By Michael Sauerbier
“Crude oil will continue to be processed in the PCK on January 1, 2023 and in the years thereafter.” This was guaranteed by the parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Michael Kellner (45, Greens) of the refinery in Schwedt, Brandenburg. However, only verbally. He spoke to the works council for an hour and a half on Friday afternoon.
For existential fears, Kellner’s statement in a BZ interview on Monday: “There is an overcapacity of petrol and diesel in Germany.”
Works council boss Simona Schadow after the meeting on Friday: “The state secretary assured us that the federal government wants to preserve PCK.”
Brandenburg
The 1,200 PCK employees process crude oil from the Russian “Druschba” pipeline into petrol and diesel for Berlin and Brandenburg.
From the end of the year, Germany wants to boycott Putin’s oil because of the Russian war against Ukraine. Kellner and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (52, Greens) are preparing to supply the refinery via a pipeline from Rostock.
The refinery in Schwedt Photo: ppl;cse; fox
However, this can only cover just under 60 percent of PCK’s oil requirements. Waiter: “Today we also talked about how to increase the throughput of the pipeline. There are technical possibilities.” The federal government is hoping for more oil for Schwedt from a pipeline coming from the seaport of Gdansk. Waiter: “But Poland doesn’t deliver if Russia’s state-owned company Rosneft earns money with it.”
Rosneft is the largest of the three PCK owners. The State Secretary: “We are working on solving the problem, but not in public.”
The German government fears that if the Russian company loses the PCK refinery, Putin will turn off the oil tap immediately. Like now the gas tap at the utility Gazprom Germany, where the Federal Network Agency of Russia took over shares.
