government seizes Russian refinery that threatened to halt production

One of the largest refineries in Germany, which supplies fuel for Berlin and its region, belongs to a Russian company which threatened to cut everything. The German government has just decided to take control of it. A guardianship of a site of 1,200 employees, a radical decision in the showdown with Moscow. This refinery, located in Schwedt, was supplied by the Druschba oil pipeline, which means friendship in Russian. But the embargo on Russian oil is due to come into force at the end of the year and the owner of the site refused to refine anything else.

On the spot, the takeover of the government more or less reassures the inhabitants. Berlin now wants to bring hydrocarbons by boat, then by train, without for the moment specifying the countries of origin. “The public authorities announce that they will spend more than one billion euros to modernize the refinery and allow it to continue to operate. As with gas, Germany is paying a high price for its dependence on Russia for its energy supply. concludes the journalist from France Télévisions Berlin, Laurent Desbonnets.