Uniper boss Klaus-Dieter Maubach wants to give up posts in 2023

Klaus Dieter Maubach

From company circles it is said that the resignation of the Uniper boss came suddenly. This is probably a decision by Maubach himself.

(Photo: dpa)

Dusseldorf The CEO of the troubled energy company Uniper, Klaus-Dieter Maubach, wants to make room for a successor after the company’s nationalization. Maubach and David Bryson, the board member responsible for the operational business, are making use of their special right of termination in the event of a change of ownership and are leaving this year, Uniper announced on Tuesday.

Both had declared their willingness to continue in office until a suitable successor had been appointed. In both cases, this will ensure an orderly transition. The Supervisory Board has already started the process of filling the position. The 60-year-old Maubach has been CEO since March 2021.

From company circles it is said that Maubach’s resignation came suddenly. This is probably a decision by Maubach itself, which cannot be attributed to active pressure from the new owner. At the end of last year, Tiina Tuomela announced her departure as Chief Financial Officer. She switched from the previous main shareholder Fortum to Uniper management in April 2021 and is now returning to the Finnish group. There she is to replace the German energy manager Bernhard Günther as chief financial officer.

The contract of the fourth board member, Niek den Hollander, also expires at the end of May 2023. Chairman of the Supervisory Board Tom Blades was confident that he would soon be able to announce replacements. He himself was only appointed to the supervisory body at the end of last year and elected its chairman.

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Future strategy at Uniper unclear

In mid-December, the previous Uniper shareholders cleared the way for a takeover by the German state. The company previously belonged to around 70 percent to the Finnish state-owned company Fortum. The federal government is now the owner with 99 percent.

When entering the federal government brought eight billion euros capital. Uniper estimates that the required state aid could increase to a total of more than 30 billion euros by the end of 2024. At the end of December, the company had already received a further 5.5 billion euros in fresh money. Uniper should continue to reliably buy gas on the world market and supply German municipal utilities and industrial customers. However, it may be years before the Düsseldorf-based company becomes profitable again with this crisis-ridden business.

>> Also read: Commentary: Gas imports are a pan-European issue

Difficult tasks await the new board. Because it is unclear which businesses Uniper wants to focus on in the future. The group was created in 2016 as a spin-off from the Essen-based energy company Eon. Above all, Eon had split off conventional electricity generation from coal and gas, which is expected to become less important as part of the energy transition.

Uniper was therefore initially considered a rest ramp. However, what Uniper also took with it: the profitable gas supply contracts with Russia. For decades, the company and its predecessors received cheap gas from Gazprom, which they resold at higher prices to municipal utilities and industrial companies in Germany.

Uniper power plants

Uniper is currently earning well with its coal-fired power plants and hydroelectric power plants.

(Photo: IMAGO/Jochen Tack)

The business model with the cheap Russian gas is now gone for a long time. What remains for Uniper are the gas storage facilities that the company owns, global energy trading and the group’s power plants for electricity generation. Here, Uniper is currently benefiting from the situation that has gotten its main business into trouble: Because Russia is no longer supplying pipeline gas and gas is scarce, gas prices are high. This also drives up electricity prices, because electricity is often produced with gas-fired power plants. Anyone who can produce electricity more cheaply, for example with the help of coal-fired power plants, can earn a lot from it. At least Uniper makes money with its coal-fired power plants and hydroelectric power plants.

However, in return for the rescue by the German state, Uniper has to sell its most modern coal-fired power plant Datteln IV at the behest of the European Commission. In the past, the group has repeatedly communicated that it intends to focus more on renewable energies in the future.

Compared to corporations like RWE, however, Uniper’s electricity generation capacities from wind and solar power plants are still very small. Analysts and former employees are saying that Uniper is unlikely to emerge as a strong player in renewable energy going forward.

For Uniper, there is hope for future business in the hydrogen sector. The company could import this via a terminal in Wilhelmshaven, which has been used to import liquefied natural gas since December.

More: Skimming off profits and price brakes: This is how the energy market will continue in 2023

Handelsblatt energy briefing

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