"A crisis unit is now set up within the ministry", while the G7 countries have officially rejected the Russian request for payment in rubles for gas contracts, explained Robert Habeck during a press conference.

This emergency plan includes three levels of alert and at this stage, "the security of supply" of gas is guaranteed in Germany and the reserves filled to 25%, he specified.

"Gas and oil are currently arriving in accordance with orders" and "the measure taken today is a matter of prevention", detailed Mr. Habeck, observing that Germany "will be able to face" the "serious consequences" of a stop deliveries.

At the first level called "early warning", gas suppliers and gas pipeline operators are "required to regularly assess the situation" and inform the government, the ministry said.

But the state does not intervene yet.

It is only at the third level that the State would take measures to "regulate" the distribution and define the volumes allocated in priority to each sector.

In the event of a shortage, an exceptional status is provided for households and certain essential players (public services, hospitals, etc.) and their supply, in particular for heating, is protected.

Businesses, on the other hand, may experience rationing.

The Kremlin on Tuesday insisted on payment in rubles for Russian gas delivered to Europe, rejecting criticism from the G7 which had called the request unacceptable.

Failure to comply with Vladimir Putin's new demands runs the risk of a unilateral cut in gas supplies, the scenario that Europe, dependent on Russian hydrocarbons, has been trying to avoid at all costs since the start of the war in Ukraine. .

On Thursday, the Russian government, the Central Bank and the Russian gas giant Gazprom are due to present Vladimir Putin with a report on the establishment of the ruble payment system.

"We are not going to accept any violation of the delivery contracts", reiterated Robert Habeck on Wednesday.

German dependency

Berlin, which supplied more than 55% from Russia before the war, has already reduced this share to 40% and is stepping up its efforts to find other suppliers.

Germany does not envisage being able to do without Russian gas before mid-2024.

The German government will in particular accelerate the construction of LNG terminals with a view to importing liquefied gas.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck at a press conference on March 28, 2022 Tobias SCHWARZ AFP

But renouncing deliveries of gas or oil from Russia "overnight" would amount to "plunging our country and all of Europe into recession", German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned last week.

“Hundreds of thousands of jobs would be threatened. Entire industrial sectors would be in trouble,” he warned of calls for an embargo on Russian energy imports.

The foreign trade federation BGA also fears "serious disruptions" in the event of an immediate halt to deliveries, its president Dirk Jandura told the Rheinische Post newspaper on Wednesday.

"A halt in deliveries cannot be compensated for in the short term," he warned.

With a view to next winter, a law passed on Friday now obliges gas suppliers to gradually fill their tanks up to 90% by December to ensure supply.

© 2022 AFP