Dhe countries of the G7 group have rejected Russian demands for gas bills to be paid in rubles. That’s what Federal Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday in Berlin after a virtual meeting with the G7 energy ministers.
Germany currently chairs the group of states, which includes Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the United States and Great Britain. The EU also took part in the round, said Habeck.
The G7 ministers agreed that the demand for payment in rubles was “a unilateral and clear breach of the existing treaties,” said Habeck. Concluded contracts are valid, affected companies have to be faithful to the contract. “So that means that payment in rubles is not acceptable.”
“Putin’s attempt to divide us”
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last week that gas deliveries to “unfriendly states” would only be billed in rubles. This would support the troubled Russian currency as importing countries would have to procure roubles. Germany is also one of the affected countries. So far, gas deliveries have been paid for in Germany, for example, in euros. “Putin’s attempt to divide us is obvious,” Habeck said. But there is great unity. “We will not be divided, and the answer of the G7 countries is clear: the treaties will be respected.”
Cooler temperatures and the economic recovery caused energy consumption in Germany to rise last year. According to the annual report by AG Energiebalancen published in Berlin on Monday, consumption reached 12,265 petajoules or 418.5 million tonnes of hard coal units. This corresponds to an increase of 3.1 percent compared to the previous year, but is still below the level before the outbreak of the corona pandemic.
During the heating period in the winter half-year, it was significantly cooler than in the previous year, according to the Energy Balance Working Group. Adjusted for the weather effect, energy consumption in 2021 would have increased by only 0.6 percent. The economic recovery also caused consumption to rise – but hardly so in the last quarter, when supply bottlenecks, declining construction activity and fading catch-up effects weakened the economic recovery.
According to the Working Group on Energy Balances, consumption has been significantly depressed by rising energy prices. The import prices for crude oil, natural gas and hard coal rose by 67 to 139 percent on average over the year. The prices for CO2 emission certificates more than doubled compared to the previous year and reached historic highs at the end of the year.
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