Germany's largest industries could face collapse due to cuts in Russian natural gas supplies, a senior country trade union official has warned, Bloomberg reports.

“Because of the gas bottlenecks, entire industries are in danger of permanently collapsing: aluminum, glass, the chemical industry,” said Yasmin Fahimi, the head of the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB), in an interview with the newspaper Bild am Sonntag. “Such a collapse would have massive consequences for the entire economy and jobs in Germany.”

According to her, the energy crisis has already led to record high inflation. Fahimi calls for capping energy prices for households. Rising costs of CO2 emissions mean an additional burden for households and companies, Fahimi said. According to her, the crisis could lead to social unrest.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck said earlier that the government is working on ways to address the rising costs faced by both utilities and their customers. He had previously warned that restricting Russian gas supplies could cause deeper shocks.

Russia has cut supplies via the Nord Stream gas pipeline by 60%, and the pipeline is scheduled to be completely shut down for maintenance this month. Germany expressed doubt that Nord Stream would resume deliveries after that.