"Europe's summer heatwave has only just finished, but already panic is growing in Germany over what horrors may lay in store for its citizens this winter.
Vladimir Putin is choking the country's gas supplies - officially because of 'essential repair work' to pipelines, though few doubt he is exacting revenge for Berlin's defiance over Ukraine. Flows through Nord Stream 1, Germany's main gas pipe, are now at 20 per cent of normal levels. There are fears it could soon close for good.
That has sparked warnings of energy rationing for both households and businesses which, under worse-case scenarios, could force entire industries to shut down. Domestic energy bills could triple, pushing already-high inflation up by another 2 per cent. £240billion could be wiped off the economy, with aftershocks felt into 2024.
'Germany is on the cusp of a recession,' is how top economist Clemens Fuest put it yesterday. Others worry the whole Eurozone could soon go into reverse.
In order to avert a catastrophe, EU leaders today agreed to cut gas use by 15 per cent but Germany - which imports the most Russian gas of any member state by far - faces double that. Economy minister Robert Habeck says he is taking shorter showers, while regional leaders are dimming street lights and closing swimming pools.
The fiasco is a legacy of Angela Merkel, who ignored 15 years of warnings from her own top energy expert Claudia Kemfert that over-reliance on Russian energy would make the country vulnerable."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11050187/Germany-warned-recession-Russia-throttles-gas-supplies.html
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