BERLIN, 12 April 2022, (TON): Some German power plant operators had been preparing for sanctions announced last week for several months already. It was because of suspicious Russian behavior.

Late on the evening of April 7, the European Union announced a fifth packet of sanctions against Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine. Besides sanctioning individuals and restricting shipping, the EU’s packet included a ban on Russian coal imports from August onwards.

Alexander Bethe, chairperson of the German Association of Coal Importers, admitted “we had actually been seeing delays in Russian coal deliveries since last September,”

His industry association, also known as the VDKi, represents the interests of the imported hard coal market there.

He added “stephan Riezler, a senior manager at STEAG Group, one of the largest power producers in Germany, “we started seeing pictures of the military build-up on Ukraine’s borders.”

According to the VDKi “last week, a poll of VDKi members found that 79 percent say they would be able to manage without Russian coal. Last year, Germany imported 41.1 million tons (37 million tonnes) of coal.”