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Gas supplier is nationalized: the federal government takes a 99 percent stake in Uniper

2022-09-21T08:44:39.447Z


Gas supplier is nationalized: the federal government takes a 99 percent stake in Uniper Created: 09/21/2022, 10:36 am By: Kathrin Reikowski The ailing gas importer is to be nationalized. Is a gas surcharge still justifiable at all? © picture alliance / Panama Pictures | Dwi Anoraningrum Uniper is nationalized: The federal government is getting into the badly hit Düsseldorf energy company - als


Gas supplier is nationalized: the federal government takes a 99 percent stake in Uniper

Created: 09/21/2022, 10:36 am

By: Kathrin Reikowski

The ailing gas importer is to be nationalized.

Is a gas surcharge still justifiable at all?

© picture alliance / Panama Pictures |

Dwi Anoraningrum

Uniper is nationalized: The federal government is getting into the badly hit Düsseldorf energy company - also to make Germany less susceptible to blackmail by Putin.

Dusseldorf - The Dusseldorf energy group Uniper, which has been badly hit by a lack of gas deliveries from Russia, is being nationalized.

"Uniper is a central pillar of Germany's energy supply," said the Ministry of Economics on Wednesday.

The federal government is taking over “a total of 99 percent of Uniper” as part of another stabilization package, the Federal Ministry of Economics said on Wednesday.

The capital increase is therefore eight billion euros, plus almost half a billion for the previous shares of the Finnish parent company Fortum.

With the takeover, the federal government is ensuring security of supply. 

Gas crisis: Uniper becomes state-owned

Uniper and Fortum confirmed the agreement with the federal government.

Uniper boss Klaus-Dieter Maubach welcomed the step: "The change in the stabilization package compared to July was necessary against the background of the further intensification of the energy crisis."

After the completion of a capital increase and the acquisition of the Uniper shares from Fortum, the federal government will own around 98.5 percent of the shares in Uniper, the previous majority shareholder Fortum also announced on Wednesday.

Background: This is Uniper

Uniper is an international energy group that sells electricity and gas to wholesale customers such as municipal utilities and industrial companies and is also active in gas storage.

To date, the company has obtained most of its gas from Russia.

Because of the high cost of purchasing a replacement, it ran into financial difficulties and applied for state aid at the beginning of July.

However, the billions in loans granted were not enough.

Despite the nationalization of Uniper, Habeck is sticking to the gas levy

There were already indications on Tuesday that nationalization of Uniper could be imminent.

The German Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had spoken of the fact that "the power and the guarantee of the state as well as all the financial strength of the state" were needed.

In connection with the nationalization of Uniper, the gas levy was again on the brink.

But on Wednesday it was announced that the gas surcharge would be introduced as planned on October 1st.

It is necessary as a bridge to ensure Uniper's financial solidity, said Robert Habeck on Wednesday in Berlin.

The implementation of the planned nationalization of Uniper will take at least three months.

Whether the surcharge can still be levied in accordance with the constitution when Uniper is a state-owned company is a legitimate question.

Audits of the financial constitution were in full swing.

Uniper found itself in a situation that threatened its very existence because Russia had repeatedly cut gas deliveries through Nord Stream 1 and finally stopped them altogether.

The nationalization of Uniper is also intended to caricature Putin's alleged plan to make Germany vulnerable to blackmail by failing to deliver gas.

(dpa/AFP/kat)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-09-21

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