No More Russian Oil: So What Are the Alternatives for the PCK Refinery in Schwedt? The refinery in Leuna should now serve as a model.
The federal and state task force on the future of the PCK Schwedt refinery is to explore other options for the site beyond oil supply.
The aim is to make “Schwedt Leuna”, as Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) said at the East German Economic Forum in Bad Saarow with a view to the refinery in Saxony-Anhalt.
The East German refineries in Schwedt and Leuna are supplied with Russian oil from the «Druschba» pipeline. As part of the EU embargo, the federal government has undertaken to refrain from importing oil via this pipeline. Alternatives are still being sought, especially for Schwedt.
Oil deliveries from Norway
When he visited Leuna a few weeks ago, around 80 percent of the oil deliveries had already come from Norway. The location in Saxony-Anhalt freed itself from its dependency on Russian oil in good time. “In Schwedt it has to go in this direction, that’s what this working group is there for.” Among other things, which bioeconomic processes, which chemical processes could be cleverly located there, will also be discussed. There are then support programs from the Federal Ministry of Economics for this.
Habeck pointed out that the need for refineries in Germany was declining. Companies reported overcapacity. In addition, the demand for Russian oil and the products is falling. Then PCK Schwedt also has a problem. But for a restructuring there you also need an owner who accompanies the way. This is a Russian state-owned company that wants to make money for Russia. “I can’t go any further than that. But it is not trivial to solve that,” admitted Habeck.
The task force on the future of the PCK refinery in Schwedt has been meeting since the end of May. Habeck’s Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Kellner (Greens), who has his constituency in the Uckermark, is in charge.
