Germany nationalizes its biggest natural gas importer
Uniper provides 40% of the country’s gas supply and is crucial for large companies and private consumers in Europe’s largest economy.
In July, Chancellor Olaf Schulz announced that the government would step in to bail out Uniper with a €15 billion ($15.3 billion) package, after months of Russian supply cuts and spot market price hikes. After kneeling down.
Under the rescue deal, the government pledged to provide €7.7 billion ($7.8 billion) to cover potential future losses, while state-owned bank KfW agreed to increase its credit facility by €7 billion ($7.1 billion). .
But Habeck said the situation had “deteriorated dramatically” since Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe indefinitely through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on September 1, citing an oil spill.
Russian gas has had to be replaced with expensive alternatives, driving up consumer bills.
Although gas supplies via Nord Stream 1 are suspended, Germany’s gas reserves are more than 90% full, European storage provider GIE AGSI+ said on its website.
Still, the European energy crisis is not going away.
Habeck said the country could “get through the winter well” without Russian gas, but warned of “really empty” supply levels in the period ahead.
Subsidy details for UK businesses
The British government on Wednesday gave more details of its plan to save the economy in the coming winter. It said it would cut electricity and gas costs for businesses to less than half the market rate for an initial six-month period.
The announcement follows a pledge earlier this month to cap average household energy bills by £2,500 ($2,834) a year for the next two years.
UK Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarting said he would detail the overall cost of the program on Friday.
— Anna Kuban contributed to this article.