Inflation & energy crisis: That’s why East Germany suffers more

PCK Refinery Schwedt at night

In the East there is a great dependency on Russian raw materials.

(Photo: imago images/Jens Koehler)

Berlin October has gotten off to an uncomfortable start for the tenants of the Wolfen housing association in Saxony-Anhalt. “After the submission of the interim statement of August 1, 2022 by Stadtwerke Bitterfeld-Wolfen GmbH, the costs for heating and hot water as well as for electricity have already increased many times over,” says a letter to the tenants. At the same time, the costs for house cleaning, grassland maintenance and winter service rose.

The result: the advance payments for heat and hot water increase by 100 percent to 774 euros. This will soon amount to three times the cold rent of the almost 60 square meter apartments, which are heated with district heating.

“Where is all this going to lead?” asks Sabine Barth, Chairwoman of the Wolfen Housing Cooperative (WGW). The prices for district heating have risen drastically, there are “mass contradictions from tenants with threats of lawsuits against the cooperative, but what should we change?” Ultimately, the landlords are the collection companies of the public utilities, she told the Handelsblatt. “We’re just passing on the price adjustments.”

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