Oil pumpsBERLIN, Mar 28 Germany may become independent from coal and oil imports from Russia already this year, said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"We will try this year to get away (from dependence) on Russian coal and oil imports, and we will prepare technical conditions so that we can as quickly as possible become independent from gas imports", he said in an interview with ARD.
Earlier, Economics Minister Robert Habek said that the German economy could become independent of Russian gas by the summer of 2024, dependence on coal and oil supplies would be significantly reduced by the summer of this year. Scholz also acknowledged that EU countries now depend on Russian supplies. «The truth is that we will initiate a significant economic crisis if we do this (the EU countries will refuse energy carriers of the Russian Federation). Therefore, we have done everything to get rid of this dependence. I think this is the right way,» he added.
Europe will help Russia build a new gas pipeline to ChinaAfter the start of the Russian military special operation in Ukraine and a new round of Western sanctions in Europe, calls to reduce dependence on Russian energy resources began to sound louder. The market reacted to this with a sharp jump — up to almost four thousand dollars per thousand cubic meters. As Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak noted, even a simple discussion of Europe's refusal of Russian energy carriers is negative for the market. According to him, without Russian gas supplies, the world will collapse, and prices will be unpredictable. On March 23, President Vladimir Putin announced the transfer of payments for gas from unfriendly countries to rubles and instructed the Central Bank and the government to determine the procedure for such operations. At the same time, he stressed that Russia will continue to supply gas in accordance with existing contracts, as it values its reputation. Russian gas