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RWI Positionen #81

Stopp des Bezugs von russischem Gas birgt erhebliche Risiken

With an import share of more than 50%, a large part of Germany‘s gas supply is based on deliveries from Russia. It would be difficult to replace these in the short term, as both the capacities of the LNG terminals and the transport capacities of the existing pipeline network are limited. Moreover, competition across Europe for the scarce natural gas volumes that are still available would be massive. Therefore, efforts to reduce the import of Russian gas or the purchase of other Russian energy imports should only be taken in full recognition of the associated risks and costs, with appropriate contingency plans in place. In order to become independent of Russia, considerable efforts are first required at all levels, from politics to companies. At the same time, it is currently almost impossible to make reliable statements about the magnitude of the associated economic consequences. In any case, threats to do without Russian energy imports should only be issued with acknowledgement of the considerable risks to the prosperity of the German economy that are likely to ensue. These deliberations need to entail far more than an exercise in economic modeling.