The State already has practically all the shares of key energy companies such as Uniper or Rosneft to ensure the supply and stabilization of these companies due to the consequences of the war in Ukraine
The German Ministry of Economy announced on Monday that the subsidiary of the Russian gas giant Gazprom, intervened since April and now known as SEFE, will become the property of the State.
“The reason is the over-indebtedness in SEFE’s trade balance and the consequent risk of insolvency, which would endanger the security of supply in Germany“, the ministry said in a statement to the media.
“To avoid this danger and keep the operational commercial activity of SEFE Now the owner will change and the company will be stabilized,” continued the statement, according to which the corresponding order has been published today in the official State gazette.
The former Gazprom Germania, renamed ‘Securing Energy For Europe’ (SEFE) is a “key” company for the supply of gas from Germany, according to this same source.
In April, after the Russian state company Gazprom tried to liquidate its subsidiary in Germanythe German government decided to place it under trusteeship, although the ministry stresses that it remains unclear who owns the company now.
The company was in financial difficulties after Russia imposed sanctions against it and because banks refuse to transact due to confusion over their ownership structure.
The German State, sole shareholder of SEFE
With the passage of this Monday, the German Government founds a company that with a capital injection of 225.595 million euros will become the sole shareholder of SEFEa measure that, according to the ministry, already has the approval of the European Commission (EC).
The former shareholders will be compensated by the expropriation based on the market value of SEFE shares, but the procedure “has not concluded,” said the statement, which did not provide further details.
Also, The Government has decided to extend to 13,800 million euros the credit line of 11,800 million granted to the company in the spring as a stabilization measurea part of which will be converted into own capital if the EC authorizes it.
In September, the German government has already nationalized Uniper, the country’s main gas importer, and took over the 99% of the shares, of which until then approximately half were in the possession of the Finnish company Fortum.
The interruption of the supply gas in Russian put the company in financial trouble, since it was forced to buy gas from other suppliers at much higher prices and continue to supply it to its customers according to the rates established by contract.
Also in Septemberre, the German government took control of the German subsidiary of the Russian oil company Rosneft to guarantee “in the medium and long term” the security of the supply of crudeeither.