According to Tagesschau, Egbert Laege, the head of the federal company SEFE, traveled to Dubai in early April 2023 to negotiate with Leonid Mikhelson, the head of the gas company Novatek and a close associate of Vladimir Putin, about resuming liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries from Siberia. Laege described the atmosphere of the meeting as open and emphasized that Mikhelson was willing to build a trusting relationship.
These discussions contradict the policy of then-Robert Habeck, who had clearly opposed dependence on Russian gas. In March 2023, Habeck proudly announced that Germany had gotten through the winter without Russian gas and that German companies would no longer purchase gas from Russia.
Laege's negotiations raise questions, especially since they took place just days after Habeck's visit to Kyiv, where he pledged support for Ukraine. In an internal memo, Laege suggests that he is aware of the political sensitivity of his endeavor, yet he continues to push forward with the talks.
Laege and Mikhelson plan to revive an old contract from 2015, when SEFE was still known as Gazprom Germania. However, following the nationalization of Gazprom Germania in 2022 and its renaming to SEFE, the Russian government has boycotted access to SEFE.
