BERLIN (AP) 鈥� The German government will take a roughly 30% stake in energy supplier Uniper as part of a rescue package prompted by and , the company and Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday.
Uniper, which has been Germany's biggest importer of Russian gas used to fuel industry, generate electricity and heat homes, two weeks ago. German officials quickly pledged that they would help, but thrashing out the details took time. One result will be .
Uniper had previously downgraded its financial outlook for this year, pointing to a by Russia鈥檚 state-owned Gazprom in recent weeks that has forced it to buy substitute supplies at significantly higher prices.
Scholz, who interrupted his summer vacation for the announcement, said Uniper is 鈥渙f paramount significance for the economic development of our country and for energy supply to individual citizens, but also to many companies.鈥�
鈥淚t was necessary to stabilize Uniper now,鈥� he told reporters in Berlin. 鈥淚f I remember rightly, about 60% of gas imports in Germany are ultimately organized in a certain way via this distributor. That is a very, very big chunk, so it's clear you can imagine that there would have been practically no company at the end of these supply chain that wouldn't be affected.鈥�
through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany 鈥� the latter's main source of Russian gas 鈥� by 60% in mid-June, pointing to technical issues that German officials dispute. Russian gas recently has accounted for about a third of Germany鈥檚 supply.
After a scheduled , gas deliveries through the pipeline Thursday but still at only 40% capacity. The German government announced that it would step up its gas storage requirements and .
The package announced Friday will result in an increase in consumers' gas prices, which have already been high and are . Scholz said a levy for gas customers will start in September or October that could lead to an increase of 2 euro cents per kilowatt hour, which could add a rise of up to 300 to 400 euros per year for a family of four.
Scholz promised further efforts to shield Germany鈥檚 people and companies from the , pledging that 鈥測ou鈥檒l never walk alone.鈥�
鈥淲e will do everything necessary so that, together as a country, as companies and as citizens, we get through this situation so that no one is put in a situation that is insoluble for him or her,鈥� he said.
The rescue package involves a roughly 267 million-euro ($272 million) capital increase signed by the German government alone, and a mandatory convertible instrument of up to 7.7 billion euros being issued to the government 鈥� in tranches and as Uniper's liquidity needs require. An existing 2 billion-euro credit facility from Germany's state-owned KfW development bank will be increased to 9 billion euros.
Uniper is majority-owned by Finland-based Fortum, in which the Finnish government holds a majority stake. Scholz said the owners will effectively be making a 鈥渟ubstantial contribution鈥� to the rescue by having the value of their holdings diluted.
Fortum CEO Markus
___ described talks with the German government as intense but 鈥渃onducted in a good spirit.鈥�
鈥淭ogether, we saw that the undisturbed continuation of Uniper鈥檚 operations, securing security of energy supply, and cooperation and unity between EU countries were more important than getting stuck on a certain solution model,鈥� he said in a statement on the company鈥檚 website.
Rauramo said Uniper is critical for energy security in Germany and Europe. The German energy company has become entangled in a situation where 鈥淩ussia is using energy as a weapon against Europe as part of the war in Ukraine,鈥� he said, adding that 鈥渘o company has been able to fully prepare for such a business risk.鈥� ___
AP reporter Jari Tanner in Helsinki contributed to this report.
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Geir Moulson, The Associated Press
