Having already agreed in July to bail out the major gas importer with a 15 billion euro ($14.95 billion) rescue deal, the state will now buy out the 56% stake of Finland’s Fortum for a further 500 million euros.
The German government on Wednesday agreed to the nationalization of utility Uniper as it strives to keep the industry afloat in the wake of a worldwide energy crisis.
Having already accepted in July to bail out the major gas importer with a 15 billion euro ($14.95 billion) rescue deal, the state will now buy out the 56% stake of Finland’s Fortum for a 0.5 billion euros. The German state is set to own around 98.5% of Uniper.
Uniper is Germany’s largest importer of gas, and has been squeezed by vastly reduced gas flows from Russia, which have sent prices soaring.
Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom earlier this month indefinitely halted gas flows to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a move Uniper CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach told CNBC would exacerbate the company’s struggles.