Life Without Russian Oil

Russia's Druzhba pipeline long supplied the eastern German oil refinery that provides most of Berlin's fuel, but all that changed after Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Three years after weaning itself off Russian oil, the PCK Schwedt refinery is still going, but struggling with new geopolitical headwinds that have sparked growing insecurity among its 1,200 employees.

In the past, "everything was perfectly continuous, it was easy," said Ralf Schairer, managing director of the refinery, who took up his post just one month before Russia's Ukraine invasion. "You have to constantly deal with surprises, tackle problems and not go crazy." The refinery supplies more than 90 percent of the petrol, diesel, kerosene and heating oil used in the German capital and surrounding Brandenburg state.

Real uncertainty

After Russian oil stopped flowing, PCK initially used Kazakh crude transported through Russia, but Moscow halted those supplies in May. The refinery has since taken increased deliveries via the Baltic sea ports of Rostock and Gdansk, and is now operating at 80 percent of capacity. But Brussels has so far refused to authorise 400 million euros in aid applied for in 2023, as Rosneft still owns 54 percent of the capital.

Germany's far-left Die Linke party has called for the state to take over the refinery entirely, but Berlin fears that full nationalisation could draw reprisals from the Kremlin. Among employees, the ownership tangle is causing "real uncertainty", said Danny Ruthenberg, chairman of the works council.