Germany will not be led by Russia when it comes to energy supplies. The country is bent on resisting Russia’s “gas blackmail” and preparing to introduce a ban on its gas supplies.

The European Union realized a long time ago that gas supplies from Russia are anything but a commercial project. Moscow has used gas as a political tool to threaten Europe with cold winters and the lack of heat and electricity for years. Russia’s demand for gas payments in rubles became a wake-up call for Germany. The country understood it was time to end this toxic relationship. Germany has no intention to pay for gas in rubles whatsoever. Instead, it contemplates abandoning Russian gas entirely. The government has introduced a set of measures aimed at providing loans and support for energy companies and taking over vital firms, like oil refineries, including foreign ones, even to point of their nationalization. Of course, it is about Russian companies only.

At the same time, Germany is now actively expanding its gas reserves. Rehden, the largest underground gas storage facility in Western Europe, can hold about 4 billion cubic meters of gas. It is now being filled at an accelerated pace. The facility is currently 0.6% full, which is far below the 36% average for Germany's gas storage sites.