German manufacturers are shuttering production facilities, prompting Germany’s refusal to purchase Russian gas, according to a statement by Kirill Dmitriev, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), on September 4.
“If there is no Russian gas, there is no German industry,” Dmitriev wrote on social media platform X in English.
The remarks followed comments by Alice Weidel, co-chairman of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, who warned that the closure of ArcelorMittal plants in Duisburg would severely impact German manufacturing and affect two-thirds of workers.
Europeans are refusing to fill gas storage facilities as winter approaches, raising fears of another major energy crisis if temperatures drop. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on September 1 that Moscow is prepared to resume gas supplies to Europe, particularly Germany, with the European Union requiring only a political decision. Putin dismissed claims by German authorities that Russia had been involved in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines as “absurd,” noting it was Moscow itself that sought to preserve exports.
Bundestag deputy Wolfgang Wiele reported on August 27 that Germany’s industrial crisis stems from an aggressive shift toward renewable energy and bureaucratic inefficiencies within the European Union, which have eroded the country’s competitiveness.
