The German government is nationalizing gas company Securing Energy for Europe (Sefe), a former subsidiary of Russian state-owned Gazprom. The Ministry of Economic Affairs on Monday justified capital measures related to an impending bankruptcy of Sefe that would jeopardize the security of supply in Germany.
“To avoid this danger and continue the operational business of Sefe, the ownership change has been completed and the company has stabilized,” he said. The relevant order was published in the Federal Gazette on Monday. The legal basis for the measure is Section 17a of the Energy Security Act.
The ministry stressed that the former Gazprom Germania GmbH is a key company for energy supply in Germany. It has been in the custody of the Federal Network Agency since April. According to the ministry, this was preceded by the “inexplicable sale” of the company to another Russian company and attempts to liquidate the company. “The ownership structure is still unclear,” he said.
Since the spring, Safe has been experiencing serious financial difficulties as a result of Russian actions, especially Russian sanctions against the company and almost all of its subsidiaries. Worse still, business partners and banks are unwilling to end their business relationships with Sefe or start new ones due to the unclear ownership structure.
With the capital cut ordered on Monday, the company’s former partner will lose his position as shareholder. Capital deduction is associated with compensation based on the market value of Sefe shares. “The compensation process is not yet complete,” the ministry said.
At the same time, the federal government is conducting a capital increase. For this purpose, a holding company wholly owned by the federal government was established. Gradually, it brings in new capital totaling 225.6 million Euros. “Ownership change complete.” The EU Commission approved the provision of new capital under state aid law on Saturday.
The federal government had stabilized the company in the spring with a KfW loan totaling 11.8 billion euros. The ministry has announced that the KfW loan will now be increased to 13.8 billion euros to compensate for the originally planned loss of gas surcharges.
According to the ministry, the measures will be financed from the “defense shield” of the Economic Stability Fund, worth around 200 billion euros.
(SDA)