Talks over Berlin’s nationalization of German gas group Uniper, owned by Finnish energy company Fortum, have entered their “final” phase, Uniper said on Tuesday, teetering on the brink of financial abyss due to Russian gas cuts. “Uniper is in final discussions with the government and Fortum,” the company said in a statement.
The plan provides in particular for Berlin to “acquire the shares held by Fortum” and inject “8 billion euros” into the group’s capital, Uniper explained. As a result, “the federal government will obtain a significant majority stake in Uniper,” he added.
Major Gazprom customer in Germany
Fortum, owned by the Finnish government, currently owns 56% of Uniper’s capital. The Finnish group also confirmed, in a press release, “that the negotiations are in the final phase”, although “no final agreement” has yet been sealed. Trading in Fortum shares was suspended Tuesday afternoon on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, following initial press information about the content of the future deal.
Uniper, Germany’s main gas importer and storage facility, has been hit hard by the drastic reduction in Russian gas deliveries since the war in Ukraine. The gas company was the main client of the Russian group Gazprom in Germany. Now he must, to honor his contracts, source gas on the spot market where prices have skyrocketed.
Failed initial state interventions
Berlin had launched a massive rescue plan in July to help the group, with credit lines of 9,000 million euros with the German public bank KfW. The German State has also entered the capital of the company, up to 30%, accompanied by mandatory convertible bonds “up to 7,700 million euros”.
But Uniper was quick to point out that this would not be enough, especially since the complete shutdown of the Nord Stream gas pipeline earlier this month, amid tension between Moscow and the Europeans over the war in Ukraine. Therefore, Berlin had entered into talks with Fortum for a “long-term solution” to the crisis.
The German government has constantly warned in recent months of the “Lehman Brothers effect” that a bankruptcy of Uniper would have on the energy markets, with the risk of cascading bankruptcies among the players in the sector.
Source: BFM TV
