long recession and many unemployed people. Probably an economic crisis in the EU. The best we can do now is to cut dependency within the next 2-3 years.
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BERLIN, April 4 (Reuters) – Germany said on Monday its push to lower dependence on Russian oil was a high priority effort that was harming President Vladimir Putin, while it worked to “create the preconditions” for a complete halt to energy imports from Russia.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck was asked in a government news conference whether civilian deaths in Ukraine would prompt Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russia for energy, to back an energy embargo against Russia.
“We are working every day to create the preconditions and the steps toward an embargo, and this is also, in the opinion of the federal government and also in my view, the right way and one that harms Putin daily,” he said.
The next measure would be to “reduce the dependency of Russian influence over oil infrastructure and to overcome it,” he said, making specific reference to the 54.2% share Russia’s Rosneft (ROSN.MM) has in an eastern German refinery, PCK Schwedt.
The government was “working under high pressure” to resolve that dependency, he said.
Schwedt receives most of its crude oil via the Russian pipeline Druzhba through Poland.
Germany is increasing sanctions against Russian executives and politicians as well as Russian technical goods and financial flows, but so far stopping short of blocking itself from receiving oil, gas and coal, arguing a stoppage would harm its economy more than it would hurt the Kremlin.
Germany will face a steep recession if there is a stop to imports or delivery of Russian gas and oil, a top German bank lobby warned on Monday.
Germany cannot simply cut off Russian gas. It would cause a ten year long recession and many unemployed people. Probably an economic crisis in the EU. The best we can do now is to cut dependency within the next 2-3 years.