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Despite sanctions: Russia has supplied €286 billion worth of oil and gas to the EU since 2022
Despite the sanctions imposed on Russia, the country reports having sold crude oil and natural gas worth more than $320 billion to EU nations since 2022. “For the period from 2022 to the present, this figure amounts to $320.7 billion (approximately €286 billion),” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is responsible for energy, said…
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City of Markdorf halts wind power plans at Gehrenberg – decision postponed to 2027
The town of Markdorf, located in the Lake Constance district, is suspending its plans for wind turbines on the Gehrenberg for the time being. Mayor Georg Riedmann informed the town council of the halt in planning on October 6, 2026. The decision stems from ongoing uncertainty regarding how to proceed with the controversial project. Consequently,…
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Green electricity provider Grüüün halts power supply – 200,000 customers affected
Grüüün, a green electricity provider based in Upper Franconia, is ending nationwide electricity supply to its approximately 200,000 customers effective October 31, 2026. The company announced this withdrawal unexpectedly on October 8. The Münch-Energie Group cites planned changes to energy policy by the federal government as the reason. Customers with long-term electricity contracts and price…
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Germany’s energy transition endangers Europe’s independence – China benefits from this go-it-alone approach
A commentary by our author Klaus Bastian: Germany’s distinctive approach to energy policy is increasingly becoming a strategic problem for all of Europe. While Berlin pushes ahead with the expansion of renewable energy, technological and economic dependencies on China are growing. Following the previous reliance on Russian natural gas, this creates new risks for Europe’s…
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Baden-Württemberg halts reactivation of 11 railway lines – millions in funding missing
Stuttgart – Baden-Württemberg is putting the planned reactivation of eleven decommissioned railway lines on hold for the time being. Transport Minister Nicole Razavi (CDU) cited significant funding gaps in local passenger rail transport as the reason for the decision. According to the Ministry of Transport, the state faces an annual shortfall of several hundred million…
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EEW cuts more than 100 jobs in Rostock – offshore slump hits supplier
The offshore supplier EEW plans to cut more than 100 permanent jobs by the end of the year. At the same time, the use of temporary agency workers is to be almost entirely phased out. These measures are driven by a lack of new offshore orders, competition from China, and expected underutilization of capacity through…
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Vitol CEO Russell Hardy: “We have exhausted available oil stocks.”
The head of Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, has warned that available oil stocks in the West have been exhausted. “There are no further inventories left in the West that we can draw down. We have used up the available stocks,” Russell Hardy said at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London. This situation…
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Europe’s energy dependence: US supplies nearly 60 percent of LNG
A commentary by our author Klaus Bastian: In early October 2026, Europe’s energy dependence is manifesting in a new form. While the EU has drastically reduced Russian gas supplies since 2021, the US now supplies nearly 60 percent of its LNG. The current dispute over diesel highlights this new vulnerability. Washington demanded that Germany and…
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Sungrow inverters: Hackers could have accessed 250,000 German solar installations
A security vulnerability at the Chinese inverter and storage manufacturer Sungrow exposed around 250,000 solar installations in Germany to unauthorized access. The flaw was discovered in late August 2026 by Marlon Starkloff, Managing Director of the Kassel-based IT security firm Jakkaru. While testing Sungrow’s iSolarCloud platform, he managed to gain access to administrative accounts without…
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Forvia warns of failures among auto suppliers – up to 10,000 jobs affected by its own restructuring
Lippstadt/Nanterre – In early October 2026, Forvia CEO Martin Fischer warned of further consolidation in the global automotive supplier industry. Weak demand in Europe, cost pressures, and growing competition from China are exacerbating the situation. Consequently, if a small specialized supplier fails, entire production lines at manufacturers can come to a standstill. At the same…
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Another act of sabotage against Berlin’s power grid – two 110 kV cables damaged, 19 businesses affected
Berlin-Marzahn – Another act of sabotage affected parts of Berlin’s power grid early Monday morning. Around 4 a.m., unidentified individuals set a fire beneath a cable bridge on Boxberger Straße, damaging two 110 kV high-voltage cables and several 10 kV lines. As a result, 19 commercial businesses had to be temporarily disconnected from the regular…
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Friedrich Merz – the Don Quixote of German politics?
A commentary by our author Klaus Bastian: Friedrich Merz set out with exceptionally ambitious promises. The AfD was to shrink, the Union to grow stronger, and Germany to return to economic growth. At the same time, the Union pledged sound finances, less bureaucracy, and lower energy costs. By early October 2026, however, several outcomes hardly…
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Interior Ministry could ban Huawei technology at 46,000 mobile network sites
Up to 46,000 German mobile network sites could be affected by a sweeping ban on Huawei. The Federal Network Agency is currently preparing the regulatory framework for this and intends to classify key functions of the 5G radio access network as critical. Once the process concludes, the Federal Ministry of the Interior could prohibit the…
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Industrial orders slumped in August – but three-month trend remains positive
After two sharp increases in June and July, orders for German industry slumped in August: incoming orders in the manufacturing sector fell by 10.6 percent compared to the previous month, the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced on Tuesday. However, looking at the three-month comparison, there was an overall increase of 1.3 percent. In July,…
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Paderborn faces drastic cost-cutting: a deficit of nearly 100 million euros – 400 jobs to be cut
Paderborn is heading toward drastic budgetary consolidation measures. Current forecasts indicate that the annual deficit will rise to €99.87 million by 2037. Without countermeasures, the city’s equity would turn negative as early as 2032; projections suggest a deficit of €544 million by 2037. Consequently, the city plans to cut services, raise fees, and eliminate nearly…