(Reuters) The German government's dramatic decision to impose state control on a key oil refinery was a "far-reaching energy policy decision to protect" the country, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday.
The PCK refinery in Schwedt in eastern Germany is majority-owned by two subsidiaries of Russian state oil firm Rosneft.
Both firms were put into German trusteeship on Friday, effectively handing control of PCK and two other refineries to the state.
Russia is no longer a reliable partner, Scholz told a press conference, adding that the government was doing everything it could to secure the country's supply of crude oil.
Russia has almost completely cut off supplies of fossil fuels to Germany in recent months.
Scholz said €1 billion ($1 billion) would be invested in the PCK refinery in the coming years as part of a package aimed at securing its future operations. Some 1,200 jobs at the site were safe, he said.
The Economy Ministry announced on Friday morning that Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH would be put under the trusteeship of the German energy regulator, the Federal Network Agency.
The move, which will be valid for an initial six months, solves a major headache for the government over what has been a flashpoint in the battle with the Kremlin over energy supplies.
Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, once again blamed the West for high gas prices and reiterated that the rapid commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline could be a solution.
"If everything is so difficult, then finally lift the sanctions against Nord Stream 2," Putin told journalists in Samarkand in the Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan on Friday.
This could result in 55 billion cubic metres of gas per year flowing to Germany, Putin asserted. "You just have to press the button. And off we go."
Putin also accused the European Union of preferring to blame Russia.
He again claimed that Russia recently shut down the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline due to a "highly dangerous" situation surrounding the missing turbines in need of repair.
The German considers the technical reasons given by Russia for the suspension of Nord Stream 1 to be an excuse The EU accuses Moscow of using its energy resources as a weapon and as a means of blackmail. Russia rejects this.
The refinery in Schwedt is one of Germany's biggest refineries, and supplies fuel to large parts of Germany's north-east, including the capital Berlin.
Germany has rushed to cut its dependence on Russian energy sources since the invasion especially as winter approaches. Furthermore, a European oil embargo on Russia will take effect on January 1, 2023.
But the Russian firms in charge of the refinery did not support plans to substitute Russian oil for other sources.
With Friday's move, the subsidiaries that owned the refinery are now in German hands, along with two other refineries in the city of Karlsruhe and Vohburg.
The Economy Ministry said the trusteeship was in response to threats to energy supply security.
"A breakdown in the operation of the PCK refinery would have the consequence that the nationwide supply of petroleum products - and consequently of vital goods - would be impaired and endangered, especially in the north-east of Germany," the ministry said.
Suppliers, banks and IT companies were no longer willing to cooperate with Rosneft, which has until now controlled around 12% of Germany's oil processing capacity.
