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PCK refinery in Schwedt: future uncertain
Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa
The chancellor and his deputy didn't want to leave any doubt: "We've prepared," said Olaf Scholz.
It has long been assumed in the planning that Russia will stop deliveries via the oil pipeline to the East German refinery Schwedt.
The national oil reserve has been increased, says Robert Habeck, and the reservoirs at the site itself have also been replenished.
"The security of supply is guaranteed," said the Green Federal Minister of Economics at the press conference on Friday afternoon in the Federal Chancellery, where the two announced that the plant, which is majority-owned by the Russian state-owned company Rosneft, would be placed under federal trusteeship.
In a few hours, the chancellor will be on his way to the Uckermark and speak to the workers in the refinery - behind closed doors, as Scholz's spokesman announced.
Message: Neither the jobs are threatened, nor the supply of fuel and kerosene for East Germany.
Because from Schwedt large parts of the East are supplied with fuel.
But no matter how reassuring the performance should be, the reality is a little different.
Because according to estimates from business circles, which are not denied by the government, crude oil is stored in Schwedt for a total of 20 days.
Without replenishment, the refinery would then have to stop operating.
It is still unclear how Russia will react to the fact that the German government has secured trusteeship over the Rosneft subsidiary.
So far, the oil has come to Schwedt almost exclusively from Russia – via a pipeline called “Druschba” (English: friendship).
However, since this friendship is not that far off and Germany no longer wants to receive pipeline oil from Russia as part of the western sanctions from January 1, the question arises as to where else the oil should come from.
From business circles it is said that the plans presented by the federal government will only take full effect in a few months.
Until then, the »Druschba« deliveries cannot be adequately replaced.
So far there has been a supply route via the seaport in Rostock, from where a pipeline leads to Schwedt, but its capacity is not large.
It should now be “upgraded”, promised Scholz and Habeck.
Another line leads to Germany via Gdańsk, whereby this transport route would also include part of the »Druschba« pipeline.
The Polish side has so far refused to transport crude oil to Schwedt in this way.
Their argument: As long as the Rosneft group is making money from Schwedt, crude oil will not be delivered.
With the now imposed trusteeship, no more money should flow from Schwedt to the Russian parent company.
Instead, according to SPIEGEL information, the plan is to transfer the money to an escrow account that the Russians do not have access to.
It is conceivable that the Polish government will release the lines under these circumstances.
A Polish energy company is even in talks to take over the Rosneft shares and thus enter the refinery operation.
Around 30 percent of German crude oil came from Russia in June
In an answer to a parliamentary question by the CDU on the energy supply, which SPIEGEL has seen, the government admits that the line via Rostock can only contribute to »minimal« operation of the refinery.
"In order to ensure the supply of the PCK refinery with non-Russian crude oil via Rostock, which enables the refinery to be operated economically, however, an immediate upgrade of the Rostock-Schwedt pipeline is necessary," it says there.
A construction period of two to three years is estimated for this.
A supply of crude oil from Kazakhstan is also planned, writes the government in the parliamentary reply.
But that shouldn't be a quick fix either.
So it is hardly surprising that Chancellor Scholz promised short-time work for the workforce at the press conference.
In the event of a shortage of supplies from Schwedt, ready-made fuels from the west would have to be transported from the west for petrol station customers and also the airlines at Berlin Airport.
There are already emergency plans for this, which the Federal Ministry of Transport is working on.
What is surprising, however, is another response from the federal government to the CDU query, which concerns the share of Russian crude oil imports: "According to the data collected by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), Russia's share of German oil consumption in June was around 30 percent ' the government's response said.
This would have actually increased, rather than reduced, dependence on Russia.
Economics Minister Habeck said in an interview in May that only 12 percent of Russian crude oil was imported into Germany.
"Through all the measures taken, Russian oil imports could essentially be reduced to the remaining quantities required by the refineries in Leuna and Schwedt (a total of around twelve percent)," said Habeck.
"Ending dependence on Russian crude oil imports by late summer is realistic."
The CDU opposition supports the federal government's decision to place the refinery under trusteeship.
The deputy federal chairman of the CDU and spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group for climate protection and energy, Andreas Jung, warns: "The replacement of Russian oil imports must now be faster - and in the right direction!"
The supply of large parts of East Germany must be secured, Jung told SPIEGEL: "Olaf Scholz and Robert Habeck have to set the pace with viable solutions and make resilient progress.
The government's communication so far has created a lot of uncertainty instead of clarity.«
