Russian President Vladimir Putin has made an artwork of inserting the state into his nation’s power economic system, and now Germany is exhibiting two can play at that recreation. Berlin’s efficient seizure of a Russian power firm is a belated step towards better power independence from Russia.

The German authorities late Monday handed administration management of Gazprom Germania to a trusteeship managed by the Federal Community Company, a authorities physique that oversees energy and telecom infrastructure. This native unit of the Russian power large will stay beneath Gazprom’s possession however Berlin’s administration a minimum of till September, whereas the federal government is anticipated to hunt a non-public purchaser. A debate can also be underway over whether or not to expropriate different German subsidiaries of Russian oil and gasoline corporations.