Berlin: Germany began the second stage of its three-step emergency plan for natural gas supplies on Thursday, declaring a “crisis” in the nation and warning that storage goals for the winter are in jeopardy because of declining Russian supply.
According to the administration, the decision to raise the alert level was made in response to the reductions in Russian supply that have been made since June 14 and the ongoing high market price for gas. The “emergency” level is the third and highest stage. Despite the fact that gas storage facilities are currently 58 percent full, which is greater than it was at this time last year, it was said that without additional steps, the target of achieving 90 percent by December would not be feasible.
“The situation is bad and winter will come,” warned Economy Minister Robert Habeck in a statement. “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin‘s) economic strike on us is the reduction in gas supplies,” he declared. “We’ll protect ourselves from this. However, our nation will now have to travel a difficult road.”
We are experiencing a gas crisis, even though we can’t feel it yet, Habeck continued. The government claimed that it had alerted its European allies in advance of the action.