23rd Apr 2026 22:56
(Alliance News) - German officials were scrambling to respond on Thursday to an announcement by Moscow that it would stop allowing the transit of Kazakh oil through Russia to eastern Germany via the Druzhba pipeline.
The premier of the eastern state of Brandenburg, Dietmar Woidke, said he would do everything possible together with the national government to secure fuel supplies for the PCK oil refinery in Schwedt, despite the impending transit stop.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is responsible for energy issues, told the Russian news agency Interfax earlier this week that the oil would be diverted via other routes for technical reasons.
Kazakh Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenshenov said Russia was planning to stop the transit of oil to Schwedt, and that he suspected this was linked to the latest Ukrainian attacks on facilities belonging to Russia's oil industry.
If oil from Kazakhstan is unavailable for a long period and cannot be replaced, utilization of the refinery could drop noticeably.
Woidke told dpa that Russia's announcement was "a clear setback."
"But it is also completely clear that we will do everything - the Brandenburg state government together with PCK management together with the federal government - to ensure that production will continue and that security of supply in the region can also be ensured," he said.
The state's economy minister, Martina Klement, said the reason for the move by Moscow remains unclear. "At the present time we also do not know how long the restrictions will last," Klement said.
There are alternative routes for oil to reach the refinery via the ports of Gdansk and Rostock.
After Russia's war against Ukraine began, the German government decided to stop importing Russian pipeline oil.
PCK, which employs around 1,200 people, is 54% owned by German subsidiaries of Russian state oil company Rosneft. The German government placed these subsidiaries under trusteeship because of the war.
A spokesman said Rosneft Germany is examining whether it can secure replacement deliveries so that PCK can continue producing at full capacity.
source: dpa
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