Germany bails out Uniper, Europe鈥檚 largest buyer of Russian gas
威力彩玩法
Germany will take a 30 percent stake in Europe鈥檚 largest Russian gas importer Uniper to save it from bankruptcy due to skyrocketing prices. 鈥淯niper is a company that has got into big trouble,鈥 chancellor Olaf Scholz. 鈥淭he company is of paramount importance for the economic development of this country, for the energy supply of citizens and many firms.鈥 Scholz said the company had bought gas from many suppliers, including Russia鈥檚 Gazprom. 鈥淎s we all know, these supplies are no longer secure.鈥 Scholz said the government would provide public loans of up to 7.7 billion euros in bonds and expand a credit line from state-owned development bank KfW to 9 from 2 billion euros.
Uniper鈥檚 majority owner, Finnish utility Fortum, whose stake will be reduced to 56 from 80 percent by the bail-out, to the plan. 鈥淎s Germany鈥檚 largest importer of natural gas, Uniper has been hit hardest by the curtailments of Russian gas imports, and as a result is under extreme financial pressure,鈥 Fortum said. 鈥淯niper鈥檚 gas trading activities are critical for Germany鈥檚 energy supply and play an important role for the European energy sector. It is therefore of utmost importance to stabilise Uniper by immediately addressing the company鈥檚 loss-making and substantial liquidity needs.鈥
Earlier this month, Germany鈥檚 government introduced legislation to allow the state to take stakes in utilities 鈥 a move dubbed 鈥渓ex Uniper鈥 by many media. Uniper faces soaring costs to meet obligations to customers because it must procure volumes, which Russia is no longer delivering, on spot markets at much higher prices. Independent Commodity Intelligence Service (ICIS) analyst Andreas Schroeder told 威力彩玩法 at the time that state support for Uniper is the right solution as the company is 鈥渟ystemically relevant.鈥 He warned that an insolvency would trigger a domino effect and shake up the entire gas industry. 聽