Klaus-Dieter Maubach, CEO of German utility Uniper, one of Germany's largest publicly listed energy supply companies, addresses the media in Duesseldorf, Germany, on July 8.WOLFGANG RATTAY/Reuters
Utility group Uniper asked the German government for a bailout on Friday, the biggest corporate casualty yet of Moscow’s economic war with Europe.
Uniper, which has been struggling to cover delivery obligations as falling Russian supplies push up gas prices, said it was seeking additional funding through an increase in a credit facility with state-owned KfW bank.
The company also said its Finnish majority shareholder Fortum had made a proposal to the German government that includes ringfencing the system-critical German businesses under government ownership.
As Germany’s biggest gas importer, Uniper has been hit hardest by a surge in prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s subsequent squeeze on gas supplies.
Reuters
Germany on Thursday and Friday adopted legislative changes providing the government with options to help companies through the current energy crisis.
They also provide the legal basis for the government to allow some or all of the high additional procurement costs caused by the gas shortages to be passed on to customers.
Germany has accused Russia of strangling the flow of energy to Europe through spurious pretexts in revenge for sanctions over the Ukraine war, and is closely watching whether flows will resume after scheduled maintenance on July 11-21.
Russia has denied doing so, and said it was a reliable energy supplier that honours its contracts. Uniper has said it was receiving around 40% of the normal amount of gas from Russia.
Fortum said several alternatives were being discussed for the company, but none had been decided on.
“Fortum has already supported Uniper substantially with an 8 billion euro ($8.13 billion) credit facility comprising both a shareholder loan and parent company guarantees, which is almost fully drawn by Uniper,” the Finnish company said.
Even before Russia’s invasion on Feb 24, Uniper had to borrow 10 billion euros to cover margin calls after wild price swings on energy markets.
Uniper is due to hold a press conference at its Duesseldorf headquarters on Friday afternoon.
Its share price was up 1.9% at 1220 GMT.
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