/ world today news/ The German gas company Uniper asked for stabilization help from the government, as supplies of Russian gas have decreased and fuel from other sources is much more expensive. Among the measures are new loans and higher prices for end users.
Meanwhile, a shareholder in Uniper is proposing to nationalize the company. Experts believe that by April next year there will be many such companies throughout the European Union.
One of Germany’s biggest buyers of Russian gas and power plant operator Uniper is applying for state support under the country’s new energy legislation.
“As Germany’s largest gas importer, Uniper suffers the most from cuts in Russian gas supplies and is therefore under extreme financial pressure,” the Fortum shareholder said in a statement.
“Since mid-June, Uniper has received only 40% of the contracted volumes of gas from Russia and is forced to buy the missing gas at significantly higher market prices,” the statement added.
Uniper itself said it requested additional loans and fair cost sharing in accordance with Articles 24 and 26 of the German Energy Security Act.
These are amendments that allow utilities to receive simplified liquidity support in the form of guarantees, loans or recapitalization from the federal government through the Economic Stabilization Fund.
In addition, the new law envisages measures such as spreading the high costs to all gas consumers or switching to higher prices under existing contracts.
Earlier, Fortum provided Uniper with a loan of 8 billion euros, but this was not enough. In its statement, the shareholder reported that it is in active negotiations with the German government and one of the proposals is to restructure the gas company and create a supplier that will be owned by Germany.
“There is no doubt that Uniper will be funded or nationalized by the German government,” Bloomberg columnist Javier Blas noted on Twitter.
“This will not be the last company to receive the money. By April 2023, it will be a very, very long list. Not only in Germany, but also throughout the European Union and the United Kingdom,” the expert continues.
He notes that nationalization has also reached France, where the government will take full ownership of nuclear power plant operator EDF.
“The European Commission and the European Council can be congratulated for the abundant and well-deserved ‘harvest’ of their energy and sanctions policies,” says Alexey Grivach, Deputy Director of FNEB.
In mid-June, Gazprom announced that it was reducing the capacity of Nord Stream because it did not receive a gas compressor unit (GCU) from the repair. Siemens confirmed this, explaining the Canadian sanctions situation.
As a result, Russian gas supplies via the Baltic gas pipeline have decreased by 100 million cubic meters to 67 million cubic meters. And from Monday, they will drop to zero, as Nord Stream will be put on a 10-day preventative maintenance.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck has publicly called on the Canadian government to allow the removal of the GPA from the country, and according to European Justice, Ottawa has agreed to make an exception to the sanctions.
“If this turbine comes after the overhaul, it will allow the volume to increase. There is only one question: why didn’t they do it immediately?” This is what the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said today.
Meanwhile, gas prices in Europe more than doubled in a month. Their quotations exceed 1,800 dollars per thousand cubic meters.
Reduced supplies of Russian gas and rising gas prices are already forcing German companies and municipalities to cut hot water, heating, street lighting and close swimming pools. The Financial Times estimates that the German economy is in its worst energy crisis since the 1970s.
Translation: SM
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