‘Firms will go bust’: Germany prepares for a future without Russian gas

Germany is bracing for supplies to be cut by Moscow in retaliation for sanctions or as part of an energy embargo

In Germany, they call it Day X". Businesses up and down the land are making contingency plans for what is seen as a growing likelihood that Russian gas will stop flowing into Europe's biggest economy.

It would be a disaster - one which would have seemed almost unthinkable just two months ago, but which right now feels like a very realistic prospect," the owner of a hi-tech mechanical engineering company in western Germany said. The firm produces everything from battery cases for electric cars to train clutch systems.