The company’s trading division employs 1,400 people worldwide.
(Photo: Reuters)
London, Frankfurt According to insiders, the nationalized utilities Uniper and Sefe paid their dealers millions in bonuses during the energy crisis. The companies, which were saved from imminent bankruptcy with taxpayers’ money, wanted to keep dealers in line, said four people familiar with the matter from the Reuters news agency.
In some cases, traders have received annual bonuses of up to $7 million, an insider said. Another explained that only part will be paid out, the rest will be suspended. Board members and some top managers get nothing from the bonuses if this is prohibited under the requirements for nationalized companies.
“Bonuses were paid to employees in retail, but overall they were below those of the previous year,” explained Uniper. The competition for traders in the energy industry is intense. “A zero bonus is therefore not opportune.”
Uniper has complied with all rules and requirements as part of the stabilization measures. Uniper board members would not receive any bonuses for the duration of the stabilization measures by the federal government.
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Finance also referred to remuneration restrictions for Uniper’s management and supervisory boards. The company is responsible for questions about the remuneration of employees. “The EU Commission’s subsidy conditions are decisive for the remuneration. Only the company itself can comment on their implementation, ”explained a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Economics.
Good energy traders in high demand in the market
“Sefe pays its employees remuneration in accordance with existing labor law and legal obligations,” emphasized the group. The personnel costs of the entire Sefe Group amounted to 330 million euros in 2021.
Employees ensured the supply of customers in Germany and Europe and the filling of the storage. The services justified remuneration that rewarded their contribution to the overall performance of the company and to the security of supply. This keeps Sefe competitive on the personnel market.
Sefe, formerly Gazprom Germania, and Uniper got into difficulties as a result of the Russian gas supply freeze. They had to raise record sums for replacement purchases. The federal government maintained the operation with loans, credit commitments and financial injections amounting to 26 billion euros before nationalizing the companies important for the gas supply in Germany.
Certain bonuses would have to be paid to traders to keep them from churn, one of the insiders said. It would not be wise to eliminate all performance-related salary components as talented traders are in high demand. Traders often receive compensation based on the profits on their order books.
They earn salaries that are often higher than those of the executive floors of companies. According to the group’s website, Sefe’s trading house in London employs around 830 people. Uniper’s trading division employs 1,400 people worldwide.
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