In the end, the message always comes earlier than expected.

That's how it was when the EU imposed its embargo on Russian coal, and that's how it was this week when Economy Minister Robert Habeck announced, somewhat surprisingly, that the country could do without Putin's oil in the short term.

Yes, of course, there is still the small problem with the refinery in Schwedt, which belongs to the Moscow state-owned company Rosneft and which, due to its own interests, does not want to do without the Russian supply.

But that could be resolved in the “next few days”, the minister said this week;

There has been speculation for a long time as to whether the German state could place them under its care.

Patrick Bernau

Responsible editor for economy and "value" of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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Ralph Bollman

Correspondent for economic policy and deputy head of business and “Money & More” for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper in Berlin.

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Maya Brankovic

Responsible editor for economy and "value" of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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Marcus Theurer

Editor in the economy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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This raises the question of whether it could also go faster than expected with the gas.

After all, with the Russian announcement on Wednesday that it no longer wants to feed the pipelines to Poland and Bulgaria, a possible delivery stop for Germany has come a step closer.

Habeck still says that the necessary infrastructure would first have to be built for independence from Russian gas: terminals for liquid gas, so-called LNG, which does not have to come through pipes but can be transported by ship.

But when it comes to oil and coal, he hasn't revealed to the public every last detail of the preparations that were going on.

So what if the worst comes to the worst and suddenly no Russian gas is coming to Germany either?

Would the country be better off than feared?

One thing seems to be clear: unlike coal or oil, it will not be possible to compensate for the entire delivery volume of gas in the short term.

However, successes can already be reported on the way to independence from Russian gas.

According to calculations by the Brussels think tank Bruegel, European gas imports from Russia fell significantly within a few weeks. In mid-April they were around 40 percent below the previous year's level.

All in all, Russian natural gas currently accounts for only about 22 percent of all European imports, in Germany it is still 35 percent, according to government figures.

This was possible because more natural gas came from Norway to the European Union.

And because Europe bought far more LNG than before the war.

But in the short term, these delivery channels are reaching their limits.

Unfortunately, this also means that consumption must be reduced.

In households.

And in industry.

To what extent do private households have to be spared?

Klaus Müller, head of the Federal Network Agency, is not yet satisfied with consumers.

He is the man who, on Habeck's behalf, is supposed to make the country fit for a possible delivery stop.

Müller wants to use the summer to save and fill up storage.

"Physically turning off the gas in private households is technically hardly feasible," he says.

“The gas network must be under a certain pressure.

Once this pressure has fallen below, it is very time-consuming to rebuild the supply.”

Nevertheless, he is not happy with the current legal situation, which spares private consumers in the event of a gas emergency.

There will be an intensive discussion in the Bundestag about how the Energy Security Act should be reformed.

“The unconditional priority of private households is difficult to convey.

The question is: Do I save at home so that our country as a whole gets through the crisis well? ”Nobody can control that in the living room, but experience from the Corona period shows that the vast majority of people want to comply with the law.

The head of the agency has another idea: “If there is also a campaign by the religious communities, entrepreneurs or football clubs, perhaps calling Campino or Helene Fischer to save gas, it will not fail to have an effect.