China News Agency, Berlin, December 22. The German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance announced in a joint statement on the 22nd that they have completed the acquisition of natural gas importer Uniper, holding 99% of the shares.
According to the website of the German Federal Government, Uniper is Germany's largest importer of Russian natural gas, providing natural gas to a large number of municipal utilities and large companies in Germany.
The company is in a state of serious emergency due to insufficient Russian gas supplies and a sharp increase in gas prices.
The federal government's move aims to ensure the security of Germany's energy supply.
The statement pointed out that the federal government bought a 93% stake in Uniper by investing 8 billion euros, and acquired another 6% stake from the company's previous majority shareholder, the Finnish Fortum Group, for 500 million euros.
That means the federal government now owns 99 percent of the company.
At the same time, the federal government also plans to raise 25 billion euros in the future.
According to Uniper estimates, the total amount of state aid needed could exceed 30 billion euros by the end of 2024.
This year, Uniper received a total of 13.5 billion euros in state support through equity measures.
The European Commission approved the German federal government's rescue plan for Uniper on the 20th, but in order to avoid unfair competition, the German federal government must reduce its shareholding to a maximum of 25% by 2028 at the latest. postpone.
The statement noted that the group remains "self-responsible" in terms of business management.
Members of the management and supervisory board are subject to remuneration restrictions.
In addition, the group will set up a new supervisory board, and four new members will replace representatives of the Fortum group as members of the supervisory board.
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