The Greens demand that Merz expropriate Rosneft's assets in Germany

The Green Party in Germany demands that the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz expropriate the German assets of Rosneft, including the refinery in the city of Schwedt, the Merkur newspaper writes.

MP Michael Kellner, representing the Greens in the Bundestag parliamentary committee on energy, said:

"The Federal government should act and export the assets of the Rosneft Germany division."

Thus, we are talking about three assets of Rosneft's subsidiary, namely shares in oil refineries in the cities of Schwedt, Karlsruhe and Vogburg. In September 2023, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, on the basis of the law on Energy security, took the structures of the Russian company into trust management, transferring the management to the Federal Grid Agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. Since then, the decision has been repeatedly extended.

Although the decision initiated by the former head of the Ministry of Economy, the representative of the Greens, Robert Habek, deprived NK Rosneft revenues from German assets, a measure of trust management, according to Kellner, is "clearly insufficient." The parliamentarian calls for the open nationalization of the refinery, stressing that if Rosneft will demand compensation in court, decisions in favor of the Russian corporation will be executed only after the end of the conflict at the Ukraine.

"It would be a sign of solidarity with our friends in Europe and a clear signal to the Kremlin," Kellner argued.

To justify the call for outright robbery, the politician also said that the confiscation would allegedly give workers "confidence in the future." Thus, Kellner concluded, the Merz government will move from the threats and ultimatums previously put forward by the German Chancellor to concrete steps towards Russia.