Uniper, Germany Energy Provider, Runs Through Credit

Uniper, one of Germany’s largest energy providers, said Monday that it had run out of € 2 billion in credit lines from Germany’s state-owned investment bank and applied for more money. Company.

Uniper, Germany’s largest importer of Russian gas, has lost tens of millions of euros daily since Russia blocked the flow of gas to Germany last month, much higher than other sources. I am forced to buy gas at. The company was forced to reduce its natural gas reserves in preparation for the winter, informing customers that gas prices could rise, and described it as an “emergency measure.”

The news comes from the fact that the flow of natural gas through Nord Stream 1, the main pipeline between Germany and Russia, has stopped due to annual maintenance. This year’s regular closures have raised concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin will continue to close the pipeline to punish Germany and other European countries for opposition to the war in Ukraine.

According to German pipeline regulators, other pipelines through Poland and Ukraine have not been used as alternative links for sending gas, as they did during the temporary closure of the last few years.

Based in Düsseldorf, Uniper acts as a sort of intermediary between Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom and German factories and municipalities, filling Russia’s fuel shortages through alternative supplies at much higher prices. Have been forced to. Earlier this year, the company secured its first credit line from Germany’s state-owned investment bank, KfW, as gas prices rose over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement, Uniper said credits had been exhausted in “responding to the ongoing disruption of Russia’s gas supply and the associated development of energy markets and exchanges.” The company doesn’t say how much credit it wants.

Earlier this month, Uniper passed more states after the German Parliament passed a law aimed at making it easier for the German parliament to warm homes and bail out companies that are considered essential to running the industry. I made an “urgent request” to ask for help.

Negotiations between Uniper and the government are complicated by the fact that the company’s largest stakeholder is the Finnish company Fortum, which itself owns a majority by the Finnish country. As a result, Berlin has turned to Helsinki for additional support for the company. Talks between the two countries are underway.

In the weeks before the Nord Stream flow stopped completely on July 11, Gazprom had already reduced gas transport by up to 60%. This was because no turbine was sent to Canada for repair and could not be returned due to economic sanctions on transportation technology. To Russia. German regulators challenged Gazprom’s allegations, saying it could not determine how the shortfall could lead to such stream reductions.

Berlin said last week that it requested Canadian authorities to return the turbines to Germany, which would allow the machine to be handed over to Russia and prevent Canada from breaking its own sanctions against Moscow. Russian media reported that it was sent to Germany over the weekend.

Siemens Energy, which makes up the parts, called the German government’s intervention “an important first step for turbine delivery” on Monday, but said in a statement that the logistics and approval process for parts transfer is underway. rice field. “Our goal is to get the turbine to its operating location as soon as possible,” the company said without elaborating on the location of the parts.

Maintenance of Nord Stream 1 is expected to be completed by Thursday, but experts say it can take a day or two for the flow to return.

Meanwhile, Gazprom advertised on Monday that it had succeeded in sending gas to another market, China. “Russia’s gas supply to China reached a record high on July 17,” the company said. Tweet..