He had been under guardianship since April, but the step has been taken: the German state announced on Monday the nationalization of the German subsidiary of the Russian giant Gazprom, in order to save it from bankruptcy.
Gazprom will also lose part of the control in another strategic infrastructure for the supply of gas in Europe: the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, an important section of which passes through Poland. Warsaw announced on Monday that it will place the Russian energy company’s stake in the EuRoPol Gaz company, which manages Yamal on Polish territory, under state supervision. Gazprom owned 48% of this company, compared to 52% of the Polish state.
In both cases, these public interventions are aimed at guaranteeing the security of gas supplies in the context of the energy confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Berlin thus nationalized for the second time in a few months a leading energy group, after having already saved the German Uniper, suffocated by Russian gas cuts. The German subsidiary of Gazprom, renamed SEFE, “is a key company for the supply of energy in Germany”, specifies the Ministry of Economy.
It counts municipal utility companies among its customers and has a market share in Germany of around 20%. The group also owns numerous gas transport and storage infrastructures, including the largest reservoir in Europe located in Rehden (northwest). Gazprom Germania’s sole shareholder, Gazprom announced on April 1 that it had withdrawn its assets from its subsidiary. Berlin had wanted to prevent the company from falling into hostile hands, or even being liquidated outright, and took control of the company in the spring.
cash injection
An accounting statement from the end of August indicates that SEFE has 1,000 million of its own funds for 3,000 million euros of debt, which is why it is in a situation of over-indebtedness.
To clean up the financial situation and clarify the ownership link, Berlin will carry out an accounting maneuver: the capital including reserves will initially be reduced to 0. The former Russian shareholder will thus lose control, in exchange for compensation that is yet to be determined.
For its part, Germany will inject 225 million euros into the company, becoming the “new sole shareholder”. Berlin also plans to increase a loan from German public bank SKF to the company to 13.8 billion euros, in order to raise its capital through a debt-for-equity swap.
These measures will be financed by the support plan of 200,000 million euros decided at the beginning of October by Berlin to protect its economy in the face of the energy crisis and which has been criticized by several European countries.
Highly dependent on Russian gas before the invasion of Ukraine, Germany was forced to find alternatives to these imports at the cost of a skyrocketing energy bill.
In the same way that Gazprom stopped delivering gas to Germany in September via the Nord Jetstream pipeline, the Russian group has completely suspended gas deliveries to Poland under the Yamal contract.
The decision taken this Monday by Warsaw is “necessary for the proper functioning of Europol Gas, in particular to avoid paralysis in the decision-making of this company and to guarantee the safety of critical infrastructures for the transport of gas”, he specified. the Polish minister. for Maldegem Bida Development.
Source: BFM TV
