Germany Plans to Ditch Dependence on Russian Coal by Fall, Oil by End of Year, Minister Says

BERLIN (Sputnik) - Germany plans to become independent of Russian coal by autumn, and almost abandon Russian oil by the end of the year, German Vice Chancellor, Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck said on Saturday.

"We work every day, indeed every day, and sometimes every night, to reduce dependence on Russian oil, coal, and gas. Every day, even every hour, we are one step closer to saying goodbye to Russian imports. If we succeed, then we will be independent of Russian coal by autumn, and by the end of the year we will be almost independent of Russian oil", Habeck said in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

He stressed that abandoning Russian gas will be harder due to Germany having no capacities for importing liquefied natural gas.

At the same time, the minister noted that there are no reasons to believe that Russia will stop energy exports, but Berlin is preparing "for every scenario".

On Tuesday, Habeck announced the need for Germany to diversify energy supplies to abandon Russian imports. According to the German Economy Ministry, the share of Russian oil in supplies to the country amounts to 35%, while the share of coal is about 50%.

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