Germany buys almost 99 percent of shaky energy company Uniper | News

To protect Uniper from falling, the German government is now investing 8 billion euros in new capital in the company. In addition, the state bank KfW lends extra money so that the utility company does not run into payment problems. Berlin will pay Uniper’s largest shareholder, the Finnish Fortum, 500 million euros for its stake in the company. Fortum will also receive back 4 billion euros that it has lent to Uniper.

Russian state gas company Gazprom has been cutting gas supplies to Europe more and more in recent months in response to Western sanctions against the country over the invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this month, the major Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline was closed indefinitely, formally due to a malfunction.

This gas crisis has already caused Uniper to lose 8.5 billion euros, Fortum reports. As a result, “the company cannot continue to fulfill its crucial role in security of supply as a privately owned company”.

According to Uniper boss Klaus-Dieter Maubach, the nationalization “secures the energy supply for companies, municipalities and consumers”. “The adjustments to the July stabilization package are necessary given the intensification of the energy crisis.”

The German government is in the process of nationalizing two more major energy companies, according to Bloomberg news agency. There are fears that a bankruptcy in the energy sector could create a knock-on effect similar to the 2008 banking crisis, which arose when US bank Lehman Brothers went bankrupt.