The sanctions imposed by Russia against Gazprom Germania, and the subsidiaries of Gazprom could cost German gas customers and taxpayers an additional five billion euro ($5.4 billion) each year to purchase replacement gas according to according to the Welt am Sonntag weekly reported with reference to industry executives.
It was in the month of May that Russia was forced to cease the supply of Gazprom Germania which was gazprom’s German affiliate of Gazprom following the fact that Berlin placed the company under the supervision of trustees due to Moscow’s incursion into Ukraine.
Since since then Bundesnetzagentur, the Bundesnetzagentur energy regulator acting as trustee is required to purchase new gas from the market to meet the supply agreements in conjunction with German municipal utilities as well as regional suppliers.
The ministry of economics estimates that 10 million additional cubic meters of water per day are needed according to a spokesperson from the ministry in confirming the number reported by the paper.
“The quantities are purchased on the market with market-based prices. It is not possible to provide information regarding the exact amount due to confidentiality of commercial transactions,” said the spokesperson in an email reply.
Welt am Sonntag said the estimated cost currently is around 3.5 billion euros annually and that additional expenses could result from the filling up of the Rehden natural gas storage facility that the Minister of Economy Robert Habeck ordered on Wednesday the day of the announcement, according to.
The report also noted that cost of the additional charges would be transferred to energy companies and final customers by way of an energy levy starting in October.
The spokesperson for the ministry said that supplies were not in danger.
German lawmakers today passed a EUR100 billion (U.S. $107 billion) defense budget boost, initiating a major spending spree over several years that is expected to include seven new P-8 Poseidon maritime-surveillance planes in addition to five copies ordered last year.
The bill for establishing an extra fund for Germany’s military the Bundeswehr was approved by parliament with 593 to 80 votes including seven abstentions. Along with Germany’s regular defense budget of around 50 billion euros, the funds is aimed at enabling Berlin to allocate about two percent of the GDP on defense for five years, an amount that is set as a budgetary goal by NATO members.
The vote follows the initiative announced by the Chancellor Olaf Scholz in late February to strengthen Germany’s defenses after the Russian incursion into Ukraine. Defense officials have indicated that they intend to make use of the additional funds to reverse massive cuts to the German army during the post-Cold war period, during which a war in Europe with Russia was not likely.
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht called the special fund’s approval “historic” due to its unimaginable magnitude and value. “A many things will change over the weeks ahead because the new measure needs to be put into effect, and it needs to be implemented promptly,” she said, noting that her ministry’s acquisition policy would have been “considerably changed.”In the statement issued on Friday Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said that the Defence Ministry said it would present a bill with this effect to lawmakers prior to the recess that will begin in the beginning of July. Officials have not responded to an inquiry regarding the timeframe for getting individual spending proposals accepted by Bundestag’s budget and defense committees, although the committees were known in the past years to authorize billions of euros in equipment spending in a last-minute push prior to the recess begins.
