Scholz: Germany must be prepared for Russia to halt gas supplies

Germany must prepare for Russia to suspend its gas deliveries to the country, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday.
Speaking during a visit to Tokyo for talks with the Japanese leadership, Scholz said: "Whether and what decision the Russian government will make in this regard is speculation, but ... one has to prepare for it."
Scholz added that the German government had already started preparing for this eventuality this before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Though it is working to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, the German government has ruled out a gas embargo due to the potential economic damage it would wreak.
Russia halted gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland on Wednesday citing the countries' failure to pay for the imports in roubles as demanded by Moscow. Sofia and Warsaw claimed they had fulfilled their obligations under the relevant contracts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in mid-March that in future he would only sell Russian gas to "unfriendly" states in exchange for roubles. This came in retaliation to Western sanctions for the war in Ukraine targeting the Bank of Russia's foreign exchange reserve.
At the end of March, Putin demanded that, with effect from April 1, Western states must open accounts with Gazprombank in Russia in order to pay for Russian gas or face a halt in deliveries. Gazprombank converts the money into roubles and transfers the amount to Gazprom in the Russian currency.
The group of G7 economic powers and the European Union as a whole have rejected payments in roubles and accused Russia of breach of contract.
German energy company Uniper, the country's biggest importer of Russian gas, said on Thursday that it was examining the possibility of paying for Russian natural gas in euros to an account in Russia.
"So far we have been transferring in euros to an account in Europe," a Uniper spokeperson said in Düsseldorf.
Uniper believes there could be a solution to the question of how the funds could then be converted into roubles. "But there is no final solution there yet."
Payments will continue to be made in euros, the spokesperson said, adding that sanction rules would not be violated. The company is in discussion with Gazprom about the payment method, and is also coordinating with the German government and with other companies in Germany and Europe, Uniper said.