Enlarge image

Gas continues to flow from Russia to Europe via the Transgas pipeline (here a section in the Czech Republic).

Photo: PETR JOSEK/ REUTERS

The “Economist” Ulrike Malmendier has called on the EU to expand sanctions against Russia.

"The EU would be well advised to stop purchasing any more gas from Russia and to resolve possible problems in solidarity," said the economist in the newspaper "Rheinische Post" (Wednesday).

There are now good alternatives.

“We are no longer threatened from this side, and at the same time a gas boycott could be effective,” said the member of the Advisory Council for the Assessment of Overall Economic Development, an advisory body to the federal government.

The term “economic method” has become commonplace for its five members.

»The effect of the sanctions is disappointing.

“Russia’s economy is more resilient and apparently not as internationally interconnected as many Western experts thought,” said the economist.

Nevertheless, the screw on raw material sanctions should be tightened further.

Germany coped surprisingly well with the energy shock.

Gas has not yet been sanctioned

Russia has no longer delivered gas to Germany via traditional pipelines since 2022.

However, the reason for this is not sanctions - even if the opposite is claimed by AfD representatives, the Left Party and the Wagenknecht alliance BSW.

The purchase of Russian gas is not sanctioned.

The reasons for the delivery stop are different: First, deliveries via Gazprom's Nord Stream 2 pipeline were throttled due to supposedly existing technical problems, and later stopped completely.

Later, an explosion destroyed several strands of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. However, Germany obtains liquefied natural gas from Russia - for example via Belgium - and is delivered by tankers.

Austria, on the other hand, which is supplied via a different pipeline, still buys pipeline gas from Russia (you can find more background on this here).

Gas exports are an important source of Russian revenue.

However, the importance of crude oil sales for Moscow is significantly greater than the gas business.

With a view to Germany's weak economic development, the economist said the figures point to a technical recession.

"As an industrial country, we came out of the corona crisis with more difficulty than countries with little industry, which quickly benefited from the end of the restrictions." On the other hand, Germany coped with the energy crisis better than expected.

"What worries me is the weak potential growth - Germany remains below its potential in the long term," she said.

You can find a detailed interview with Ulrike Malmendier about the situation in Germany here:

beb/dpa