As the Russians keep the gas pipeline off, Germany has decided to answer: 

The “trusteeship” of Rosneft's German companies is instituted "to mitigate the threat to the security of energy supply." In order to protect the energy supplies that have been disrupted as a result of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Berlin has assumed control of the German operations of the Russian oil company Rosneft.

The German Federal Network Agency has been given trusteeship of Rosneft's German businesses, which make up roughly 12% of the nation's oil refining capacity, according to a statement from the economy ministry on Friday. It was stated that "the trust management will mitigate the threat to the security of the electricity supply."

Later on Friday, Rosneft released a statement in which it claimed that the action was unlawful and that Berlin's decision might be challenged in court. The seizures take place as Germany struggles to reduce its reliance on Russian fossil fuels. Moscow has ceased sending natural gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany.

The German government can run the refining activities using oil from other nations besides Russia after seizing control of the assets.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has sparked an energy earthquake in Europe, particularly in Germany, with prices soaring as Moscow's supply shrank. Germany is in a precarious position because of its reliance on Russian gas.

Through energy behemoths Rosneft and Gazprom over the years, Moscow had also tightened its control over Germany's gas infrastructure, pipelines, and other oil and gas facilities.

Energy agreements with Russia have long been considered as a component of a German strategy to maintain peace through working with the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian energy was inexpensive, and this helped to maintain German exports competitive. As a result, before the Ukraine War, Germany's proportion of total imports from Russia had increased to 55%. But Germany has paid the price for that strategy.

Early in April, in response to concerns raised by an opaque change in ownership of the company, the German government took the extraordinary step of temporarily seizing control of Gazprom's German subsidiary.

Germany has also been frantically searching for alternative energy sources as supplies from Russia have decreased as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.

The German government also made the bold decision to restart idled coal power facilities while putting two of its nuclear power reactors on standby until April, as opposed to totally shutting them down by year's end as originally planned.

The Germans seize Russian oil company “Rosneft”

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