"Wars come and go. Governments rise and fall. Enemies become partners. But somehow, the oil and gas money keeps flowing."
 

Russia and Germany: How Cozy Are These Enemies? Follow the money, oil, natural gas, underwater pipelines, and more than a century of economic cooperation between two countries often portrayed as bitter enemies.

From the 1922 Treaty of Rapallo and the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact to German-Soviet oil trading, World War II, and the Cold War gas-for-pipes agreements of 1970, this episode traces the remarkable history of German-Russian business relationships. Despite devastating wars, political confrontations, and competing alliances, German banks, industrial companies, and Russian energy interests repeatedly found ways to work together.

We examine Deutsche Bank's financing of Soviet energy projects, Ronald Reagan's opposition to Soviet pipelines in 1982, and the development of Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 beneath the Baltic Sea. We also look at former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's relationship with Russia's Gazprom, the involvement of BASF, E.ON, Uniper, and Wintershall, and the billions invested in Russian-European energy infrastructure.

The story continues into October 2026, with reports of possible American-Russian economic negotiations involving energy investments and the future of Nord Stream. Could American financial interests eventually become involved in arrangements connecting Russian energy and Germany? Reported discussions are not completed agreements, but they raise important questions about sanctions, international politics, energy security, and the financial relationships behind the headlines.

We also follow an unexpected historical connection involving the Sassoon family, British India, the Ottoman Empire, the opium trade, Persian petroleum concessions, and the international financial networks that helped shape the early oil industry.

Finally, what happens beneath the sea? Who inspects underwater oil and gas pipelines, how are leaks detected, and what environmental risks do these enormous engineering projects pose to marine life in the Baltic Sea and elsewhere?

From German-Soviet cooperation before World War II to Nord Stream, Gazprom, Russian oil and gas, and potential American involvement in 2026, this episode follows the history, money, political relationships, and unanswered questions behind Germany and Russia's enduring energy connection.

Psychopath In Your Life — The American Experiment. Historical research, original documents, and supporting articles are available at PsychopathInYourLife.com. You can decide for yourself just how cozy these arrangements really are.

Music:  Sympathy For The Devil

'We were all wrong': how Germany got hooked on Russian energy | Germany | The Guardian 

Germany is Dependent on Russian Gas, Oil and Coal: Here's Why - The New York Times 

The US Army and Male Rape during the Second World War - R.M. Douglas, 2021

Historical Documents - Office of the Historian

III. 1969 - 1970: The Road to the Moscow Treaty | Germany Archive | bpb.de

How hormones work to flip sexes:  Hormones 

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The ownership trail after 1990 

1990 — Germany reunifies. 

East Germany's state-owned refineries, pipelines, and fuel distribution businesses enter the privatization process. The agency overseeing much of this is the Treuhandanstalt. 

1991–1992 — Western oil companies move in. 

The Schwedt refinery attracts Western investors, while the French oil company Elf Aquitaine and Germany's Thyssen pursue another major deal involving the Leuna refinery and East Germany's former state-owned Minol filling-station network. 

July 23, 1992 — Elf and Thyssen secure the Leuna–Minol deal. 

The agreement transfers important former East German petroleum assets into a French-German commercial arrangement. The transaction includes substantial investment commitments and government financial support.  

1997 — The Leuna–Minol scandal emerges. 

Investigations in France uncover evidence of secret payments associated with Elf Aquitaine's international business dealings, including the East German privatization. 

Some individuals were subsequently convicted in France. Allegations that payments reached German political parties were disputed and should not be treated as established facts.  

Germany's Federal Agency for Civic Education has published a detailed historical examination of this affair. 

Scandal or success story? | Germany Archive | bpb.de

It describes the privatization as extraordinarily controversial and expensive.  berliner-zeitung.de 

 

Date  What happened  1991  Germany privatized Schwedt. VEBA and DEA each acquired 37.5%, with a French-Italian consortium holding 25%.  1991  Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA was brought into the arrangement through its partnership with VEBA.  2011  Russia's state-controlled Rosneft acquired a majority interest through its Ruhr Oel transaction.  2021  Rosneft held 54.17% and attempted to buy Shell's 37.5%, potentially raising its holding to 91.67%.  2022  Germany placed Rosneft's German subsidiaries under federal trusteeship.  February 2026  Germany imposed a new, indefinite trusteeship arrangement. Rosneft retained legal ownership, but German authorities controlled its German subsidiaries. 

And there is a striking connection to your previous oil research: Venezuela. Its state oil company was involved in Schwedt's ownership structure as early as 1991.  

The most revealing discovery may be the paperwork 

A German court record identifies 4,255 folders of documents, each containing approximately 300 pages, generated during the Leuna–Minol privatization. That's roughly 1.3 million pages of material. 

The court case concerned access to those files.  

That is a substantial documentary record of the negotiations and privatization decisions. 

What is established: East Germany's Soviet-connected oil industry was privatized after reunification, Western and international oil companies acquired major assets, and Rosneft subsequently gained may

jority ownership of Schwedt. Germany later took operational control through trusteeship without simply erasing Rosneft's ownership. 

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