SCHWEDT/ODER (dpa-AFX) – Hope for the PCK refinery in Schwedt, Brandenburg: The federal government guarantees continued operation for the next few years – even without Russian oil. “Raw oil will continue to be processed here from January 1, 2023,” said the responsible parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Michael Kellner, on Friday in Schwedt.
“That is our clear goal and a clear guarantee.” According to the works council, all 1,200 jobs are to be retained.
The refinery is currently producing with Russian oil from the Druzhba pipeline. However, as part of the European Union’s oil embargo against Russia, the federal government wants to do without this and is looking for alternatives to production in Schwedt. Two new delivery routes are under discussion, one of which is by tanker: via the port of Rostock and an existing pipeline to Schwedt, and via the port in Gdansk, Poland, also using existing pipelines.
Kellner gave new details on both routes: The pipeline from Rostock to Schwedt is to be “upgraded” in order to increase capacity. So you come from a delivery volume of 60 percent of the demand in Schwedt “in the direction of 70 percent,” said the Green politician. According to him, however, this strengthening would not be possible by the end of the year, but would take longer. In addition, he was in constructive talks with Poland about the delivery route via Gdansk, said Kellner. So additional quantities could come.
The stumbling block is that the PCK refinery is currently operated by the Russian state-owned company Rosneft. The federal government has created legal requirements to transfer the plant to a trustee or to nationalize it in an emergency. Waiter did not want to say how far the search for a solution is. He also did not say what the capacity of the refinery could be for the next few years.
When asked whether all 1,200 employees could stay, he said: “I have a lot of confidence in this location, it has great potential, and I want people to stay and continue working here.” However, the PCK works council chairwoman, Simona Schadow, added after a meeting between the employee representatives and Kellner: “There is a promise that the employment guarantee will be given for our employees.” However, the written guarantees demanded by the works council are not yet on the table.
In Schwedt, many are still concerned that well-paid jobs in and around the refinery – a total of around 3,000 – could be lost. “The mood in the workforce and in the region is already dramatic,” said the district secretary of the union IGBCE, Anis Ben-Rhouma. In a position paper by the union and the works council, there are still doubts about the alternatives to Russian oil: “We currently have no idea how our refinery can continue to be operated economically without the crude oil supply via the Druzhba pipeline.”
The paper calls for “balancing economic deficits for employees and employers” and the financial means for a “transformation process” towards a green refinery – i.e. a plant that produces hydrogen instead of crude products, for example./vsr/DP/nas