Germany’s largest industries could face collapse due to cuts in Russian natural gas supplies, a senior country trade union official has warned.
Yasmin Fahimi, the head of the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB), raised this alarm in an interview with the newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
According to her, a key gas pipeline will shut from July 11-21 for maintenance amid fears supplies will not resume after that.
Europe’s largest economy is heavily reliant on natural gas piped in from Russia.
According to her, the energy crisis has already led to record high inflation. Fahimi calls for capping energy prices for households.
She explained that the rising costs of CO2 emissions mean an additional burden for households and companies, a situation that could lead to social unrest.
“Entire industries are in danger of collapsing permanently because of the gas bottlenecks: aluminum, glass, the chemical industry. Such a collapse would have massive consequences for the entire economy and jobs in Germany.”
The alarm comes after Russia cut supplies via the Nord Stream gas pipeline by 60%, and the pipeline is scheduled to be completely shut down for maintenance this month. Germany expressed doubt that Nord Stream would resume deliveries after that.
Germany — Europe’s largest economy — is reliant on piped natural gas from Russia, which accounts for 35% of its imports of the fuel. The industrial powerhouse imports almost all of the natural gas it uses, which is about a quarter of the country’s total energy mix, according to the economy ministry.
The country’s energy crisis is already driving inflation to record highs. This threatens social stability, Fahimi told Bild am Sonntag.
