Germany's Move on Russia; Stops Coal and Oil Purchases

Germany will stop buying coal and oil from Russia. As of August 1, Germany will stop buying coal from Russia, and as of December 31, it will stop importing oil.

German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Kukies made important statements about the economy from Sydney. In his speech at the conference he attended, he stated that the country will completely stop coal purchases from Russia as of August 1 and oil purchases as of December 31. Deputy Minister Kukies noted that the biggest challenge will be to give up the 158 billion cubic meters of gas that the EU supplies from Russia annually and to fill this huge gap. Speaking at the Energy Forum, Kukies said that Germany procures 40 percent of its coal and oil from Russia and added: "In a few weeks we will be out of Russian coal." Kukies added that Germany is rapidly developing LNG import terminals to fill the gap in gas supply, adding that the US and Qatar are supplying around 30 bcm of gas in LNG form to Europe, but there is still a big gap.