Gazprom Germania GmbH was Gazprom’s German subsidiary until a few months ago, when the German government placed Gazprom Germania under the auspices of the German energy regulator to ensure security of supply following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last month, Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Gazprom Germany in retaliation for Western sanctions as Russia imposed sanctions on Gazprom’s European subsidiaries, barring them from supplying Russian gas. Without Russian gas, Gazprom Germania had to buy gas at higher prices in the spot market. Gazprom Germania has several storage facilities in Germany, including the largest in the country. Without financial support, the company may not be able to fill gas storage to the levels required by Germany and the EU before next winter to prevent gas shortages. As Gazprom Germania is critical to Germany ‘s gas supply and infrastructure, the government considers it necessary to ensure the company’ s ongoing business. As a result, Germany is now strengthening and securing the long-term management of Gazprom Germany, which has now been renamed Securing Energy for Europe GmbH (SEFE), to ensure energy supply to Germany and Europe, the government said. Europe’s largest economy is also lending to state-owned investment bank KfW to save the company from insolvency, the government added. The money will be used to secure liquidity and the gas market to replace Russian deliveries and to avoid a successive insolvency in the German energy market. KfW’s loan to the former Gazprom plant will be between $ 9.44 billion (€ 9 billion) and $ 10.5 billion (€ 10 billion), a source in the German cabinet told Reuters. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More top readings from Oilprice.com:
