Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (B’90/Greens) defended the gas levy. In the run-up to the cabinet meeting at Merseburg Castle in Brandenburg, he named the criteria for entitlement to the gas surcharge. You have to “push the free riders off the footboard,” he said on “Deutschlandfunk”. According to the Green politician, there are a few things that can be done to prevent profitable companies from receiving the levy.
Only companies that are relevant to the gas supply in Germany should receive support. The gas business must also have a relevant size within the company itself. Habeck also pointed out that state-supported companies are not allowed to pay out bonuses or dividends. In order to get support, all books would have to be disclosed. That alone could be enough “to weed out these companies.”
The gas surcharge is intended to compensate for the sharp rise in costs for major importers due to the shortage of Russian gas supplies, in order to protect them from bankruptcy and the energy system from collapsing. All gas customers should pay an additional 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour from October. It is criticized that companies that are doing well economically could also benefit.
Germany and France are opposed to an EU entry ban for Russian citizens. As has now become public, Russia has picked up combat drones in Iran for use in Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian army, Russia is suffering heavy losses in southern Ukraine.
In Russian Portovaya near Nord Stream 1, Russia burns its surplus gas. Gazprom is said to burn off around 4.3 million cubic meters of the raw material every day. According to a gas expert, this could be a reaction born of necessity – or a propaganda message.
The video of little Liza, who died in a Russian missile attack, went around the world. Now her mother speaks. “What Russia took from me is unforgivable,” she says. And: “Liza was my life.”
