Germany prepared for ‘sudden’ Russian gas ban, says Scholz

Germany has prepared for the day it is “suddenly” cut off from Russian gas, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement.

When asked whether Moscow could soon halt gas exports to Germany as it has done for Poland and Bulgaria, Scholz said, “we need to prepare for this”.

“Already before the war broke out, we started doing that. We know what we need to do,” he added.

Germany is now in a position to gradually rely less on Russian coal and have a total phase-out by autumn, he also said, referring to the fact Germany had started working towards becoming more independent of Russian energy long before the war.

On gas imports, Scholz said Germany would also work towards phasing out Russian imports, though complete independence would take longer to achieve.

Germany is still Russia’s most significant client for energy exports. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, has paid around €9.1 billion to Russia for fossil fuels, a recent study by the Finnish Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air shows.

Russian gas giant Gazprom cut off Poland and Bulgaria from its gas as the two countries have refused to comply with the Kremlin’s demand to pay for Russian gas in roubles, the gas company announced on Tuesday (26 April).