"Germany moved to stabilize its energy supply Tuesday, injecting about 10 billion euros into the German subsidiary of Gazprom PJSC as the Russian gas giant said it would nearly halve the flow of fuel through a major pipeline connecting the two countries.
Berlin said the loan, equivalent to about $10.4 billion, from German state development bank KfW is necessary to shield the business from the fallout of the war sanctions.
Berlin took control of the subsidiary known as Gazprom Germania GmbH in April after its state-controlled Russian parent sought to transfer the business to new Russian owners. On Tuesday, Berlin said it would extend its stewardship of the company, initially limited to six months, indefinitely.
The bailout is the latest step in Berlin's two-pronged effort to wean its energy-hungry economy off its heavy reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2024, while ensuring Moscow's supplies continue to flow in the short term.
The short-term supplies are in doubt, however, after Gazprom said Tuesday that it would slash natural-gas exports to Europe, signaling a ratcheting up in the energy conflict that has accompanied the war in Ukraine.
Gazprom Germania, a holding of 49 companies with outposts across the world, handles most of the Russian natural-gas imports into Germany, owns critical infrastructure including gas storage facilities and pipelines, and is active globally as a gas trader.
German officials said the bailout was inevitable because the company was struggling to obtain financing from capital markets spooked by the sanctions war between Russia and the West. The company also was being forced to purchase some gas on the spot market, where prices are rocketing.
Following Berlin's move to seize control of the business, Russia sanctioned most of the firms owned by Germania, reducing the flow of gas to Germany and forcing the subsidiary to seek alternative supplies.
As part of the takeover, Gazprom Germania will be renamed Securing Energy for Europe GmbH, to reflect Berlin's intention to keep the company running and together with European partners to soften the fallout of the economic confrontation with Moscow, officials said.
The emergency loan would allow "the federal government to retain influence of this part of the critical energy infrastructure and avert any threats to energy security," the German government said.
Gazprom said the Nord Stream pipeline, which is the main avenue for Russian gas imports into Germany, couldn't run at full force, blaming Germany's Siemens for a delay to maintenance and repair work on a key compressor station on the Russian end of the pipe. It wasn't clear whether it meant Siemens AG or Siemens Energy AG, which was spun off from Siemens in 2020.
Siemens Energy said that an engine for gas turbines it had supplied for the pipeline in 2009 is being overhauled in Montreal. Due to Canadian sanctions on Russia, it was impossible for Siemens Energy to deliver the turbines to Gazprom, Siemens Energy said. Siemens AG referred questions to Siemens Energy. As a result, Gazprom said, gas flows will fall to a maximum of 100 million cubic meters each day, down from a planned 167 million.
A spokeswoman for the German economy ministry said the security of supply in Germany is guaranteed. "We are monitoring the situation and examining the facts," she said.
A senior German official said there was no gas shortage reported by any German gas importer following the Gazprom announcement. The official said the government is trying to establish whether a Siemens subsidiary in Canada, which is in charge of maintenance and repair of the pipeline compressors, has been affected by the sanctions against Russia.
Nord Stream, the biggest conduit for Russian gas into Europe, last year channeled 58 billion cubic meters into the European Union, according to official data, compared with 37 billion cubic meters that flowed through Ukraine into the bloc." [1]
1. The Ukraine Crisis: Germany Launches Bailout For Gazprom Local Subsidiary
Pancevski, Bojan; Wallace, Joe.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 15 June 2022: A.9.
Komentarų nėra:
Rašyti komentarą