German entrepreneurs have become more pessimistic about the near future. They are already dealing with sharply increased energy prices, and on top of that is the concern that no gas at all will go from Russia to the largest economy in the European Union.

In recent weeks, the Russian state gas group Gazprom has significantly reduced the supply of gas to Germany.

A gauge from the German economic institute Ifo, which measures the future expectations of entrepreneurs, fell to 85.8 this month. That is more than 1 point lower than a month earlier, while economists polled by Bloomberg news agency had expected an increase.

“Expectations deteriorated significantly. Rising energy prices and the threat of gas shortages are a major concern for German business,” said Ifo President Clemens Fuest.

As of last week, Gazprom supplies only about 40 percent of its normal volume of gas via Nord Stream 1, Germany’s most important pipeline for Russian gas. Germany on Thursday declared the alarm phase of the national gas crisis plan, which allows energy suppliers to raise gas prices to curb consumption. The German government also warned that industrial companies could run out of gas.