Germany could stop importing Russian gas by the summer, and oil by the end of this year. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated this, Reuters reports today, April 8.
"We are actively working to get independent from the import of (Russian) oil and we think that we will be able to make it during this year," Scholz said during a news conference in London with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Russian oil now accounts for 25% of German imports, down from 35% before the invasion, and gas imports have been cut to 40% from 55%. Russian hard coal imports were down to 25% from 50% before the invasion. Germany wants to cut the share of Russian gas to 24% by this summer. But it could take until the summer of 2024 for Europe's largest economy to end its reliance on Russian gas, Scholz said.
"We are actively working to get independent from the necessity of importing gas from Russia. This is, as you may imagine, not that easy because it needs infrastructure that has to be built first. So pipelines to the northern shore of Germany, regasification ports that make it possible for example that LNG ships could give their supply to the gas grid in Germany," explained Scholz.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, today, April 8, French Minister of the Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire said that his country is ready to ban the import of Russian oil.
The European Union did not include the embargo on Russian oil in the new package of sanctions against Russia, which was approved today, April 8.
On April 7, the U.S. Congress approved a bill that would embargo oil and gas from Russia.
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