Germany intends to stop importing Russian coal in the summer, and before the end of the year - to ban the supply of Russian oil and drastically reduce gas imports from Russia, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview with The Indian Express.
“We are now implementing a very ambitious action plan to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel imports from Russia.
This summer we will stop importing Russian coal.
Until the end of the year, we will gradually abandon Russian oil, and also significantly reduce gas imports from Russia,” he said.
According to Scholz, many countries have joined the anti-Russian sanctions, "despite the inevitable economic costs" for themselves.
Meanwhile, Hungary will not support the EU initiatives to limit the import of Russian energy resources.
This was stated by the head of the office of the Hungarian Prime Minister Gergely Guyash on HirTV.
He noted that due to the lack of unanimity of the countries of association, the European Commission will not be able to introduce such a ban.
Gouyash also said that Hungary and nine other countries have already opened accounts with a Russian bank to pay for gas according to the rules proposed by Moscow, but other states prefer not to expand on this.
Earlier, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry noted that Budapest would oppose the introduction of anti-Russian restrictions on oil and gas supplies.
German TV channel ZDF, which refers to an unnamed European diplomat, reported that Hungary and Slovakia allegedly lifted their veto on the EU oil embargo against Russia.
However, the official representative of the Hungarian government, Zoltan Kovacs, denied this report, noting that Hungary did not "give up its veto" and its position "on oil and gas sanctions against Russia has not changed."
“We do not support them,” he wrote on his Twitter page.
According to Reuters (also citing sources), the EC may allow Hungary and Slovakia not to impose such a ban due to the high dependence of these countries on supplies from the Russian Federation and in order to “preserve unity” in the European Union.
According to the agency, the oil embargo should be included in the sixth package of EU anti-Russian sanctions.
As Reuters clarifies, this ban is likely to be introduced gradually and will probably come into force only in early 2023.
At the same time, Austria declared its readiness to support the EU embargo on oil from Russia.
This was announced by the Minister of Energy of the country, Leonore Gewessler, noting that, although the corresponding proposal from the European Commission has not yet been received, Vienna has already prepared for such an embargo, acquiring only about 10% of oil from the Russian Federation in recent years.
Poland, for its part, expressed its readiness to assist the EU countries in giving up Russian energy resources.
This was stated by the Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland Anna Moscow.
According to her, Warsaw can share its experience in building the relevant infrastructure.
According to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, the EU's course to ban Russian oil is an experiment with unpredictable consequences that carries huge risks.
The publication writes that in the event of such an embargo, the eastern part of Germany will inevitably suffer from supply disruptions and rising prices.
In addition, Handelsblatt reports that Germany does not have enough alternative sources that could replace the volumes of Russian oil.
As the newspaper emphasizes, alternative options will not arrive in Germany quickly, moreover, they do not have the same quality of oil.
According to the publication, the consequence of the embargo will be an increase in oil prices around the world and Russia, having found new buyers, can increase its income from oil supplies.
Anti-Russian plans of Brussels
Recall that in March, the leaders of the states and governments of the EU, following the results of an informal summit of the association, agreed as soon as possible, but to gradually eliminate dependence on imports of Russian energy resources.
Later that month, the European Commission proposed a series of initiatives to address the problems in the gas market.
In particular, they talked about the EU's partnership with third countries to make joint purchases of blue fuel “at the EU level”.
As specified, the negotiating group, which the European Commission is ready to create to implement this initiative, can contact suppliers regarding not only gas, but also other energy resources.
At the same time, Brussels acknowledged that there is "no one simple way to deal with the problem of high electricity prices."
Meeting room of the European Commission
Gettyimages.ru
© Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency
In April, the European Union introduced the fifth sanctions package against Russia, which includes an embargo on the supply of coal and other solid fossil fuels to the European Union from the Russian Federation from August this year.
After that, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, in an interview with journalists from the European alliance of news publications LENA, said that the EU is also discussing initiatives related to limiting oil and gas supplies from Russia.
According to Bloomberg, which cites sources, the European Union is going to make a proposal to establish a ban on Russian oil by the end of the year, with the gradual introduction of import restrictions by this date.
According to the agency, a decision on such sanctions may be made this week, during a meeting of EU ambassadors.
“The imposition of EU sanctions requires the support of all 27 member countries of the union, and several countries, such as Hungary, have long resisted measures against Russian oil,” the newspaper writes.
At the same time, as Bloomberg notes, a strong increase in oil prices “may not serve as a punishment, but, on the contrary, increase the income that Moscow receives from trade” in oil products.
"Between two fires"
As Sergei Pravosudov, director of the National Energy Institute, noted, after the imposition of an embargo on Russian coal in the summer, a halt in oil supplies at the end of the year and a sharp reduction in Russian gas supplies, Germany and Europe as a whole will face a huge increase in prices for these energy resources and an aggravation of the energy crisis.
“The cost of gas, coal and oil is already at a very high level, but such measures will spur even more price growth.
And this will hit German and European consumers, who will have to shell out even more money for electricity, ”the expert explained in an interview with RT.
In turn, Deputy General Director of the National Energy Security Fund Alexei Grivach said that in trying to satisfy the demand of Brussels and Western allies to act more decisively in terms of abandoning Russian energy resources, Scholz "is between two fires."
“On the one hand, the interests of the German economy, industry and end-users, which are severely affected by the current level of energy prices and will get even more problems as the energy shortage worsens against the backdrop of breaking ties with Russia.
On the other hand, the political interests of the West in the confrontation with the Russian Federation.
Scholz is trying to maneuver, but it is becoming more and more difficult to do this, ”the analyst believes.
For example, as the head of the largest German energy concern E.ON, Leonard Birnbaum, said in an interview with the German newspaper FAZ, Germany will hardly last the next two winters without Russian gas imports.
This will be possible, according to him, except at the expense of damage to German industry and the economy.
But then Germany would have no more steel or chemical industry, Birnbaum said, stressing that the consequences of such a decision would be dramatic.
Grivach, for his part, noted that the new measures to eliminate the so-called energy dependence on the Russian Federation would have an extremely negative impact on Germany and Europe as a whole.
“With every such action, production and trade chains are collapsing, and costs are rising.
In addition, the risk of a real shortage of energy resources in Europe in the coming winter is also increasing,” the expert is sure.
Grivach admits that the EU will adopt a sixth package of sanctions with an embargo on Russian oil, but it will be phased and not for all countries.
The analyst believes that Brussels can indeed make an exception for Hungary and Slovakia.
According to Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of Moscow State Pedagogical University, the plans of Berlin and the EU to abandon Russian energy carriers do not correspond to the real needs of the population of Germany and Europe as a whole.
“In Germany and Brussels, they think less and less about the interests of their own citizens and the economy.
Germany is very dependent on Russian energy resources.
Reducing their volumes will lead to serious problems for Germany and even to a collapse in the economic and social spheres.
This will deal a huge blow to the economy of the entire EU.
We are talking about a recession and a sharp drop in the standard of living of the population, ”the analyst said in a comment to RT.
Shapovalov added that at present and in the foreseeable future, Germany and Europe as a whole will not be able to find an alternative to Russian energy resources, since there are not enough free volumes on the world market that could be redirected to the EU.
Tanker with Russian oil
AP
Pravosudov also believes that Germany and the European Union will not be able to achieve significant success in finding new suppliers to replace Russian energy resources, since this market is contracted for many years to come.
“Some suppliers will be found, but this will not be enough.
The lack of free volumes of energy resources will cause an increase in various manipulations in this market in Germany and in Europe as a whole.
Many firms will begin to mix different grades of oil with black gold from the Russian Federation so that it is not officially Russian.
With coal, they will also carry out similar manipulations.
In fact, it will be all the same Russian energy resources, only at higher prices and allegedly brought, for example, from the Middle East, ”the analyst explained.
According to Pravosudov, the refusal of Germany and other EU countries from Russian oil will contribute to a sharp jump in prices for this energy resource and Russia, despite the reduction in supplies, will still retain its income.
“The Russian Federation will definitely benefit from rising energy prices, this is inevitable.
Russia will redirect part of the volumes to Asia, and also compensate for the damage from the decrease in supply volumes by rising prices for oil and other energy resources, ”concluded the analyst.