Sergey Savchuk
The situation in Europe continues to steadily worsen – in particular, it is already clear: you can definitely forget about the longed-for and advertised green transition. A story was released on the German TV channel NDR : in the frame, Robert Habek, the Minister of Economics of Germany, standing against the backdrop of huge piles of coal, states with a sad face that the government, in order to somehow get through even such a gentle winter, is forced to reactivate power plants using fuel oil and coal. Moreover, Germany will not be able to stop using non-environmentally friendly coal until at least 2030.
Try the first time to guess who is to blame. Congratulations, you are absolutely right.
We are witnessing with our own eyes an intermediate historical stage of the next wave of the demonization of Russia. Now, when it is already completely clear that the Russian economy has withstood the pressure of sanctions, the ruble has not collapsed, inflation has slowed down and even went in the opposite direction, and the fall in GDP turned out to be much less than predicted, the European authorities need to drum the postulate of a monstrous Russia into the heads of fellow citizens again and again. This is also done because our country (no matter what they fantasize about in Washington and Zhytomyr) has not become a world pariah, that is, all bloody machinations like the “massacre in Bucha”turned out to be in vain. While American and European politicians, like mechanical parrots, repeat the invented mantra about isolation a thousand times, Moscow is increasing cooperation with India and China. Relations with the countries of South America have not deteriorated at all, Africa is experiencing a real boom in interest in everything Russian, at the same time the presence of former European colonialists is gradually decreasing, which, of course, cannot please Paris, Berlin and London.
Since our western neighbors and once even partners cannot influence this process, a favorite trick is used – lies, lies and again lies. Thus, a parallel black-and-white reality is formed, where there is a nice kind West and a terrible aggressive Russia, the entire existence of which is subordinated to one task only: to destroy European prosperity. Since all alternative sources of information in the West and overseas have been mercilessly purged, this propaganda works quite well for itself. Proven by Ukraine.
But let’s go back to Germany and talk about who is really to blame for the fact that now you can forget about decarbonization and long hot showers there.
Robert Habek blames Russia for the growth of its own coal consumption, wh-ich allegedly cut off natural gas supplies to Germany. Yes, you heard right, before you is the very alternative reality in which it was not the European Union, at the behest of Washington, who initially fought in hysterics over the construction of Nord Stream 2 for years, it did not impose an embargo on the purchase of Russian coal, oil and gas, not he abandoned long-term contracts with Gazprom, and he was not at all the one who imposed a price ceiling on Russian energy resources.
This is Russia’s fault, it uses its hydrocarbons as a weapon and blackmail lever.
Europe as a whole and Germany as its main economic and industrial locomotive in particular, everything was fine as long as they cooperated with Russia, and did not flatter themselves with hopes that they could strangle her and live without her resources.
For example, Uniper, one of the largest generating companies in the Old World, one of the key shareholders of Nord Stream 2, has been successfully and productively operating in our country for more than a decade. Even at the beginning of the 2000s, the E.ON corporation entered Russia, which acquired controlling stakes in five Russian power plants at once. Later, the aforementioned Uniper was spun off from its structure, which inherited Surgutskaya GRES-2, Berezovskaya GRES, Shaturskaya GRES, Smolenskaya GRES and Yaivinskaya GRES with a total capacity of 8.6 gigawatts. Already by 2016, the company’s production fleet was replenished with a number of other hydro, gas and coal-fired power plants, and the total capacity of its facilities in Russia exceeded an impressive 34 gigawatts.
Naturally, the Uniper concern entered Russia not because of some lofty ideals and philanthropy, but solely because of a sober calculation. The enterprises of our energy sector needed fast and large investments, as well as some technical and technological developments from Western countries. In particular, the same Siemens supplied our power plants with high-capacity turbines, gas compressor units, locomotives and much more. Investors were interested in two factors: profit and energy at reduced prices. The same Uniper was excellent at selling electricity to Russian domestic consumers and providing export flows.
Another shareholder of SP-2, the German Wintershall Dea, invested in the development of oil and gas fields near Urengoy with great benefit for itself and for Germany, back in the late nineties it invested heavily in the construction of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline bypassing Ukraine, and later in gas pipelines along the bottom of the Baltic.
By the way, about Nord Streams.
Now, against the backdrop of the events in Donbass and the coronavirus pandemic that preceded this, it has been completely forgotten what the informational and political intensity of passions around the construction of the second gas pipeline was. For several years, this was the main information event and an occasion for speculation, intrigue and fraud. Recall at least the ban on insurance of ships involved in the project, or the sabotage withdrawal from the project of European pipelayers. When it became clear that the pipeline would still be completed, then President Donald Trump directly threatened that the United States would impose sanctions against any country that dared to buy gas from Ust-Luga. The refusal to certify NS-2 by Berlin and the imposition of direct sanctions by Washington against Nord Stream 2 AG fit perfectly into the same outline. Both events took place simultaneously – on February 22, 2022, that is, exactly two days before the start of the NWO.
It was not Russia that refused to supply gas to Germany – it was German politicians, like obedient puppets, who did everything possible to destroy the existing supply schemes, although Moscow repeatedly, demonstrating truly biblical patience, urged not to do this.
Robert Habek was embarrassed to remind fellow citizens that since 2015, when the second Nord Stream project was being laid, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose cabinet facilitated investment and the start of construction, cited a simple concrete fact as incentives: for forty years of natural gas supplies first from the USSR, and later from Russia, our side has never violated its contractual obligations. Never.
Speculating on the fundamental scrupulousness of our country in this matter, transit countries have repeatedly tried to disrupt exports. Only an alien, probably, did not hear that Ukraine for twenty years not only directly stole gas, but also put forward endless conditions, demanding incomprehensible compensations, revisions of conditions, price reductions, blackmailing Moscow by shutting off the valve. It is for this reason that back in 1999, that is, a year before Vladimir Putin became president, the first Yamal-Europe bypass route was launched. For the same reason, Nord Stream 1 was built and operated at the limit of its design capabilities until the very moment of the explosion, pumping Russian gas to the German coast.
At the end of November 2022, Uniper filed an arbitration lawsuit against Gazprom, demanding to pay $11 billion for the fact that they received less gas and were forced to buy it on the side at inflated prices. The company’s management is not at all embarrassed by the fact that the Russian side could not physically supply anything after the sabotage and explosion of three gas pipelines. However, this position fits into the general anti-Russian outline.
Last week, the World Economic Forum was held in Davos, Switzerland, where, among others, German Economy Minister Christian Lindner spoke. He proudly declared that at the moment Germany has completely defeated dependence on Russian gas and, to quote, “the era of Angela Merkel’s politics is over.”
Both points are highly significant.
Let’s start with the fact that a whole minister shamelessly lies from a high rostrum, and not even about Russia, which is customary, but about the former chancellor, under which the German economy reached a historical peak. Lindner promotes the narrative that Berlin has been building relations with Russia for years, not because it was extremely profitable and his country received energy resources at moderate prices, but allegedly to achieve the democratization of Russia. Do not look for logic here – this is the same parallel reality.
As for the complete rejection of Russian gas, according to the most preliminary estimates, this has already cost Olaf Scholz ‘s team an unplanned ten billion euros. That is how much they had to pay for leasing three regasification platforms in Wilhelmshaven, Brunsbüttel and Lubmin. Along the way, we had to conclude contracts with Qatar and the United States for the supply of liquefied natural gas, which also turned out to be much more expensive than Russian pipeline gas. The icing on the cake was the ultimatum demand from American LNG producers to switch to long-term contracts – the very ones that Europe was so fiercely dissuaded from when it came to working with Russia.
Thanks to this long-term geopolitical clowning, Robert Habek stood near the mountains of coal and complained about the lack of gas.
In conclusion, let’s say that the German Wintershall Dea, together with the parent company BASF, reported a record loss of more than three billion euros last week. Uniper, the lion’s share of which belongs to the Finnish Fortum, has decided to sell all its assets in Russia, but cannot get permission from the Russian regulator. The latter is not in a hurry and does exactly the right thing. If the client no longer wants to eat heartily with a golden Russian spoon, he must sell it not at the market price, but at the price that Russian buyers are willing to pay.
Lies and a complete lack of independence, gentlemen, leads to poverty.
