Status: 09.07.2022 4:23 p.m
The federal government has promised the gas importer Uniper support, but it is still unclear exactly what this will look like. Uniper’s Finnish parent company, Fortum, is now planning to hand over its ailing German gas business to the federal government.
The gas supplier Uniper has gotten into financial difficulties due to supply cuts by the Russian Gazprom group and the resulting sharp rise in prices. That is why Uniper has now applied for state aid in Germany. In addition, its Finnish parent company Frotum now wants to hand over the ailing German gas business to the federal government. The head of the Finnish state-controlled energy group, Markus Rauramo, told Reuters news agency:
From our point of view, it must now be a matter of merging the endangered and systemically important areas of Uniper and securing them permanently. We have to assume that the gas procurement problems will persist in the medium term and that prices will remain high or continue to rise.
Therefore, the system-critical German parts of the company should come under the control of the state, according to Rauramo. The German state has the creditworthiness currently required. However, Uniper’s international business should not be taken over, responsible for and financed by the state. All in all, Fortum wants a “targeted entrepreneurial solution in which the state has to provide as little support as possible”.
Finland supports plans for Uniper
The Fortum Group is the majority shareholder of Uniper and in turn is majority owned by the Finnish government. This is behind the plan. “The rescue of Uniper is a matter of European importance,” said Europe Minister Tytti Tuppurainen. “We support Fortum’s proposal to save Uniper.”
The minister emphasized that it was “about the future of two companies that are irreplaceable for security of supply in their home markets”.
Habeck wants to involve owners
After Uniper’s application for state stabilization measures, it is still unclear exactly what these will look like. Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck also wants to make the owners responsible for the rescue of the company. “It belongs to someone, also someone who is solvent and who can provide support,” the Greens politician told Deutschlandfunk.
There has not yet been a decision on concrete measures by the federal government at Uniper. However, Habeck assured that the federal government would choose the option that was the best and cheapest for the German taxpayer and the safest for security of supply. And he made it clear: “We cannot say that we stay completely out of it just because something belongs to someone else. I have a responsibility for energy security in Germany and you have to face it. Chancellor Olaf Scholz had also promised Uniper support .
In German government circles it had already been said that Fortum wanted to transfer the loss-making German business and continue to run the rest of the group. You have to look at this very carefully. Rauramo, however, emphasized that Fortum had already provided Uniper with a large amount of financial support. “Since the beginning of the crisis, Fortum has made eight billion euros available to Uniper in the form of loans and guarantees, which have also been largely utilized,” he explained. “We take our responsibility as owners very seriously and are therefore looking for a solution that will not only stabilize Uniper financially in the short term.”
Alleged double-digit million losses per day
Due to the supply cuts in Russia, Uniper has to buy gas on the expensive spot market in order to meet its delivery obligations and is thus making losses. “Under the current conditions, Uniper is experiencing daily outflows of funds in the mid double-digit million range,” Uniper boss Klaus-Dieter Maubach complained on Friday. “It’s a situation that we can’t keep up for long.” According to Maubach, Uniper and Fortum are speaking separately with the federal government – but a joint solution must be found.