The federal government wants to support the gas company Gazprom Germania with billions to prevent bankruptcy. This should ensure security of supply in Germany, the federal government announced on Tuesday in Berlin.
According to information from government circles, the sum involved is between nine and ten billion euros. Aid is therefore planned via the state development bank KfW.
According to the federal government, Gazprom Germania GmbH is a key company for gas supply in Germany. The company, which has stumbled due to sanctions from the Russian side, is to be protected from insolvency with a loan: “With this approach, the federal government retains influence on this part of the critical energy infrastructure and prevents energy security from being endangered.”
At the beginning of April, the federal government took control of the German subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom via the Federal Network Agency. The Federal Network Agency became a trustee.
In mid-May, however, Russia imposed sanctions on Gazprom Germania and almost all of Gazprom Germania’s subsidiaries, causing the company to experience “financial difficulties,” according to the federal government.
The failure of gas deliveries as a result of the Russian sanctions and the resulting need to purchase replacements at currently very high market prices would have deteriorated Gazprom Germania’s financial situation to such an extent that the German government had to secure liquidity with a KfW loan.
With the loan, the federal government wants to avert insolvency of the company and prevent subsequent effects on the market. The money is used to secure liquidity and to purchase replacement gas.
The trust management of Gazprom Germania via the Federal Network Agency is also to be secured in the longer term, beyond September. For this purpose, the trust administration is to be placed on a new legal basis.
Gazprom Germania is also renamed “Securing Energy for Europe GmbH”. This should send a clear signal to the market that the aim of the measures taken is to secure the energy supply in Germany and Europe.
The federal government is examining ways of converting the loan into equity in order to ensure security of supply in the long term. That would mean that the state would step into the company.
