“We have to shift the blame”: how Germany accused Russia of “tightening the gas valve”

Vice-Chancellor - Minister of Economy of Germany Robert Habek accused the Russian authorities of violating the gas supply to Germany.

“Half of Germany's entire gas supply is undermined because Putin turned off the gas valve and the pipeline is now in disrepair.

This means that in the foreseeable future it will not work.

So, now we don’t have half of the previous supply volumes: three new LNG terminals will provide us with about a quarter of the old volume of 55 billion cubic meters, ”Habek said at the welcoming ceremony for the floating LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal in the port of Brunsbüttel.

According to him, the three already built floating LNG terminals receive 14 billion cubic meters of gas per year, and by the end of 2023, the capacity of the infrastructure for receiving liquefied natural gas should be increased to more than 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

According to the German television and radio company NDR, the German Ministry of Economy plans to spend €9.7 billion on the five planned LNG terminals from 2022 to 2038 to implement the project. 

At the same time, as NDR notes, “for all the euphoria around the rapid implementation of LNG terminal projects, there is also a lot of criticism.”

In particular, the new climate institute in Cologne negatively assessed plans for an LNG processing infrastructure, which, according to the organization's specialists, runs counter to Germany's environmental goals.

In addition, several demonstrations were held in the area of ​​liquefied natural gas terminals against the purchase of this fuel, to which they reacted in Berlin.

“Whenever industrial projects are created, there are local residents, neighbors, directly affected residents who say that in general they are not against construction, but not here.

This is understandable, this is typical of people.

However, these requests should not be the decisive criterion in making political decisions.

We need to use places that have access to gas - in Wilhelmshaven and Lubmin.

And then the project will be implemented,” emphasized Robert Habek.

It is worth noting that another protest rally took place a few months earlier: about 10,000 German residents came to the Bundestag demanding lower energy prices, including through the repair and launch of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

The rally was organized by the Alternative for Germany party, whose leader Tino Krupalla then offered to purchase Russian gas instead of the more expensive American one.

Pathway to deepen the energy crisis

Recall that in 2022, the European Union, with the start of the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, first announced plans to refuse the supply of Russian energy resources, in particular gas, and then introduced appropriate restrictions on the Russian Federation.

Thus, due to retaliatory measures from Russia against EuRoPol GAZ, which is the owner of the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, in May the pumping of Russian gas through Poland through this pipeline was stopped.

Previously, the Polish side repeatedly violated the rights of PJSC Gazprom as a shareholder of EuRoPol GAZ, and in the spring of 2022, it added the Russian company to the sanctions list, blocking its ability to exercise rights to shares and other securities.

In addition, Ukraine has halved the transit of blue fuel from Russia to the EU through its territory.

According to the Russian leader, Kyiv closed one of the energy routes for political reasons.

In early September, gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream were completely stopped, as malfunctions were revealed that were not allowed to be eliminated by the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the West.

Later, on September 26, a terrorist attack was carried out on both Nord Streams.

The President of Russia said that Anglo-Saxon forces were involved in organizing explosions on pipelines.

In turn, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev called the United States of America the beneficiary of these terrorist attacks.

Later, Vladimir Putin pointed out that there was no full-fledged investigation of incidents on gas pipelines, and Russia was only once allowed to inspect the sites of explosions.

The European Union also confirmed that the damage to the facilities "was caused by deliberate sabotage."

Despite this, at the end of November, the German company Uniper filed a lawsuit against Gazprom to compensate for losses from the short supply of gas from Russia, which it estimated at €11.6 billion.

At the same time, in early January, Uniper announced the arrival of the first batch of liquefied natural gas from the United States to Germany through a new terminal operated by the company and located in Wilhelmshaven.

Last week, the head of the American company EQT, Toby Rice, said that the United States promises LNG supplies to Europe at a price of $ 12 / Mmbtu (about $ 380 per 1 thousand cubic meters -

) under long-term contracts.

"Hostage of your politics"

Experts, for their part, note that the words of the Minister of Economy of Germany that gas supplies to the republic were stopped due to the fault of the Russian side do not correspond to reality.

“Khabek is frankly lying, because it was not Russia that voluntarily closed transit routes, blew up the Nord Streams, it was not Russia that initiated the rejection of energy cooperation.

The statement of the German minister is a typical example of cynical behavior when everything is turned upside down, ”said Alexander Kamkin, senior researcher at the Center for Comparative and Political Studies at IMEMO RAS, in an interview with RT.

• Bundestag

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According to him, it was the actions of the German coalition government and its predecessors that led to the aggravation of the energy crisis, a large-scale disruption in gas supplies and rising inflation.

“Since 2014, when the US and the EU staged a coup in Ukraine, the union has made many economic mistakes.

By printing the euro, they accelerated inflation during the COVID-19 period, depriving themselves of cheap energy resources from the Russian Federation, ”he said.

According to him, such a policy has led to rising prices and falling living standards.

Due to the crisis, industrial enterprises and even private clinics were closed, the expert noted.

“Europe has become a hostage to its own policy, when the main driver of economic cooperation is not mutual benefit, but an attempt to impose its own system of ideological coordinates,” Kamkin said.

At the same time, according to him, in Europe, in particular in Germany, they are well aware and admit that expensive American LNG in the coming years will not be able to become a full-fledged alternative to the volumes of available Russian gas that the German industry previously required for its normal functioning. .

“Now the US, taking advantage of the hype, is trying to impose long-term contracts on the Europeans.

The main beneficiary in this rupture of ties between the Russian Federation and the FRG is the American side.

At the same time, earlier in Moscow they talked about their readiness to launch gas through the surviving Nord Stream 2 pipe, which was never put into operation due to the fault of Brussels, ”Kamkin noted.

The analyst also recalled that Russia has both fulfilled and is fulfilling its gas obligations to partners “along the current route through Ukraine and along the Turkish Stream”.

“Russia fulfills all contractual conditions,” Kamkin stated.

In turn, RISS expert Oleg Nemensky believes that under the current conditions, Washington has even more opportunities to force Europeans to switch to long-term purchases of American LNG.

“The European Union has already lost the previous system of beneficial relations in the field of energy resources with Russia, and Germany in particular.

And now they will have to go to the conclusion of unprofitable contracts.

The almost complete dependence of European countries on the United States led to this, when the EU was regularly forced to take steps that were unfavorable for its own economy, ”Nemensky said in a comment to RT.

According to him, the same Germans are increasingly aware that Germany is in an extremely difficult situation, as evidenced by the rallies against the purchase of American LNG and in support of the launch of Nord Stream 2.

“The German authorities found themselves in a difficult position, when they first of all need to justify themselves to their voters.

Berlin all the time has to shift the blame for its own mistakes in the energy sector to Russia, trying to convince everyone around that they themselves are not involved in this.

But in fact, it is Germany and the EU that are to blame for the current problems, ”the expert noted.

In turn, Kamkin considers the protests in Germany against the import of American LNG quite natural.

“The Germans receive bills five or six times more than a year earlier.

And no loud statements by Khabek about Russia's fault will work here.

For the most part, the population of Germany is well aware, despite the very harsh indoctrination by the mainstream media and the political class, that it was not Russia that turned on the gas valve, but European officials who decided to conduct a socio-economic experiment.

In this regard, I think that protest activity in Germany will only increase,” the analyst concluded.