Berlin may consider putting a cap on the price of natural gas

The imposition of a ceiling on its price natural gas is to consider Berlin, according to reports in Italian newspapers, which cited a written message sent by Germany’s finance minister to European energy ministers. According to reports, Robert Habeck sent a text message to European energy ministers indicating that Berlin may consider imposing a cap on the price of natural gas on September 9 when the emergency meeting of energy ministers to deal with the dramatic increase of natural gas prices due to limited supplies from Russia.

The exact wording of Habeck’s message has not been made known.

THE Germany faces the “harsh reality” of Russia not restoring natural gas supplies to the country, Hambek said yesterday, ahead of the planned suspension by Russian state energy giant, the Gazpromof natural gas exports to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, as reported by Reuters and relayed by the Athens News Agency.

Energy company Uniper is asking the government for more money to fund its bailout

Meanwhile, energy company Uniper yesterday requested more financial aid from the German government, bringing its bailout bill to $19 billion as rising gas prices sapped its cash reserves.

Dramatic increases in energy prices in recent days have worsened the situation to Germany’s biggest importer of Russian natural gas, forcing Uniper to seek more financial liquidity, even though the details of the bailout deal the German government reached last month have not yet been finalized.

Uniper, majority-owned by Finland’s Fortum, announced that it has absorbed a €9 billion credit line from state-owned investment bank KfW, while it has applied for €4 billion in new credit to deal with the conditions that have emerged in today’s energy environment.

Emphasizing even more the pressures the company is under, labor union leaders sent a letter to German Economy Minister Robert Habeck dated August 26. This letter has been read by Reuters, while the unionists asked the government to seek and obtain a majority stake in the mentioned company.

As part of the bailout deal, the government agreed to take a 30% stake in Uniper.

Uniper’s share price closed yesterday with an increase of 3%, while Fortum’s share price recorded an increase of 5.9%. Fortum announced yesterday that it is in talks with the Finnish government about how it can secure the financial liquidity it needs.

Uniper’s announcement came less than two days before scheduled technical maintenance that will halt the flow of Russian natural gas to Europe through the central supply pipeline from August 31 until September 2.

Uniper is becoming the largest company to fall victim to the European energy crisis to date, while it has been hit hard by gas cuts from the Russia which is its main supplier. Thus, Uniper was forced to raise prices excessively in order to cope with the reduction in the flow of Russian natural gas.

This development causes a loss of financial liquidity for the company, which “well exceeds” 100 million dollars per day, as stated by its CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach.

“We are fully cooperating with the German government to find a permanent solution to this emergency situation. Otherwise, Uniper will no longer be able to fulfill its critical system function for Germany and Europe,” Maubach added.