The EU and the federal government hold Russia responsible for the civilians shot dead in the Ukrainian city of Bucha and are working on a fifth sanctions package.

According to information from Brussels, the EU Commission intends to present proposals for this by Wednesday at the latest.

The main debate in the public debate is about energy sanctions – often narrowed down to an abrupt end to all gas and oil supplies from Russia.

However, interim solutions are also being discussed among experts and in the ministries.

They seem politically more realistic than a gas embargo, especially since the federal government rejected one again on Monday.

In a joint paper, the Federal Ministry of Economics, the BDI industry association and the IG Metall trade union warn:

A delivery stop could “weaken our political and economic ability to act in a short time”.

These alternatives are under discussion:

Johannes Pennekamp

Responsible editor for economic reporting, responsible for "The Lounge".

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Werner Mussler

Business correspondent in Brussels.

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oil embargo

An oil delivery stop is the cheaper option for Germany.

The German economy obtains 40 percent of its natural gas requirements from Russia, but only 25 percent of its oil requirements.

By the end of the year, Germany could be "almost independent" of oil imports even without an embargo, says Minister Robert Habeck (Greens).

That's because there is a world market for oil where buyers can secure replacement supplies much more quickly than the pipeline-bound natural gas market.

For the Russian state budget, oil revenues are of greater importance.

Joining the American oil embargo against Russia therefore makes sense to many observers.

Asked whether the EU's forthcoming proposals could also include an oil embargo, Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Monday:

"Everything stays on the table." Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) said: Coal, gas and oil must be considered differently, "because the substitution takes different lengths of time".

The risk of an oil embargo: Russia could respond with an immediate gas supply freeze to drive up EU costs.

escrow account

The countries of the EU states transfer around 650 million euros to Russian companies for fossil raw materials every day.

In the words of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, "there is no doubt" that this is funding Russia's war.

Therefore, in order to cut Russia off from revenue, experts suggest transferring part or all of the oil and gas payments to an escrow account.

The money will only be paid out if the Kremlin keeps its promises from negotiations or withdraws soldiers from Ukraine.

However, it is questionable whether President Vladimir Putin would put up with such a sanction.

Last week he had stressed that he would under no circumstances supply natural gas free of charge and would turn off the gas supply if the bills were not paid.

Penalty on Russian gas

The idea of ​​levying a levy on Russian natural gas imports is based on the idea of ​​reducing imports without putting too much strain on the domestic economy and consumers.

A surcharge on the already high import price would initially make gas more expensive and depress demand.

LPG and other alternatives are becoming more attractive.

Economists point out that a levy would limit the scope for higher Russian price demands in the EU market.

As a result, it is possible with this method to siphon off Russia's profits and weaken Putin.

The charm of this idea: the money collected with the levy would not be lost.

It could be used to provide financial relief to households or motorists.

Tariffs on Russian oil and gas

The proposal for an import duty works in a similar way.

Tariffs on oil and gas would also make imports more expensive.

However, economists emphasize that Russia in particular bears the additional burden in the form of lower profits because consumers in the West can reduce their consumption or buy gas elsewhere, while Russian suppliers cannot simply offer their gas to other countries due to the lack of pipelines.

The tariffs would "reduce the profits of Russian producers and at the same time generate a transfer from Russia to the EU," say researchers Harald Fadinger and Jan Schymik.

A penalty tariff of 40 percent would reduce import volumes by around 80 percent, according to an analysis published on Monday by the Conseil d'Analyse Economique, which reports to the French head of government's office.