- The coverage has been extremely intensive, says Markus Ekholm, a reporter specializing in politics and economics at YLE's Swedish editorial office.
He has been monitoring developments recently.
- It's been a big deal here because it's about state money, Fortum is more than half owned by the Finnish state, says Markus Ekholm.
The loss has been enormous, Fortum lost close to 6 billion euros on the Uniperä adventure, he says.
Everything collapsed when the war started
Until the turn of the year 2021/22, the Uniperägandet had been a cash cow.
The profit was 1.3 billion in 2020 and almost twice as high in 2021. But then the war came and everything collapsed.
- The supply of gas was cut off, the price skyrocketed and Uniper's share price just plummeted, says Markus Ekholm.
Uniper lost huge amounts of money, the company began to bleed heavily.
- Before the German state stepped in, it was about 130 million euros - per day, says Markus.
Just a way out for Fortum
Was Uniper headed for bankruptcy?
- Undoubtedly.
For Fortum, there was only one option, says Markus, and that was to sell.
Quickly.
- It was completely unthinkable to push for more money, you had to sell to the only party that was willing to buy, the German state.
For a sale price, half a billion.
Was there any alternative for the Germans not to take over the tottering giant?
- No, the political costs had become far too great, you can't afford to let the people freeze this winter.