(Berlin) Germany, one of the European countries most dependent on Russia for its energy before the war in Ukraine, announced on Sunday that it had already succeeded in greatly reducing this trend, particularly for coal and oil.
Posted at 8:10 a.m.
The dependence of Europe’s largest economy on Russian oil imports has fallen in recent weeks to 12%, against 35% previously, and that linked to coal to 8% against 50% so far, announced the Ministry of Economy. in a report.
On the other hand, dependence on Russian gas remains high, although it has also fallen, to 35% against 55% before the outbreak of the Russian invasion on February 24, the ministry said.
“Over the past few weeks, we have made great efforts, with all the players concerned, to reduce our imports of fossil fuels from Russia and to diversify our supplies”, welcomed the Minister of the Economy. and Climate, Robert Habeck.
Berlin had already announced several weeks ago that it wanted to completely do without Russian oil and coal by the end of the year. The German government is also now in favor of a European embargo on Russian oil.
Regarding gas, he however warned that it would be very difficult to do without Russian gas before 2024, even if the country has greatly increased its imports of natural gas from Norway and the Netherlands in particular, as well as from liquefied gas from other countries.
If Moscow were to stop its deliveries in this area overnight, the authorities expect to see the country plunge into economic recession, for lack of the industry being able to function normally.