With the new version of the Energy Security Act, the federal government can more easily sell shares in companies managed by trustees.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The federal government has reached agreement on the final details of the planned amendment to the Energy Security Act (EnSiG). The draft, which has now been agreed in the cabinet, is to be adopted by the Bundestag on Thursday. It is available to the Handelsblatt.
The aim of the change in the law is to make it easier to sell shares in companies under trusteeship.
The resolution is aimed at the PCK Schwedt refinery in Brandenburg. So far, Rosneft Germany, a subsidiary of the Russian oil company Rosneft, has held a majority stake in the refinery. Rosneft Germany, in turn, is under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency.
Under current law, a sale of Rosneft Germany’s stake in the refinery would only be permitted if it was necessary to maintain the value of the company. With the amended law, a sale should also be permitted “to ensure the functioning of the community in the energy sector and to maintain security of supply”.
That would give the federal government significantly more room for maneuver because it could formally remain with the trusteeship. An expropriation, which would raise many legal questions in the Rosneft Germany case, would be superfluous.
Rosneft defends itself against trust management
The trust management was decided in the autumn of last year. According to the EnSiG, it is valid for six months, but can always be extended by a further six months. A first extension was decided in mid-March.
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The Russian Rosneft group complained last year that its German subsidiary was placed under trusteeship. The Federal Administrative Court dismissed the lawsuit in March. But the law firm Malmendier Legal commissioned by Rosneft said on Monday of this week that it had filed a new lawsuit against the extension.
In addition, the amended law will include a provision that will bar the establishment of a state-owned hydrogen company by a company whose shares have been transferred to the state. This happened at the urging of the Liberals, who want to protect themselves against possible future considerations. “With the changes in the Energy Security Act, we are sending a clear signal against a state economy in the energy sector,” said Michael Kruse, energy policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, to the Handelsblatt.
The FDP have enforced that under trustee or nationalized companies “may no longer be misused for state economy fantasies,” added Kruse. To this end, the law provides for a privatization requirement, the exclusion of state-owned companies and requirements for business operations.
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