An agreement has been signed by the parties and Fortum amid the ongoing shortfalls in supply of Russian natural gas to Germany
German government announces €15bn bailout package to Uniper. (Credit: Alf van Beem/Wikimedia Commons)
Uniper has secured a bailout package of €15bn from the German government in guarantees and equity in an effort to protect the utility as a system-critical energy supplier in Germany.
An agreement has been reached by the two parties and Uniper’s majority stakeholder Fortum. It has been signed amid the ongoing shortfalls in the supply of Russian natural gas to Germany.
Uniper said that the package of measures from the government secures the company and gives a solution to the losses faced by it because of the prevailing gas supply shortage.
Uniper CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach said: “I’m pleased and relieved that today’s agreement stabilises Uniper financially as a system-critical energy partner and preserves it as a single entity. This ensures that Uniper can continue to reliably supply its customers, including numerous municipal utilities and industrial companies, with energy.
“We now have a clear perspective on how the costs which arise due to the interrupted gas supplies from Russia can be shared by many shoulders going forward.”
The measures agreed upon by the parties are based on three pillars. The first of these is protecting business operations by keeping a check on continuing financial losses from supply cuts of Russian natural gas and spikes in prices.
The German government told Uniper its plans to bring in a general mechanism for all gas importers to go through 90% of the costs of replacement for missing Russian gas as of 1 October 2022.
Uniper revealed that the second pillar is the German national development bank KfW increasing the existing credit line for the company to €9bn from €2bn and the intended use will be expanded.
The third pillar is sustaining Uniper’s investment-grade rating for ensuring financial stability. As part of this, the German government will acquire a stake of around 30% in the utility through a capital increase of nearly €267m.
Additionally, Uniper will get up to €7.7bn through a mandatory convertible instrument.
Following the capital increase of the Bund, Fortum will have a stake of nearly 56% in Uniper.
Uniper CFO Tiina Tuomela said: “The German government’s stabilisation measures reduce the high daily cash outflow that Uniper incurred due to the gas supply restrictions from Russia, which has been voiced as a key concern by the rating agencies.
“Overall, the composition of the stabilisation package aims at securing Uniper’s investment grade rating, which was a common objective shared by all parties involved in the negotiations.”