Most university professors in Germany believe that the introduction of tariffs on Russian energy would be much more acceptable than restrictions on the import of these energy sources.
This was shown by a survey conducted by the Ifa Institute of Economics and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) . Of the 158 participants in the survey, 70 percent are in favor of introducing customs duties.
Experts are of the opinion that the introduction of customs duties would reduce payments to Russia, but that the consequences for the supply of energy would be minimal. As they stated, customs duties are better than embargoes and more effective than restrictions, because that would force Russia to lower export prices.
On the other hand, there are those who are skeptical of this idea. They expect tariffs to mean rising consumer prices. They argue that Russia has great bargaining power in the gas sector, so it would be likely that the European Union will bear the cost of customs duties.
Some remain convinced that the only solution is to suspend payments to Russia altogether.
