Mr. Birnbaum, how long will Russian gas continue to flow to Germany?

Sven Astheimer

Responsible editor for corporate reporting.

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Helmut Buender

Business correspondent in Düsseldorf.

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Nobody in Germany can answer that seriously.

But the situation is serious, we have to prepare accordingly.

Many fear that deliveries will be halted if the Russians insist on payment in rubles for the next importer invoices in May.

I'm not speculating.

We have to expect a delivery stop at any time.

It almost doesn't matter whether that will be in May or in the fall.

In order to be prepared, we must now adapt our emergency plans to the current situation and clarify the processes.

To do this, we absolutely need better European coordination.

In which direction?

If there is an emergency, solidarity must last.

We should do our best to avoid the same thing happening as with the Corona masks and each country only thinking about its own interests.

Because then everyone saves their own storage, looks at the neighbors and sees that they don't sell anything either.

So the doors would be closed and then we would suddenly no longer have a European gas market - and European solidarity would be gone.

Does the thought of Eon possibly having to turn off the gas for its customers already give you sleepless nights?

That would indeed be a nightmare for me.

Our promise is: We reliably deliver energy that is so incredibly important for our modern societies.

If we could no longer fulfill this task, everyone at Eon will suffer, including myself of course.

But the case is possible that we have to reduce quantities in the distribution grid at the request of the transmission system operator and therefore have to go to the customer and say: I'm sorry, but I have to switch you off.

You must deliver the bad news and execute it.

So to speak.

And we absolutely have to avoid this situation in Germany.

Eon's aim is to always deliver and if there are any problems, we do everything we can to solve them quickly.

This made our employees so incredibly proud after the flooding in the Ahr Valley, when everything really collapsed and we restored an emergency supply in record time.

In the current situation, however, it is only partially in our hands to solve things.

In an emergency, could you disconnect your customers by remote control or would you have to turn off a tap on site?

It doesn't work remotely.

You would actually have to turn the slider and turn it.

Conflicts are feared because companies could refuse to enter their premises.

Do you need a police escort then?

Of course, it is emotionally very difficult when the tap has to be turned off – by the customer himself or with the support of the authorities.

But we are a civilized society and I expect this would be done in solidarity and professionalism, although no one will be pleased.

The concerns of their industrial customers seem so great that Eon supervisory board chairman Kley has just demanded that private customers be disconnected first.

There was a lot of criticism for that.

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