Status: 12/22/2022 1:29 p.m
The consequences of the Russian war against Ukraine almost caused the gas importer to collapse – now Uniper is 99 percent owned by the German state. According to the group, the costs of the rescue operation could add up to 30 billion euros.
The ailing gas trading group Uniper is largely nationalized. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Finance announced in a joint statement that the federal government’s participation in the energy supplier had been completed. The takeover serves the energy supply in Germany.
The federal government has now bought 93 percent of the shares in Uniper through a capital increase of eight billion euros. The state acquired a further six percent of the shares for 500 million euros from the previous Finnish main shareholder Fortum. Up to 25 billion more are planned for “future capital requirements”. The federal government now owns about 99 percent of the company.
More support needed
Uniper estimates that the required state aid could increase to a total of more than 30 billion euros by the end of 2024. On Wednesday, Uniper had already received a further 5.5 billion euros. A total of 13.5 billion euros in state support flowed to Uniper this year through equity measures.
“To be clear: These are costs that Uniper and Germany incurred as a result of the war against Ukraine and the cessation of gas supplies from Russia,” said CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach.
State aid with conditions
The European Commission finally approved the rescue plan for Uniper on Tuesday, but made some conditions. The federal government must reduce its stake to a maximum of 25 percent plus one share by 2028 at the latest; an extension is only possible with the approval of the EU Commission.
In addition, Uniper has to sell business areas “that make up a large part of its income,” as the commission explained. These include the Datteln 4 coal-fired power plant in Germany, the Gönyu power plant in Hungary and a number of international subsidiaries. Uniper must also release part of its reserved gas storage and pipeline capacities to competitors.
New members on the Uniper Supervisory Board
The group remains “responsible for the management of the business”, emphasized the ministries. Remuneration restrictions apply to members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board. Four new members are to replace the representatives of the previous main shareholder Fortum on the Uniper Supervisory Board. The federal government wants to send the former managing director of the Federal Finance Agency, Jutta Dönges, and the energy lawyer Ines Zenke.
The new chairman of the supervisory board is to be Tom Blades, who will head the industrial service provider Bilfinger by 2021. Uniper has also nominated investment banker Markus Schenck.
Uniper flies out of the SDAX
The initially reduced and then absent gas deliveries from Russia had brought Uniper to the brink of insolvency – the group had to meet the delivery obligations to its around 1000 customers and buy gas at much higher prices. In the first nine months of the year, the group accumulated a loss of 40 billion euros.
Because of the nationalization, Uniper flew out of the German stock index. Uniper will be deleted from the SDAX for smaller companies, Deutsche Börse announced on Wednesday evening. The free float had fallen to below ten percent “in connection with a takeover”. The company no longer meets the basic criteria for remaining in the index. The adjustment will take effect on December 27th.