The jurist Wolfgang J. Hummel, who represents the PCK employees in the Berlin Administrative Court against the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK), has published a guest article in the Berliner Zeitung (BZ) about the situation at the refinery. In it, he raises serious allegations against the federal government and, in particular, the two Green-staffed ministers, Habeck and Baerbock.
While the federal government had extended the employment guarantee for the Schwedt refinery by half a year at the end of last year (RT DE reported), the consequences of the German and EU oil sanctions against Russia, which are expected for the refinery and its employees, are not promising.
Berlin sets EU sanctions into practice – against German interests
The federal government had, in 2022, after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, implemented the EU-imposed sanctions with zeal – initially without inquiring about the consequences. As an industrial facility, the refinery has immense importance not only for the agrarian region of Uckermark and the Polish border town of Schwedt, but also for the region’s economy.
The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), showed little concern in the spring when she stated on April 20, 2022: “That’s why I say clearly and clearly: Yes, Germany will also let Russian energy imports come to a complete halt.” And she added: “We will halve oil imports by summer and bring them to zero by the end of the year.”
This went over the interests of the approximately 1,200 refinery employees and the around 2,000 employees of direct suppliers, as well as the city and region of Schwedt, which offer “no job alternatives for petro-chemistry engineers and few for other industrial occupations” according to Hummel.
Unrealistic plans
After the antirussian sanctions were imposed and the employees were “only supplied with promises from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection” the employees were forced to take legal action.
All – particularly from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection – in sight-stalled alternatives to Russian oil, turned out to be illusory, as the refinery’s specific infrastructure plays a role – and makes it impossible to process any oil without further ado, except for the price factor.
After the supposed alternative sources failed, the ministry fell back on plans that were even “more reckless” as Hummel writes, with Habeck seeking help from his “old friends from the solar and wind energy industry” as the minister’s “big idea” for the “Energy Transition” was to promote the use of hydrogen.
In July 2023, Minister Habeck then announced the “great leap into the hydrogen age” which the jurist sarcastically commented by saying that the “older PCK colleagues” felt reminded of the word of the SED Party Secretary Walter Ulbricht from “overtaking without being overtaken.” “Almost like a confirmation” of this was the ten-year plan (“Hydrogen Future Package”) that extended until 2032. With a glance at Schwedt, it was clear even for technical laymen: “The majority of the funds processed in the facility are actually subsidies” concludes Wolfgang Hummel.
Juridical dispute out of necessity against the “clumsy” Habeck Ministry
Given the critical situation of their workplace, the employees, based on the Freedom of Information Act (IFG), turned to the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection. However, the response from the Habeck-led BMWK showed, according to Hummel, “unwillingly the ignorant, but also clumsy behavior of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.” Only a few and sparse answers came, and even these were only with a delay of months.
What began as a simple information request ended, due to the Habeck Ministry’s delay tactics, in court, as Hummel explains.
“First, one would have misunderstood the inquiry as a simple citizen’s question, then one was overburdened, then one was not responsible, and finally, many answers were classified as ‘top secret.’ It was only a trip to the Administrative Court that was at least partially successful” Hummel writes.
Berlin’s disinterest
Unlike what the IFG demands (“transparency, accountability of politics and administration, and participation”), the BMWK is seeking to “wall off” the information. As a justification, it must produce that “all the documents presented in the proceeding can immediately be known to state authorities of the Russian Federation.”
What comes out of the BMWK is still “enough to reveal” the situation, as Hummel formulates it. “The consequences of the oil sanctions against Russia for German employees interested no one in the federal government. In the BMWK, no one even thought of inquiring about the impact on the number of jobs” Hummel writes.
The refinery is still in operation and is needed for the supply of the region of Berlin-Brandenburg with “auto and truck fuels, aircraft kerosene, and asphalt for road construction.” After the complete shutdown of the “Druschba” pipeline, which has been supplying the refinery with oil from western Siberia since 1963, and later from Russia, the oil deliveries have been significantly hindered. Recently, Ukraine refused to continue transporting Russian oil through the southern branch of the Druschba pipeline to Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
A temporary pipeline from Rostock to Schwedt was only upgraded after a delay of more than a year and a half, with Habeck’s BMWK attributing the delay to Brussels, as Hummel writes. And the high-flying hydrogen plans have come to nothing due to the budget crisis.
Legal arbitrariness
Since September 2022, the German companies of the Russian Rosneft consortium, which are the majority shareholders of the PCK refinery, have been under state-controlled administration, “beschönigend Treuhand genannt” as Hummel writes. Rosneft had turned to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig – without success. The court had acted as a “willing helper of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.” Unnoticed were hundreds of blacked-out pages in the ministry’s files, as well as an anonymous witness who had made all sorts of accusations and suspicions about “the Russians” – and was allowed to remain anonymous. The 8th Senate of the Court, with five judges from western Germany, had allowed the BMWK to “make up for the missed opportunity of a hearing” after the administrative act against Rosneft.
Nor is an end to the state-controlled administration regime in sight: Although the legal commentaries justify the extension of the state-controlled administration by half a year, citing the severity of the interference in the freedom of enterprise and property, as Hummel explains, the state-controlled administration of the PCK refinery will be regularly extended.
Now, a threatened expropriation is looming, with Rosneft being forced to sell its shares in the refinery. Such rumors have been loud since the start of the sanctions, with the federal government’s alleged intention to secure the energy supply being the justification. To have a legal basis against Rosneft, a new paragraph was quietly added to the “Energy Security Act” of 1973.