U-turn in Russia policy?
Habeck now calls the oil embargo "manageable" - dependence drastically reduced
Created: 04/26/2022, 19:20
Robert Habeck (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, speaks at a joint press conference after a meeting with the Minister for Climate and Environment of Poland.
© Marcin Obara/dpa
Economics Minister Robert Habeck was optimistic that an embargo on Russian oil would soon be possible.
Germany's dependency on Russia has been significantly reduced.
Warsaw - Germany has significantly reduced its dependence on Russian oil.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday in the Polish capital of Warsaw.
Habeck now calls an oil embargo against Russia “manageable”.
Germany has come "very, very close" to autonomy from Russian oil imports, said the Green politician after talks with the Polish climate minister, Anna Moskwa.
It was possible to reduce dependency from 35 percent before the start of the Ukraine war to 12 percent within eight weeks.
At the end of March, the ministry wrote in a report that Germany's dependence on Russian oil had fallen to 25 percent.
By the middle of the year, Russian oil imports to Germany should have been halved, it was said at the time.
And: By the end of the year, the Federal Republic should be almost independent.
Habeck calls the oil embargo against Russia "manageable": Dependence could be reduced
According to Habeck, it has now been possible to speed up the reduction in Russian oil imports.
The ports in West Germany that imported Russian oil obtained new contracts.
According to Habeck, the Leuna refinery of the French energy group Total has also changed contracts.
The remaining 12 percent are oil imports from the refinery in Schwedt, Brandenburg, near the Polish border, said Habeck.
These arrive via the "Druzhba" pipeline.
"And Schwedt, I can just say that, is managed by a Russian company, Rosneft," said Habeck.
The state-owned company's business model is to buy Russian oil.
If you no longer want this oil, you need an alternative for Schwedt.
Developing this alternative is the task of the coming days.
Oil embargo against Russia "manageable": Habeck wants to explore new import routes for oil
The Ministry of Economics announced that alternative import routes for oil should be explored together with Poland.
This is primarily aimed at supplying East Germany. It is unclear what steps Habeck is planning with regard to the ownership situation in Schwedt.
The refinery in Brandenburg is to be taken over almost entirely by the Russian state-owned company Rosneft - this is currently being reviewed by the Ministry of Economics.
The refinery in Schwedt: Russian oil has been bubbling through the "Druschba" route for almost 60 years.
© Patrick Pleul/dpa
The federal government had previously viewed a Western oil embargo against Russia with skepticism.
Resistance to a gas embargo is even greater.
For Russian coal, on the other hand, the EU countries decided to stop imports at the beginning of April - but with a transitional period of four months.
Is there an oil embargo against Russia?
Economics Minister Habeck is confident
Germany is more dependent on gas than on Russian coal and Russian oil.
Polish Climate Minister Moskva said: "We appreciate the gesture of the EU regarding the coal embargo.
We expect the same embargo for the other Russian raw materials - without undue delay, here and now.”
An investigation by the energy expert Steffen Bukold for the environmental organization Greenpeace came to the conclusion that an oil embargo against Russia would be manageable for Germany.
The impact on oil prices would likely be limited.
An embargo would be effective and would affect Russia, it says.
According to this, two thirds of German oil imports from Russia have so far come to East Germany via the Druzhba pipeline.
The last third reaches West Germany via ports - these amounts of oil could easily be replaced.
According to the study, in order to replace these deliveries in the event of an embargo, tanker oil would have to be bought on the world market.
The refineries in the east could be supplied via alternative routes.
Video: Habeck: Create the conditions for this before the energy embargo against Russia
Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke warned of the far-reaching consequences of a possible supply stop of gas and oil from Russia for the whole of Germany.
"When it is occasionally written of three million additional unemployed if no more gas and oil is supplied from Russia, I consider that an understatement," said Woidke in an interview with the
Märkische Oderzeitung
.
Energy prices would “rise drastically again”.
(dpa/fmü)
