Habeck: Gas supply stop justifiable

Germany could cope with a ban on Russian gas next winter as long as it fills storage facilities, makes progress on LNG terminals and reduces consumption, Economics Minister Robert Habeck said in an interview with WirtschaftsWoche.

The ability of Europe's largest economy to absorb a halt is "subject to several conditions," but it's doable, he told the magazine. The comments come as Germany is planning four new floating LNG projects and accelerating approvals to reduce its reliance on Russian gas.

However, it will be difficult to replace all Russian volumes, as the country got more than half of its supplies from Russia last year. Executives from companies like EON SE have said it is unlikely that the German government will support a European Union embargo on Russian gas because the impact on the economy would be massive.

If the German gas storage facilities are full by the end of the year and two of the four planned floating LNG terminals are connected to the grid by then, we can reasonably survive the winter if Russian gas supplies are interrupted," said Habeck.

The forecast also depends on industry and households reducing their energy consumption by 10% "so as not to get into an emergency situation," says Habeck.

He added that he supports the European Union's efforts to "intensely" seek dialogue with Hungary, where Prime Minister Victor Orban has hardened its public stance against a ban on Russian oil purchases and said it would only withdraw its veto threat if its imports be excluded via pipelines.