Russia turns off gas
Report from Poland scares the stock market
April 26, 2022, 6:45 p.m
Nothing has been officially confirmed yet, but media reports from Poland are already creating facts on the stock exchange. Because Russia is said to have turned off the country’s gas, the DAX and Dow are falling. However, it is still unclear what the reports are about.
Polish media reports have caused a small price slide on the stock exchange – so far, so normal. But the content of the reports is piquant. The Polsat News channel and the Onet.pl website report that Russia has stopped gas supplies via the Yamal pipeline. In the evening, the Polish natural gas supplier PGNiG confirmed that Gazprom would stop supplying gas from next Wednesday.
After talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at least confirmed tensions: “We received threats from Gazprom to stop gas supplies,” he says. However, Poland has prepared for the diversification of gas supplies. The economy is not at risk.
The stockbrokers seemed to care little about the unclear facts in the early evening, they reacted nervously. After the reports became known, the DAX jumped down after having previously been comfortably up. In the end, the figure was -1.2 percent – not dramatic in these volatile times, but still significant. The leading US index, the Dow Jones, has meanwhile fallen by 1.6 percent.
Germany and other EU countries are also dependent on Russian gas. The consequences of a delivery stop have been discussed in Germany for weeks. Some think that this would just about be manageable, others fear that industry will be cut short. However, all experts agree that an immediate gas supply freeze by Russia would result in a severe recession in Germany. The economy could shrink between three and six percent.
According to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck, it will be two years before Germany can do without Russian gas. His ministry is working to find other suppliers. LPG is to be purchased from Qatar or the USA. Floating special ports are being built for this purpose so that the gas can be delivered to Germany. The Green politician has already reported success with oil. Only 12 percent of this now comes from Russia. When it comes to oil, Germany could cope with a Russian embargo. That would not be the case with gas.