Siegfried Russwurm, President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), has described a current freeze on Russian gas supplies as “devastating”.
“A whole range of companies would then be completely cut off from gas supplies. In many cases, the companies affected would have to stop production, and some companies would probably never be able to start them up again,” he warned in the “Bild am Sonntag”.
Russwurm expressed doubts about the statement by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) that Germany could get through the winter without Russian gas supplies if necessary. “That’s a bold prediction,” said Russwurm. “No one knows how cold next winter will be, how much we will have to heat.” It is right to do everything as quickly as possible to make Germany less dependent on Russian gas. “We’ll see if it’s enough and works by the end of the year.”
Russwurm clearly backed the existing sanctions against Russia and the EU’s planned oil embargo. “We will be able to do without Russian oil by the end of the year, maybe even sooner. I have my backing for the planned EU embargo six months in advance,” says Russwurm. “The sanctions as a whole are correct. Putin has denounced the basic consensus of the civilized world. We cannot condone him using force to push boundaries. Isolating this regime economically is the least that needs to be done.”
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