In view of a possible complete stop of gas supplies from Russia, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck warned of a "political nightmare scenario".

The government is trying to prepare for the worst with its measures in order to avoid exactly that, said Habeck (Greens) on Deutschlandfunk.

Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) called for a moratorium on impending gas and electricity cuts in the case of unpaid bills.

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) accused Habeck of failing to purchase LNG gas and warned of a "stroke" in the fall due to gas and electricity shortages, from which Germany may not recover.

The background is the concern that Russia will not resume gas supplies to Western Europe after the maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline through the Baltic Sea.

They are currently heavily throttled.

France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said at an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence in southern France that the French government was also preparing for a complete disruption to Russian gas supplies.

Söder warned that there was also a risk of a blackout, i.e. a power failure.

He accused Habeck and Lemke of refusing to extend the service lives of the three nuclear power plants still in operation beyond the end of the year for ideological and party-political reasons.

"I find it incomprehensible that the FDP is participating and submitting to the Greens," said Söder, referring to the traffic light coalition.

And Uniper?

Habeck referred to the necessary mix of filling the gas storage tanks, rescuing the gas suppliers and savings for citizens, companies or in administration buildings.

He indicated on Deutschlandfunk that the 15 billion euros provided by the government for the purchase of more expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) may not be enough to fill Germany's gas storage facilities to the hoped-for 80 percent in October.

The government may have to provide more money.

He criticized the fact that some gas suppliers are even selling gas from their storage facilities again, which is legal.

"The problem is that the large storage facilities, which are partly owned by Gazprom and are now held in trust, (...) are comparatively empty."

Habeck also criticized the European guidelines that, in the event of a gas shortage, savings should first be made by companies and finally by consumers.

"I find that unsatisfactory.

But it is the European legal norm and it has not yet been changed.” In view of the sharp rise in gas prices, he also warned that there would be too great a social division “without further political support”.

Söder accused the federal government of the SPD, Greens and FDP of completely wrongly put together relief packages.

What is needed is a drastic reduction in VAT on food, a reduction in energy taxes and an abolition of the so-called cold progression in income tax.

Consumer Protection Minister Lemke demanded that nobody should be allowed to turn off the electricity or gas in such a crisis situation because he or she was in arrears with the bill.

"We then need a moratorium on electricity and gas locks for consumers," she told the "Bild am Sonntag".

This has not yet been discussed in the federal government.

The background is that in an extreme situation, energy suppliers can obtain permission from the Federal Network Agency to pass on sharply increased prices to consumers in current contracts.

This could necessitate high additional payments from customers.

The government therefore expressly does not want to pass on the price at the moment, but prefers to support suppliers directly and wait until the relief that has already been decided reaches the citizens.

However, companies like Uniper get into trouble because they now have to buy expensive gas on the world market from alternative sources to Russia without being able to pass on the prices.