Germany, very dependent on Russia for its supply of hydrocarbons, risks running out of gas next winter, said in an interview on Saturday the Minister of the Economy who is stepping up steps to avoid this scenario.
The gas supply "is not yet completely guaranteed" for this winter, said Robert Habeck in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.
"If we don't get more gas next winter and if deliveries from Russia are cut off, then we wouldn't have enough gas to heat all the houses and run all the industries (... )”, warned the environmental minister.
A visit to Qatar on Saturday
The government of Europe's largest economy is preparing for this eventuality "which, hopefully, can be avoided", added Robert Habeck.
The question is particularly delicate for Germany, half of whose gas imports come from Russia.
Read also War in Ukraine: can Europe do without Russian gas?
The minister is on Saturday in Qatar, one of the three largest exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG), this resource on which European countries rely to reduce their dependence on Russian gas, before a visit in stride to the United Arab Emirates .
This week, Robert Habeck, also climate minister, has already visited Norway, a major gas producer, after a trip to the United States earlier this month.
Rejection of the embargo on Russian hydrocarbons
Berlin is criticized for opposing an immediate embargo on Russian hydrocarbons in an attempt to dry up financial flows to Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine.
But for the government, such a boycott would destabilize the German economy and society due to the expected spike in the cost of energy and the risk of shortages.
On Friday, the minister had already insisted on the urgency of "making the supply secure, then moving forward" by cutting Russian imports in an interview with the public television channel ARD, while acknowledging that the moral dimension in the trade in hydrocarbons “does not really exist”.
Both the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have come under international criticism for the human rights record, with Qatar in particular over the awarding of the World Cup to be held there at the end of the year.
