Germany intends to abandon coal and Russian oil by the end of this year, according to German economy minister Robert Habeck, as announced on Saturday. The environmentally-aware minister told "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung": "Every day, even every hour, we are saying goodbye more and more to Russian imports." He added, "If we manage to do this, we will become independent from Russian coal in the fall and semi-independent from Russian oil by the end of the year."
However, the abandonment of Russian gas appears to be more complicated, as Habeck remarked, "Germany does not have its own capabilities to import liquefied gas, even though the country is currently working on this matter." Currently, Germany imports about one-third of its oil and approximately 45% of its coal from Russia, according to government statistics. In comparison, imports of Russian natural gas in 2020 slightly exceeded 50%. Over the past decade, Germany's dependency on Russian energy has increased from 36% of total gas imports in 2014 to 55% currently.
This comes as leaders of the largest European economic power reject a ban on crucial Russian oil and gas due to their energy needs, a demand made by Western countries, led by the United States. Habeck reiterated his opposition to an immediate ban on imports of Russian energy products, which some Eastern European countries are calling for, according to the French Press Agency, as reported by "Al Arabiya". He deemed that this would lead to supply difficulties for the coming winter, an economic crisis, strong inflation, as well as the cancellation of thousands of jobs and a sharp rise in energy prices. Habeck added that "high energy prices already represent a major burden on families, particularly for those with limited means. Similarly, for the economy as a whole, as production will become increasingly costly."
