It was only last Friday that Uniper officially applied for state aid.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf The Düsseldorf gas trader Uniper has fully utilized its existing billion-dollar loans from the KfW development bank. This was announced by the energy company on Monday morning. This step is a reaction to the “persistent disruptions in the supply of Russian gas and the associated developments on the energy markets and exchanges,” according to the company.
Since the severe throttling of Russian gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Uniper, as one of Gazprom’s largest customers, has been under massive pressure. The company has to buy expensive gas to service contracts with its customers.
The company had therefore already applied for state aid a week and a half ago. “We can’t bear the situation much longer,” warned Uniper boss Klaus-Dieter Maubach. In the event of a total failure of Russian gas supplies, losses of up to ten billion euros would accumulate over the next few months. The federal government is currently advising on what exactly an aid package could look like. According to insiders, a decision is expected on Thursday.
Months ago, Uniper had secured a two-billion-euro credit option from the state-owned KfW Bank in order to be able to react in the event of possible bottlenecks in the course of the Russian war against Ukraine. Uniper has now made full use of this option.
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