File Photo: A refinery is illuminated in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday evening, April 5, 2022. European governments were poised to ban Russian coal imports despite the near-certainty of higher utility bills and inflation. But the limited energy sanction only underlined the inability to agree on a much more sweeping ban on oil and gas that would hit Russia much harder but risk inflation and recession at home. AP
They say a boycott would lead to factory shutdowns and job losses in the bloc's largest economy.
``A rapid gas embargo would lead to loss of production, shutdowns, a further de-industrialization and the long-term loss of work positions in Germany,'' said Rainer Dulger, chairman of the BDA employer's group, and Reiner Hoffmann, chairman of the DGB trade union confederation.
Their joint statement Monday to Germany's DPA news agency comes as European leaders discuss possible new energy sanctions against Russian oil, following a decision on April 7 to ban Russian coal imports beginning in August.
Ukraine's leaders say revenues from Russia's energy exports are financing Moscow's destructive war on Ukraine and must be ended.
That won't be easy to do. The EU's 27 nations get around 40% of their natural gas from Russia and around 25% of their oil.
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