Germany ‘rapidly reducing’ Russian energy dependence
Berlin has been criticised by Kiev and other EU states for its dependency on Russian fuel supplies
GERMANY has significantly reduced its energy dependence on Russia since the invasion of Ukraine began, according to an Economy Ministry report seen by dpa on Sunday.
“Germany is in the process of rapidly reducing its energy dependence on Russia and of diversifying its energy supply,” the report said, recording a drop in the dependence on Russian oil from 35 of its total imported oil last year to 12 today.
In the case of coal, dependence had fallen from 50 to around since the beginning of the year due to contract changes. The EU has already introduced a comprehensive ban on Russian coal imports, though it remains in a fourmonth transition period.
“All these steps we are taking require an enormous joint effort by all actors, and they also mean costs that are felt by both the economy and consumers,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said.
“But they are necessary if we no longer want to be blackmailed by Russia.” An accelerated energy transition is the be-all and end-all for a cheap, independent and secure energy supply in the future, he added.
The German government has come round to the idea of an import ban on Russian oil, making an EU-wide embargo more likely, according to dpa sources in Brussels.
The coal ban was agreed relatively quickly, but oil and gas supplies are more difficult to replace than coal, meaning discussions on further sanctions are more complicated.
Germany has been criticized by Kiev, as well as by other EU member states, for its dependency on Russian fossil fuel supplies and for not moving faster to place an embargo
on them.
With Germany’s apparent shift, only Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Spain, Italy and Greece are now considered to be resisting the oil embargo, the sources told dpa.
Among the more northern EU member states, governments are apparently concerned about their significant dependence on Russian oil supplies, while among the more southerly, governments are reportedly more anxious about rising energy prices.
The reason for the change in Germany’s position is
thought to lie with its recent successes in finding alternative oil suppliers.
In eastern Germany in particular, however, becoming completely independent of Russian oil is a challenging prospect, due mainly to an oil refinery in the town of Schwedt, which, according to the report, is majority-owned by Russian state energy giant Rosneft and is therefore unlikely to suspend its purchase of Russian oil voluntarily.
According to the report, it will take the longest time to end Germany’s dependence
on Russian gas. Natural gas purchases from Norway and the Netherlands have been increased and imports of liquefied natural gas LNG have risen “significantly,” with several floating LNG terminals due to go into operation by 2023.
Together with short-term efforts by companies and private households to reduce gas use through energy efficiency, energy conservation and electrification, the share of Russian gas supply in German gas consumption could be reduced to about 30 by the end of the year, the report said.
The German government has come round to the idea of an import ban on Russian oil, making an EU-wide embargo more likely