Germany’s biggest gas importer, Uniper, reported a loss of more than €12bn for the first half of the year, “ranking among the biggest in German corporate history”, said Vanessa Dezem on Bloomberg.
State bailout
In July, the company received a €15bn state bailout, “to prevent its collapse and a possible domino effect in the energy sector”. This week, CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach warned that billions more may be needed.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
EU policymakers have accused the Kremlin “of weaponising energy supplies” to “sow uncertainty across the 27-nation bloc”, said CNBC. Maubach admits to “wishful thinking” at the start of the Ukraine War that Uniper’s partnership with Gazprom, which dates back to the 1970s, would hold firm.
It is now so irretrievably broken that Uniper, whose shares have crashed by 88% this year, is “weighing legal action against Gazprom”, said Reuters. And gas rationing in Germany may be only a matter of time.
Worst yet to come
In closing this vital supply route as a tit-for-tat against Western sanctions, Vladimir Putin “has pre-empted the West and declared an all-out energy war”, said Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph. “After a mad scramble to secure supplies”, Europe’s gas storage facilities are almost full.
But officials concede that, without Russian flows, Germany “only has enough gas for two-and-a-half months of demand”. As Uniper’s boss observed at this week’s Gastech conference in Milan: “The worst is yet to come”.
-
Volodymyr Zelenskyy: flirting with authoritarianism?Talking Point Ukraine's president is facing first major domestic unrest since the Russian invasion, over plans to water down the country's anti-corruption agencies
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
The return of the Houthis: violence in the Red SeaIn the Spotlight The Houthis are back with their strongest attack yet
-
What has the Dalai Lama achieved?The Explainer Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader has just turned 90, and he has been clarifying his reincarnation plans
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
Israel's plan to occupy GazaIn Depth Operation Gideon's Chariots will see Israel sending thousands of troops into Gaza later this month to seize control of the strip
-
Kashmir: on the brink of a 'catastrophic' warTalking Point Relations between India and Pakistan are 'cratering' in the aftermath of a shocking terror attack in the disputed border region
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
