Aide to German Chancellor Kukis: refusal of Russian gas was a huge stress for Germany

HOUSTON (USA), March 8 – The decision to stop importing Russian gas was a huge stress for Germany, it turned out to be very difficult to replace it, said Joerg Kukis, Assistant to the German Chancellor for Economic Affairs.

The other day, in an interview with CNN, Chancellor Olaf Scholz himself said that the German economy “easily” survived the rejection of Russian gas, without slipping into a crisis and without experiencing an energy shortage.

Meanwhile, the president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Marcel Fratzscher, in February pointed outthat Germany, as a result of the Russian military operation in Ukraine and the associated increase in electricity costs in Europe, lost 100 billion euros last year.

He noted that Germany was particularly affected by the crisis “because it was more dependent on Russian energy, and also has a high share of energy-intensive industry and is extremely dependent on exports and global supply chains.”

Western countries are faced with rising energy prices and a surge in inflation due to the imposition of sanctions against Moscow and the policy of abandoning Russian fuel. Against the backdrop of a rise in the price of fuel, primarily gas, the industry in Europe has largely lost its competitive advantages, which also affected other sectors of the economy.