The energy company Uniper is in a bind: it has to pay more and more for the scarce gas from Russia, but cannot pass the higher prices on to its customers in full.
Therefore, the state is now taking a 30 percent stake in the company in order to save it from collapse and to continue to ensure the energy supply.
The extent of the crisis can also be seen from the fact that the share is significantly higher than the state share that the federal government took over in Commerzbank during the financial crisis.
At that time, the taxpayer provided a rescue package in the form of silent contributions, among other things, and also subscribed to around 25 percent of the shares in what was once Germany's second-largest bank.
The Commerzbank rescue package was worth a total of more than 18 billion euros.