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Gas meter in the basement (symbol image): massive price jumps
Photo: Christoph Hardt / imago images/Future Image
The aid has already been announced, now it is becoming concrete: In view of price jumps in the energy market, the federal government wants to secure the liquidity of energy companies in order to ensure a stable supply.
This involves the financing of security payments that have to be made when trading in energy.
A corresponding federal hedging instrument is now starting, the finance and economics ministries announced on Friday.
Specifically, there are loans from the state bank KfW, which the federal government secures with guarantees.
Accordingly, the federal government grants the state bank a guarantee of up to 100 billion euros for the implementation of the so-called margining rescue package.
The measure is part of an aid package to cushion the impact of rising energy costs and the war in Ukraine on companies.
This also includes state subsidies for energy-intensive companies.
With regard to the throttling of gas deliveries via the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Germany, Economics Minister Robert Habeck said: »The war in Ukraine and the last few days in particular have made it clear once again that we are freeing ourselves from the bracket of Russian imports as quickly as possible .
An accelerated energy transition is the be-all and end-all.« Stable energy markets are needed for security of supply, for which companies are supported.
»Otherwise we risk an unstable energy supply.«
Companies that trade gas, electricity and emission certificates on the futures exchanges in order to control and secure their production must provide security (margining).
These increase the higher the prices are.
"This can become a liquidity problem for companies - in case of doubt, they don't have the funds ready to do this margining, even if they are well positioned overall," said Habeck.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner explained that the federal government would not leave citizens or companies alone with the sharp rise in energy prices.
»We help companies that, through no fault of their own, have encountered temporary financing difficulties due to the extreme developments on the energy markets.«
mic/dpa-AFX
