The European Commission has conditionally approved the German government’s plan to nationalize the gas group Uniper, which has been suffocated by the end of Russian supplies, as well as the German subsidiary of the Russian giant Gazprom.
In order to “preserve effective competition”, Uniper will have to divest “certain parts of its activities, which represent a significant part of its revenues”: in particular the Datteln 4 power plant in Germany, the Gönyu power plant in Hungary and a number of international subsidiaries, the European executive said in a statement. Uniper must also release “part of its gas storage and pipeline capacity reservations, making them available to competitors”.
Germany has furthermore “committed to developing a credible exit strategy by the end of 2023, with the aim of reducing its stake in Uniper to no more than 25% plus one share by the end of 2028 at the latest.”
30 billion rescue plan for Uniper, involving the nationalization of the energy supplier, which was the largest importer of gas in Germany.
The majority shareholder, the Finnish Fortum, had given its agreement at the end of September, after tough negotiations. A final agreement was even signed between the two companies and the German government.
The German group has been hit hard by the reduction, then the total end since September, of Russian gas deliveries, due to the war in Ukraine. The company was the main customer of Russian Gazprom in the country. In order to meet its contracts, it had to obtain gas on the spot market, where prices peaked this summer. As a result, between January and September, Uniper recorded a loss of 40 billion euros, an unprecedented loss for a German company.
A bankruptcy of the group, which is responsible for 40% of Germany’s gas supply, would have had a domino effect on the entire energy sector in the country. This is why the German government, led by the social democrat Olaf Scholz, has decided to buy 99% of the group’s shares, for a unit price of 1.70 euro per share. Berlin will also finance a capital increase of 8 billion euros, which could be supplemented by up to 26.5 billion euros.
In a decision, the European Commission has also conditionally approved the nationalization by the German state of the German subsidiary of the Russian giant Gazprom, renamed SEFE, in order to save from bankruptcy this gas supplier, which it has been administering since April and which is over-indebted.
