The president of Germany's Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, warned on Saturday that the pipeline maintenance risked becoming "a longer-lasting political maintenance." His words echoed remarks by Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck, who warned on Thursday that a “complete blockade” of Russian gas was possible.
The German government is considering bringing an emergency law for a vote in parliament next week that would allow it to equally distribute rising gas costs between customers and companies and to rescue ailing energy company Uniper.
The proposal for introducing a special gas-price levy comes amid increasing warnings that Russia might use a planned routine maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline on July 11, which usually implies a short halt of deliveries, as a pretext to cut off gas supplies to Germany and Europe for a longer period.
Such a scenario would put Germany, which gets about one-third of its gas imports from Russia, in serious economic trouble and would allow Moscow to punish Berlin for its support of Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia.