Germany raids Berlin and Frankfurt properties in Gazprom Germania sabotage investigation
Federal prosecutors searched premises in Berlin and Frankfurt on Wednesday, probing a 2022 attempt to liquidate Gazprom's German unit and disrupt the country's gas supply.
The raids
German federal prosecutors carried out searches in Berlin and Frankfurt on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a suspected attempt to sabotage Germany's natural gas supply. The target was a 51-year-old Russian citizen, whose name was not released, and a 52-year-old woman who is not under investigation. An unidentified company in Frankfurt was also searched. No arrests were made.
The searches today serve to clarify the existing suspicions.
The suspect is accused of being an accessory to violating Germany's foreign trade law and accessory to attempted anticonstitutional sabotage. He is not currently in Germany, according to investigators.
The 2022 maneuver
At the centre of the probe is Gazprom Germania, the former German subsidiary of Russian state energy giant Gazprom. In late March 2022, weeks after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the unit was sold to a Moscow-based company with no prior connection to the energy sector. The new owners immediately ordered its liquidation, without seeking the required approval from the German economics ministry.
There is a suspicion that the sale and liquidation were intended to impair the gas supply in Germany.
At the time, Gazprom Germania held at least 25 percent of Germany's gas storage capacity, making it a critical piece of the country's energy infrastructure.
- Russia launches full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
- Gazprom Germania sold to a Moscow-based company; new owners order liquidation without approval.
- German prosecutors raid properties in Berlin and Frankfurt in sabotage investigation.
Government intervention
Then-economics minister Robert Habeck stepped in shortly after the liquidation order. His ministry placed Gazprom Germania under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur), blocking the dissolution. The government later nationalised the company, which now operates under the name Securing Energy for Europe (Sefe).
The investigation
Federal Prosecutor General Jens Rommel is leading the inquiry. The charge of anticonstitutional sabotage signals that investigators view the 2022 events as an attack on critical infrastructure. The raids are aimed at gathering evidence, and no arrests have been made. The case adds to a series of energy-security tensions between Germany and Russia, including the later sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.
