As a sign of solidarity with European Union states seeking an alternative to the Russian gas, Germany has offered to help eastern states with ports in the North Sea or Baltic Sea to have access to liquefied natural gas through its ports, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday, May 5, 2022, after a meeting with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

During his address, Scholz said many eastern European countries faced bigger challenges than Germany in their efforts to wean off Russian oil and gas imports. According to Fiala, Russian gas imports transported through pipeline account for over 90% of the gas consumed in the landlocked Czech Republic.

"We must be prepared to help countries that do not have direct access to the North or Baltic Sea, and that must rely on us cooperating with them," said Scholz, adding the details had to be worked out.

On early Thursday, Germany began its efforts to rump up the country's gas reserves by renting regasification units and four floating LNG storage, with the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven being the first handling hub.

In a separate activity, Germany started filling the massive Rehden abandoned by Russia state-managed Gazprom, according to the site manager appointed by the state.
"We are working intensively on solutions to ensure that already soon significantly more gas can flow into the storage facility," the state trustee appointed by Germany's energy regulator to temporarily manage the company, Egbert Laege, told Reuters.

Rehden can hold about 4 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas. However, Laege reported the storage is only 0.9% full, far below the 36% regarded as the average for the German storage facilities.

Gazprom abandoned the massive gas storage facility in Germany las month as it stopped its Germania business due to diplomatic wrangles following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.