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Uniper employees: gas suppliers in trouble
Photo: Andreas Gebert / REUTERS
Uniper urgently needs money and can draw on a loan for the time being.
The money comes from the state-owned development bank KfW.
"Today, Uniper drew on the existing KfW credit facility in the amount of two billion euros and thus fully utilized the facility," said the energy supplier.
In doing so, Uniper was reacting to the ongoing supply disruptions to Russian gas and the associated developments on the energy markets.
According to a Uniper spokesman, how long the funds will last depends on the further development of the gas market.
The company is in close contact with its banks and the federal government, he emphasized.
The aim is to stabilize the company financially.
Expensive purchases on the spot market
The group had agreed the credit line with the KfW banking group at the beginning of January in view of the impending war in Ukraine and the associated fluctuations on the commodity markets and, as a precaution, extended it until the end of April 2023 at the end of March.
Germany's largest gas importer is in financial difficulties because of the sharp rise in gas prices and reduced gas supplies from Russia.
There are currently no deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline due to maintenance work.
The group is currently not allowed to pass on the additional costs of gas procurement to its customers.
The group has to make additional purchases on the expensive spot market in order to fulfill its obligations to its customers, and is thus making heavy losses.
Uniper was only created in 2016 when it was spun off from the energy company E.on.
The federal government is negotiating with Uniper and the Finnish majority shareholder Fortum to rescue the ailing company.
What this can look like exactly and what role Fortum should play is still unclear.
mmq/Reuters/dpa
