Leftist Sarah Wagenknecht, who follows a populist line in German politics, is campaigning in the country for the renewal of Russian oil imports for the needs of the petrochemical plant in the east the German city of Schwet, DPA reported.
The founder of the party "Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance" (ASV) said it would push for a change in policy on this issue if it performs well in the upcoming September 22 election in the eastern province of Brandenburg, where Schwet is located.
Germany has suspended imports of Russian oil since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and has established control over the refinery, which is majority owned by a subsidiary of the Russian state concern "Rosneft".
76.2 percent of the capacity of the Schwet refinery came into operation in the first half of this year, the German government announced recently in response to an inquiry during parliamentary scrutiny. For comparison, in 2021, before the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine, 98.8 percent of production capacity was used.
Wagenknecht told DPA today that importing Russian crude would be better than "difficult and expensive begging for oil without eventually reaching full capacity utilization" at the factory in Shvet.
Her party, which combines some traditional left-wing political lines with right-wing positions on issues such as immigration, opposes German support for Ukraine and takes a conciliatory stance towards the regime installed in Russia by President Vladimir Putin.
If the ASV succeeds in becoming part of the regional government of the province of Brandenburg, the party will not accept the embargo on Russian oil and will actively put pressure on Berlin to change its policy in this regard, said Wagenknhet, quoted by DPA.
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