「エネルギーを武器に利用」とロシアを批判　独副首相

【ベルリンＡＦＰ＝時事】ドイツのロベルト・ハーベック副首相兼経済・気候保護相は１２日、ロシアが欧米のエネルギー企業に報復的な制裁措置を発表したことを受け、ロシアは「エネルギーを武器として利用している」と非難した。パイプラインを使ったロシアからのガス供給も減少しているという。（資料写真）
　ハーベック氏は記者会見で、「エネルギーを武器として使うことが複数の領域で現実化する形で、事態は顕在化したと言わざるを得ない」と述べた。
　一方、ガス関連企業は１２日、ロシアからウクライナを経由した欧州へのパイプラインによるガス供給が前日から２日連続で減少していると明らかにした。
　ドイツは１１日の不足分２５％をノルウェーとオランダ産のガスで補ったとしている。
　ハーベック氏は、次の冬に向けてガスの貯蔵量を増加させることに注力していると表明。同氏は「ガス貯蔵施設は冬までに貯蔵量を最大まで引き上げなければならない。さもなければ、われわれは簡単に脅されてしまうような状況に陥るだろう」と警告した。
　ロシア政府は１１日、ウクライナ侵攻を受けた欧米の対ロシア制裁に対する報復として、欧米やシンガポールのエネルギー企業３１社に報復制裁を科す政令を出した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/05/13-10:33）

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck accused Russia on Thursday of using energy as a weapon, after Moscow slapped sanctions on Western energy firms and slowed gas flows to Europe.
It has to be said that the situation is coming to a head, in such a way that the use of energy as a weapon is now being realised in several areas, Habeck told reporters in Berlin.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, on a visit to the German capital, said Moscow had shown itself to be an unreliable supplier.
Kuleba urged Europe to end its heavy dependence on Russian gas that was helping to finance Moscow's war machine.
This energy oxygen for Russia must be turned off and that is especially important for Europe, Kuleba said at a joint press conference with Habeck.
Europe must get rid of this complete dependence on Russian gas, since Russia has shown... that it is not a reliable partner and Europe cannot afford that.
Russia on Thursday said it would stop sending natural gas via the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline as part of retaliation for Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
The move comes a day after Russia issued a government decree imposing sanctions on 31 EU, US and Singaporean energy firms.
Most of the companies belong to the Gazprom Germania group of subsidiaries of Russian energy giant Gazprom.
The sanctions include a ban on transactions and the entry into Russian ports of vessels linked to the affected companies.
Meanwhile, operators on Thursday reported a drop in gas supplies from Russia via Ukraine for a second day, after Kyiv said it would suspend flows through a key eastern transit pipeline called Sokhranivka because the area was no longer under Ukrainian control.
But Gazprom has denied there was a case for the Ukrainian side to declare force majeure and said it was impossible to reroute all the supplies through another Ukrainian pipeline.
- 'Blackmail' fears -
Gazprom told the Interfax news agency that supplies transiting Ukraine on Thursday were at 50.6 million cubic metres in total, compared to 72 million cubic metres the day before.
Germany, which is hugely reliant on Russian energy, said it had been able to make up the shortfall through gas imports from Norway and the Netherlands.
The head of Germany's Federal Network Agency, Klaus Mueller, also noted that Russia had been very surgical about its pick on which companies to sanction, selecting only storage and trading companies, and not the operators.
This very well-planned, precise decree allows it to keep doing business with Germany, but not on old contract conditions, rather under new conditions that other gas dealers would then have to conclude with Russia, said Mueller.
Europe's biggest economy is racing to wean itself off Russian energy and has already almost completely phased out Russian coal.
But ditching Russian oil and gas will be more difficult.
With fears growing that Russia could abruptly turn off the energy taps, Habeck said Germany was focusing on building up gas reserves to prepare for winter.
The gas storage facilities must be full by winter or else we will be in a situation where we can easily be blackmailed, he warned.