Germany to stop importing oil from Russia by the end of the year, says minister

Germany will stop importing oil from Russia by the end of the year, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said after a meeting with her Baltic counterparts on Wednesday.

“So I say here clearly and unequivocally that yes, Germany is also completely eliminating Russian energy imports,” Baerbock said.

“We are going to halve oil by the summer and we will be at zero by the end of the year, and then it will be gas, on a joint European roadmap, because our joint exit, the complete exit from the European Union, is our common strength.”

World Bank sees economies reducing dependence on Russia and China

World Bank President David Malpass said on Wednesday he expects a “strong effort” from major economies to reduce their dependence on Russia for energy supplies and China for supply chains, even as cross-border trade and investment flows must continue.

Asked about the growing risk of a fragmentation of the global economy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Malpass said there was an over-reliance on Russian energy and Chinese supply chains and that ongoing changes were necessary.

“This could be good for China,” he told a news conference. “As specific supply chains are less reliant on China, this allows China to move into other sectors and look forward to markets for the future.”

Malpass said he expected cross-border trade and investment to continue despite adjustments, arguing that fragmentation into separate blocs would lower global productivity.

“I don’t see this as a negative step. It is a necessary step for the world to look at the growth of regional trade,” he said. “I am sure the world will continue to trade.”

Malpass said he was seeing strong awareness among members of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington this week to keep markets open and even expand access to markets to help deal with the current security crisis. feed.