German warning of economic deterioration in the event of stopping oil and gas supplies from Russia

Berlin (ST): The Chairman of the Executive Board of the German chemical company BASF, Martin Brudermüller, warned of the deterioration of the German economy in the event of stopping oil and gas supplies from Russia.

The German magazine Der Spiegel quoted Brudermüller as saying today, “The freezing of imports or the long-term failure of gas and oil supplies from Russia may lead to the worst crisis affecting the German economy since the end of World War II, threatening the existence of many small and medium-sized companies in particular.”

On calls for Europe to boycott Russian energy imports, Brudermüller said: “Such an experiment would be irresponsible,” pointing out that it is not possible to completely abandon Russian natural gas imports in Germany except in the medium term.

He explained that the consequences of the gas shortage cannot be mitigated by subsidies or financial aid, in light of the inability to bear large sums, and said: “The dimensions we are talking about here are much larger than they were when the Corona epidemic broke out.”

K.Q.