As fears are rising that Russia could cut off gas supplies if Western countries refuse the rubles payments’ mandate, Germany declared on Wednesday an early warning of a possible gas supply emergency.
Being considered preventative and intended to assure the supply of the fuel, the “early warning” measure is the first of three alarm levels under Germany’s emergency gas plan, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said after G7 ministers rejected Moscow’s demand for payments in rubles, announcing that the ministry will now establish a crisis room.
According to him, the Federal Government in Germany has already informed the European Commission that it has declared the first stage – the so-called early warning stage- of the gas emergency plan.
Though supplies continue to flow, Habeck pointed out that a stop to Russian deliveries would have serious” consequences considering the fact that Germany’s gas reserves at the moment are at 25% of capacity.
Hence, in line with the early warning, the government said that every gas consumer from now on – from businesses to private households – will be required to reduce their consumption as much as possible.
Though highly dependent on Russian gas for its energy needs – 55 of its supplies being delivered along pipelines from Russia before the invasion – Germany has accelerated plans to wean itself off Russian gas and diversify its supplies since the outbreak of the war.
Habeck’s announcement is also the clearest signal to date that the EU is preparing for supply disruption following the sanctions against Moscow enforced after Russia invaded Ukraine.
These intentions were only strengthened after Kremlin reiterated on Tuesday it will only be accepting payment in rubles for gas deliveries to the EU, with Habeck stressing that Germany will not accept a breach of the private contracts for gas deliveries.
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