The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action is contemplating an expropriation of facilities in Germany owned by subsidiaries of Gazprom and Rosneft out of consideration for national energy security, reports media Handelsblatt.

Deliberations are underway among the ministry’s civil servants and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an effort to prevent massive power outages in the event that the two Russian companies ability to deliver is compromised, several government sources confirm with Handelsblatt.

According to the media, these two companies are systemically important and cannot be replaced within the Germany energy market.

Gazprom Germania has large storage facilities for imported natural gas from Russia, while Rosneft Deutschland is a key player in the federal republic’s gasoline and diesel market, Handelsblatt writes.

These two German subsidiaries of the Russian groups are in danger of going ”technically insolvent” because banks and partners in Germany are in the process in distancing themselves from Russian-owned businesses in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Germany has been playing a leading role among Western countries in imposing extensive sanctions on Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reiterated threats to plug all Russian gas flows into Europe, saying that this will occur if states refuse to pay for fuel in rubles.

The largest continental gas importer, Germany, has answered that demand saying the nation will remain in contractual compliance by paying in euros.

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