BERLIN, Germany – Facing pressure from Ukraine and other European nations to cut energy imports from Russia, which help fill Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest, Germany says it’s making progress on weaning itself off Russian fossil fuels.
Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck said this week that Europe’s largest economy has reduced the share of Russian energy imports to 12 percent for oil, 8 percent for coal and 35 percent for natural gas. The country expects to be fully independent of Russian crude oil imports by late summer.
“All these steps that we are taking require an enormous joint effort from all actors, and they also mean costs that are felt by both the economy and consumers,” Habeck said in a statement. “But they are necessary if we no longer want to be blackmailed by Russia.”
The entire European Union is considering an embargo on Russian oil following a decision to ban Russian coal imports starting in August. The bloc pays Russia $850 million a day for oil and natural gas, and Germany is one of the top importers of Russian energy.
However, weaning Germany off Russian natural gas is a larger challenge.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Germany received more than half of its natural gas imports from Russia. That share is now down to 35 percent, partly due to increased purchases from Norway and the Netherlands, the ministry said.
To further reduce Russian imports, Germany plans to speed the construction of terminals for liquified natural gas, or LNG.
Germany has resisted calls for an EU boycott on Russian natural gas. Its central bank has warned that a total cutoff of Russian gas could mean 5 percentage points of lost economic output and higher inflation.
