Europe 1 with AFP 12:02 p.m., September 21, 2022

In the midst of an energy crisis and faced with frequent cuts in Russian gas, Germany announced on Wednesday to nationalize the gas giant Uniper.

"The government will take over around 99% of Uniper," said the German economy minister.

A radical decision which comes a few months before a complicated winter for the Germans.

The German state will nationalize the gas giant Uniper, suffocated by Russian gas cuts, announced Wednesday Berlin and the Finnish owner of the company, the public group Fortum.

"The government will take over around 99% of Uniper," Germany's economy ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Uniper is a central pillar of the German energy supply", recalls Berlin to justify this radical intervention.

The energy company supplies gas to hundreds of German municipalities.

This agreement replaces an initial aid plan unveiled last July, which provided for Berlin to take a 30% stake in this group, which is Germany's largest gas importer.

In detail, Germany will buy at a price of 1.70 euros per share, all the shares of Fortum for a total of 500 million euros, according to the document.

"The right step to take"

Berlin will also carry out a capital increase of 8 billion euros, the government has also indicated.

Finally, the agreement provides for the reimbursement, by Germany, of an 8 billion euro loan that Fortum had granted to its subsidiary.

This "divestment from Uniper is the right step to take, not only for Uniper but also for Fortum," Fortum said in a statement.

Uniper, the leading importer and storer of gas in Germany, has been hit hard by the drastic reduction in Russian gas deliveries since the war in Ukraine.

8.5 billion euros in losses

The company was the main customer of the Russian group Gazprom in Germany.

It must now, to honor its contracts, obtain gas on the spot market where prices have exploded.

In total, the losses incurred amount to "8.5 billion euros", Fortum said on Wednesday.

The situation worsened when the Russian giant Gazprom temporarily closed its Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the main supplier of Russian gas to Germany, in early September.

Berlin has constantly warned in recent months about the “Lehman Brothers effect” that a Uniper bankruptcy would have on the energy markets.

Considering the importance of Uniper, its fall would shake the energy market and lead to energy shortages for thousands of customers.