In the event of a gas shortage, private households are particularly protected by the government’s emergency plan. The prioritization is met with criticism from the Association of the Chemical Industry. Retaining jobs is more important than private gas supply. If the chemical industry fails, “a serious crisis” threatens.
The chemical industry is questioning the primacy of private households in the allocation of gas in an emergency. Securing jobs and thus income is very important for the families and “is higher for society than fully ensuring the private gas supply,” said the President of the Association of the Chemical Industry (VCI), Christian Kullmann, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. . “What’s the use if households continue to get gas but can no longer pay for it?”
The federal government has activated the gas emergency plan because of the Ukraine war and has now declared the alarm level. In the event of a shortage, she decides who gets how much gas. Private households are particularly protected. Again and again there are demands from the economy to change the prioritization.
Kullmann warned of a deep economic crisis: “In the event of a complete gas embargo, I fear a heart attack for the German economy, including our industry.” Germany would stand still without chemicals, because chemical products are needed for 90 percent of all production processes. The consequences for the employees would be serious, there was a risk of “a bad crisis, also socially and socially”.
The VCI boss expressly praised the crisis management of Economics Minister Robert Habeck. “Robert Habeck is a good economics minister, I’m impressed,” Kullmann told the newspaper. He was “not a swaggerer and announcement world champion”.
Kullmann, on the other hand, criticizes Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder. It’s not enough just to hug trees, Bavaria also has to build wind turbines. Kullmann said about the energy transition: “We must now quickly curtail the right of citizens to object to such projects with the ax. Otherwise we will not be able to expand renewable energies as quickly as planned.”
