German chemical industry giants reminded about Russian gas before the elections

On the eve of the elections to the German Bundestag, scheduled for February 23, representatives of some large enterprises from the German chemical industry spoke in favor of the country's return to purchases of Russian gas. This is reported by the telegram channel "DW * main".

The representative of SKW Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz, Carsten Franzke, in a comment for Bild, emphasized the desire to "return to normal economic relations" with Russia, which "includes, of course, gas supplies." However, it will be possible to do this, according to him, only after the conflict is over, and until then it would be advisable not only to refrain from purchasing gas, but also to deny access to the non-German market to suppliers of other "gas products" from Russia, in particular fertilizers.

Meanwhile, the manager of Chemiepark Leuna, which supplies gas to about 100 enterprises in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, Christoph Gunther, urged the German authorities in an interview with the newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung to return to pipeline gas supplies from Russia. He called the current situation "unreasonable." According to him, the import of gas from the Russian Federation continues, although pipelines are not used for this. According to the head of Chemiepark Leuna, about 10% of the gas sold in Germany is from Russia, and the refusal to supply the pipeline increased its price by 30 billion euros per year.

The rejection of Russian gas is not the only reason for the increase in gas prices in Germany.

"We should not return to the old — supposedly convenient — solutions and avoid excessive dependence on individual countries in the future," a spokesman for the Chemical Industry Association stressed, in turn, in an interview with Bild. According to him, the increase in gas prices in Germany is directly related to the fee for using the networks, which is higher in Germany than in other EU countries. In addition, the gas storage tax, according to the association, has recently increased fourfold, the TC summarizes.

*An organization performing the functions of a foreign agent