If there is no gas from Russia, not everyone will suffer equally.

As protected customers, private households, public institutions and healthcare facilities, which consume almost half of the gas, are excluded from a delivery stop by law.

It is also no longer a secret that the Federal Network Agency can allocate gas to industry according to specified criteria, should the gas emergency plan go on alert.

Helmut Buender

Business correspondent in Düsseldorf.

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Bernd Freytag

Business correspondent Rhein-Neckar-Saar based in Mainz.

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Ilka Kopplin

Business correspondent in Munich.

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However, the fact that the location of a company can also be decisive for whether and how much gas it gets in the end could still cause a lot of resentment and disputes.

It is due to the nationwide pipeline network that gas cannot be transported from everywhere at the same speed and in the same quantities.

To put it simply, eastern Germany and Bavaria suffer first.

Christian Kullmann, President of the Chemical Association VCI, recently warned against this in drastic words.

If, as feared, Russia does not send any more gas through Nord Stream 1 even after the end of the maintenance work, companies in the south and south-east would “break down” first, said Kullmann.

This is due to the pipeline system.

With a share of 15 percent, the chemical industry is the largest industrial gas consumer in Germany.

Since there is hardly a value-added chain that can do without chemical precursors, it is the subject of particular political attention.

"Gas Triage"

In a background discussion, the association now reiterated its warning.

The gas shortage will slowly build up, first in the network areas in the east and south, explained VCI expert Jörg Rothermel.

The gas network is designed for distribution from east to west, and the other way round there hasn't been a need for a long time.

In addition, according to the VCI, there is not enough storage in the south to compensate for this shortcoming.

As great as the solidarity of the companies in North Rhine-Westphalia or Lower Saxony is, it is reaching its limits simply because of the technology.

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) complained at the beginning of July that the country was gradually running out of energy.

There is a risk of “energy or gas triage”.

According to its own statements, as a federal state with a strong industrial base, Bavaria clearly has the highest gas consumption.

Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (free voters) is already calling on the federal government to immediately announce the third stage of the gas emergency plan.

Then large gas-fired power plants could be shut down in return for a compensation payment in order to fill up the gas storage tanks even more quickly for the winter.

Bavaria is threatened by power shortages

Bertram Brossardt, General Manager of the Bavarian Business Association, described the gas supply as "very tense" when asked.

Even if the connection to the transmission network is good, the focus is on imports from Russia.

The gas storage tanks are also filled with 57 percent less than the national average.

Above all, the storage facility in Haidach, Austria, which is important for Bavaria, is alarmingly empty at 20 percent.

The storage is in the neighboring country, but also serves the Bavarian supply, which is why existing instruments have not yet taken effect.

"A German-Austrian state treaty must solve the problem as soon as possible."