Uniper bailout edges closer as energy crisis deepens
Uniper is closing on a bailout from the German government, which is weighing up a 15-30 per cent stake in the company.
According to news agency Reuters, the German government’s package would be worth a single-digit billion-euro amount.
Uniper will also be allowed to pass on some energy costs to customers as part of the bailout agreement.
A rescue deal must be agreed by July 25, when the German utility could face more serious funding issues as a result of reduced gas supplies from Russia.
The troubled utility giant is bleeding cash in the wake of reduced gas deliveries from Russia, which has seen prices spike amid disruption in flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Currently, it is being forced to buy supplies at much higher prices from alternative sources, because Gazprom has reduced deliveries.
Uniper is one of Gazprom’s biggest customers and received a letter from the Kremlin-backed gas giant earlier this month, revealing the company could no longer guarantee gas supplies due to “extraordinary circumstances” in Europe.
Apart from providing a badly needed cash injection to Uniper, taking a direct stake would also prevent the utility’s credit rating from falling to junk – which is currently just one notch away.