Berlin drops gas transit levy blamed for promoting imports from Russia
Germany has announced it will drop a gas storage fee introduced during the energy crisis of 2022, after eastern EU members warned the increased cost of imports from the west was forcing their continued reliance on Russian gas. The launch of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine saw Moscow weaponise gas supplies on which the EU, and Germany in particular, were heavily reliant. Berlin introduced the storage levy in October that year to partly offset the cost of stockpiling from alternative suppliers as wholesale prices rocketed ahead of winter. “It was never our intention to hamper the diversific...