German industry may shut on reduced or halted Russian gas supplies

The crisis caused by shortage of energy supplies from Russia, due to European Union’s sanctions, continues to deepen, threatening of catastrophic consequences if the conditions worsen further.

German economy minister warned that a certain industries would have to be shut down is Russian gas supplies remain as low as they are now.

The minister warned that shutting down the industries would cause a chain reaction as the workers will stay without their jobs and struggle to pay their bills which are already higher from 30% to 80% compared to the last year and will become poorer, while the supply chains would collapse.

The minister added that the government is considering various scenarios, with most of them warning of very difficult situation, particularly in the autumn and winter in case of further gas supply shortage.

The government also announced a move to the second phase of its three-phase emergency gas plan, which activates on high risk of longer-term gas supply shortages, as the latest crisis over the war in Ukraine and EU’s subsequent sanctions, showed the depth of the problem that bloc’s member countries and especially Germany face, due to their high dependence on Russian energy.

Another threat to the Germany comes from growing risk that the economy would fall into recession if Russian energy supplies completely stop, as the latest economic data showed that the economy was losing momentum in the second quarter, with growing fears that the downward trajectory will extend.