Federation extends employment guarantee for PCK refinery in Schwedt

Federation extends employment guarantee for PCK refinery in Schwedt

Schwedt, Deutschland - The federal government has decided to extend the employment guarantee for the PCK refinery in Schwedt. Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche announced this during a hearing in the Bundestag Committee. The guarantee would have expired next Monday, June 28, 2025, but the duration of the extension remains uncertain. This step comes at a time when the refinery is faced with increasing economic difficulties due to the embargo against Russia.

The PCK refinery plays a central role in the energy supply in Brandenburg and supplies the northeast of Germany and parts of Poland with heating oil, petrol and diesel. Since the beginning of 2023, the refinery no longer has related Russian crude oil, which is due to the sanctions imposed by the EU. Instead, tank oil from Rostock and Gdansk and 1.2 million tons of crude oil are processed from Kazakhstan. The majority share of the refinery belongs to the Russian Rosneft Group, whose shares are located under German trust management and are to be sold by September.

critical location at an industrial location

Currently, around 1,200 employees are employed in the refinery, the utilization of which is between 75 and 80 percent. However, there are considerable concerns about the economic future of the system, which has lost economy by the oil embargo. The works council and the state government have already taken steps to ensure operational safety and employment. Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke also brought the return to economic relationships with Russia into play after the war.

In May 2023, around 2,000 people in Schwedt protested for the lifting of the oilemargos against Russia. These demonstrations illustrate local despair about the economic consequences of current politics and the concerns about jobs. The state government has formulated claims to the federal government to stabilize the current situation of the refinery.

The search for solutions

A future -proof concept for the refinery is now urgently needed. Minister Reiche emphasizes the importance of developing alternatives to crude oil supply from Russia. The federal government also plans to secure the existing solutions to support the operation of the refinery. It is described as challenging to find the necessary legal basis, while at the same time the degree of utilization and the perspective development of the refinery should be improved.

The need for a decarbonization of the refinery is also discussed. In view of the global climate goals that Germany has understood legally, the refinery must be switched to more climate -friendly methods. The way there will not be easy, especially in a changing energy market that is strongly influenced by geopolitical tensions.

In Germany, the discussion about the energy supply and the affordability of gas and electricity is not new and was exacerbated again by the Ukraine conflict. The federal government is actively working to diversify the energy supply and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. The PCK refinery must therefore integrate into such a change in order to remain in the long term.

The situation of the PCK refinery is not only a local, but also a national problem that is closely linked to the challenges of German energy supply.