While the planned gas levy is faltering, the federal government wants to help the ailing energy companies by taking a direct stake in them.

This was reported by various media on Thursday, without confirmation from the federal government or the companies involved.

Christian Geinitz

Business correspondent in Berlin

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On Wednesday, natural gas importer Uniper announced that the government could become the majority shareholder through a capital increase;

as part of an initial rescue operation, only 30 percent federal participation was initially agreed.

The finance agency Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Berlin might also get involved with the gas wholesaler VNG.

In fact, the Leipzig company had submitted an application for state aid in the past few weeks.

So far, however, there has been no talk of a capital investment along the lines of Uniper.

Who takes care of VNG?

VNG is the third largest German gas importer.

According to its own statements, it covers a fifth of the gas requirements in Germany and supplies 400 municipal utilities and industrial customers.

Almost three quarters of the company belongs to the Karlsruhe energy supplier EnBW, in which Baden-Württemberg in turn holds almost 47 percent.

Unlike Uniper, which until now has been majority-owned by the Finnish state via the Fortum Group, only a minority stake by the federal government is being discussed for VNG;

In any case, EnBW should remain in charge.

Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) from Stuttgart is said to be rejecting state aid for VNG.

However, he recently said that EnBW should “substantially” participate in a solution in Saxony.

EnBW did not want to deny or confirm the possibility of a federal investment in the subsidiary on Thursday.

A spokeswoman said there was no information about ongoing talks.

The Federal Ministry of Economics of Robert Habeck (Greens) made a similar statement.

More state influence is also being discussed in industrial oil exploitation.

It is about the PCK refinery in Schwedt, Brandenburg.

It processes only Russian pipeline oil and does not want to replace it, since the plant is majority-owned by the Russian state-owned company Rosneft.

In the new Energy Security Act (EnSiG), the Federal Government has created the possibility of placing energy companies under trusteeship or even nationalizing them in order to maintain the supply and in the national interest.

The "Spiegel" reported on Thursday that a commitment by the federal government in one form or another would be announced on Friday.

There were no comments from either Berlin or Brandenburg.

But it was said that Friday morning "should be decisive for Schwedt".

Rosneft has stakes in two other German refineries: Bayern-Oil and Miro.

Allocation or state entry?

The reports came just one day after the Federal Cabinet had approved Habeck's proposal for the EnSiG.

What is striking about the draft available to the FAZ is that it does not contain any details on the planned gas procurement levy.

The crucial Paragraph 26 is mentioned as a means of "being able to deal effectively and flexibly with the current crisis situation".

Its precise form, which is then to take effect via a gas price adjustment ordinance, was initially left out.

The instrument “is currently being revised,” the text states succinctly.

The reason for the delay is that it is still legally difficult to exempt companies from benefiting from the levy that they do not need due to high profits in other business areas (free riders).

There are also difficulties in collecting the surcharge for fixed-price contracts and for district heating customers.

These areas would now be subjected to additional quality checks, it said on Thursday in Berlin, and should pass the cabinet separately on September 28th.

The energy lawyer Olaf Däuper, partner in the law firm Becker Büttner Held in Berlin, points out that it is legally difficult to tailor the gas levy only to importers who are at risk of insolvency.

This means that individual market players are given privileges, is therefore probably state aid and as such must be notified to the European Commission.

Däuper considers state holdings in Uniper and VNG to be possible as a supplement or even a replacement for the gas surcharge.

"Ultimately, the procedure is simpler and more elegant than taking the difficult and also contradictory route of the levy." He reminded us that the planned reduction in VAT on the entire gas price at a tariff of around 21.5 cents per kilowatt hour would correspond to the amount of the gas levy of 2.4 cents per kWh corresponds to: "That's quite an effort for nothing."

However, state investments should also be viewed critically, since - unlike the case of the Lufthansa rescue, for example - it is not clear whether the business model of the gas importers will remain intact in the long term or whether the state investment will have to be written off.