German federal prosecutors announced on 24 June that searches had been carried out in connection with an alleged attempt at sabotage relating to the winding up of Gazprom’s German subsidiary in 2022.
“There are suspicions that the sale and liquidation were intended to disrupt gas supplies to Germany,” according to a statement from the public prosecutor’s office, as quoted by Reuters.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and amid fears that Moscow was using energy as a weapon against Germany, Berlin announced its intention to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.
In March 2022, Gazprom’s German subsidiary owned at least a quarter of Germany’s gas storage capacity, prosecutors said. The Berlin-based company ‘Gazprom Germany’ had effectively been separated from its Russian parent group by its shareholders, they added.
“The new owner was a Moscow-based company with no connection to the industry. Immediately after the sale, the new owner ordered the liquidation of ‘Gazprom Germany’ GmbH,” the statement said.
They added that a Russian national had been charged with aiding and abetting the liquidation decision with the aim of disrupting gas supplies to Germany. The German government ultimately placed ‘Gazprom Germany’ under temporary administration, effectively taking control of the company and its storage facilities.