The federal government is examining whether the gas importer Uniper, which has gotten into serious difficulties, could not be nationalized. Discussions are ongoing with the Finnish parent company Fortum. Uniper's financial losses have "increased significantly" since June.
In the efforts to further stabilize Germany's most important gas importer Uniper, according to the company, increased involvement by the federal government is under discussion. Due to the increased uncertainty, those involved are examining "a direct capital increase that would lead to a significant majority stake in Uniper by the federal government," as Uniper announced in a stock exchange announcement. However, no decisions have been made beyond the July stabilization package.
The news caused panic among investors. The paper lost more than 20 percent and fell below the four euro mark. At the beginning of February - and thus before the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine - the shares were traded for more than 40 euros.
In July, the federal government and the ailing energy company and its Finnish parent company Fortum agreed on a rescue package worth billions, which also provides for the federal government to get involved. So far, Fortum has held a good three quarters of the Uniper shares.
"Since the signing of the stabilization agreement, the European energy crisis has worsened as no Russian gas volumes are currently being delivered through Nord Stream 1 and both gas and electricity prices are very high and volatile," Uniper said. "As a result, Uniper's financial losses have increased significantly since July due to higher gas procurement costs."
The Bloomberg news agency had previously reported on a possible majority stake by the federal government. According to their information, a complete nationalization of Uniper cannot be ruled out in an emergency.
The environment and the financial situation would be taken into account in the talks about a long-term solution. Uniper is in trouble because Russia is practically no longer pumping gas to Germany, but Uniper has to fulfill its long-term contracts and buys the missing gas expensively on the market. The pipeline gas from Russia was comparatively cheap.
