Production decreased 0.4% in March, led by drops in consumer and intermediate goods, and energy, the statistics office said Wednesday.

The study will be developed as one of the deliverables under the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDoI) of the UK-Germany Hydrogen Partnership, signed on September 26, 2023, between the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

Germany would significantly increase research funding for fusion with an additional EUR370 million (USD403 million) over the next five years.

While hydrogen is at the core of Europe’s plans to eventually wean itself off fossil fuels, there are currently few buyers for the gas as it’s expensive to produce and requires infrastructure investments to make its use more viable.

SEFE’s trading of Russian LNG is controversial in Berlin, where lawmakers have urged the company to sever its links with Moscow. Germany opposes LNG imports from Russia, though it hasn’t banned them.

The government on Wednesday slashed its growth forecast for this year to 0.2% from 1.3%, after a contraction in 2023.

While the outlook is weak, the bank said it expects no major deterioration in the labour market, which has insulated the economy so far, and Germany was not facing a broad-based, prolonged recession.

The European Commission on Thursday said Germany will be the biggest drag on euro zone growth this year and next, with growth of only 0.3% in 2024 rather than 0.8% expected in November and 1.2% in 2025, after a 0.3% recession last year.

In a statement, Rosneft’s law firm Malmendier Legal said such an expropriation would be “unprecedented in Germany’s post-war history” and that the Kremlin-controlled company would take “all necessary measures” to protect the rights of its shareholders.

Industrial production fell in December by 1.6% compared with the previous month. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a 0.4% fall.