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Berlin (AFP) – The Government of Germany placed this Friday under tutelage the activities of the Russian oil group Rosneft, which has several refineries in its territory, in order to better guarantee the country’s energy supply.
Rosneft subsidiaries in Germany account for 12% of the country’s refining capacity. From now on they are “under trusteeship” of the national agency responsible for managing energy networks, the German Ministry of Economy said in a statement.
The objective of this guardianship, indicated the Ministry, is “to respond to the risks that weigh on the security of supplies” of energy.
In this way, “we will be less dependent on Russia and the decisions that are made there,” said Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz during a press conference.
Germany already took control of Gazprom’s former German subsidiary, Gazprom Germania, in early April, this time to secure its gas supply.
Then, the German government had to allocate an aid of 9,000 to 10,000 million euros to save this entity threatened with bankruptcy.
The Berlin Executive is now paying particular attention to the Schwedt refinery, in the east of the country, which guarantees the supply of oil products to the entire Berlin region.
Objective: reorganize the supply with oil from other countries
The operation of this refinery, controlled mainly by Rosneft, has been seriously disturbed since the Government of Olaf Scholz decided to drastically reduce its imports of Russian oil, in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. The goal at the end of the year is to completely dispense with these imports.
By now taking control, the German authorities will be able to organize the supply of the plant with oil from countries other than Russia.
In detail, the guardianship concerns the subsidiaries Rosneft Germany (RDG) and the company RN Refining & Marketing (RNRM), which own shares in three large German refineries.
Europe’s leading economy has already reduced its dependence on Russian oil imports, which represented 35% of its needs before Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In parallel, Russia has for the moment suspended its gas deliveries to the country, which will not be able to completely replace them before 2024, according to the latest government forecasts.
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