Germany wants to use energy companies’ extra profits to lower prices

German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said he wants the extra profits that energy companies are making from higher wholesale prices to be used to reduce household bills

Scholz presented a document with new measures to tackle inflation according to 20 Minutos on Sunday, September 4.

The German government says the “partial” withholding of these profits will create “a financial cushion that should be used to alleviate the burden on consumers in Europe” of soaring energy prices.

“There are producers who simply take advantage of high gas prices, which then determine the price of electricity,” the chancellor added at a press conference.

Olaf Scholz surmised that Russia is not a “reliable energy supplier” after announcing that a new aid package of more than €65 billion had been agreed to alleviate the energy crisis.

The German chancellor stressed that “Putin’s Russia has not been honouring the contract” for energy supplies for some time. “The trigger for this very difficult situation is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he said, adding that despite everything, they will be able to overcome the winter.

“It’s about leading our country safely through this crisis,” Scholz explained, adding that in view of citizens’ concerns about rising electricity prices, they are taking the situation “seriously.”

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