Uniper is the largest importer of Russian natural gas in Germany, and is currently at the center of the whirlpool of European energy crisis. Due to the loss of the main source of natural gas supply, Uniper was forced to buy natural gas at a high price in the spot market, resulting in the company's daily loss of more than 654.38 billion euros.
Nationalize ...
At 2 1 local time, Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum rose nearly 20% in Helsinki stock market. According to the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, the German government will buy the shares of Uniper from Finnish energy group Fortum at the price of 1.70 euros per share, with a total purchase amount of 480 million euros. Therefore, the federal government will hold a 99% stake in Uniper. In addition, the federal government also plans to increase Uniper's capital by 8 billion euros, including 4 billion euros of shareholder loans and 4 billion euros of guarantees.
Source: Uniper official website screenshot
Uniper Energy Group provides natural gas to more than 65,438+000 municipal utilities and large companies, and its natural gas supply accounts for about half of Germany's natural gas consumption. After the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Uniper had to buy natural gas in the spot market at an expensive price in order to fulfill the supply contract. According to the latest report of the group, the daily loss of the group has exceeded 1 billion euros.
18 In August, Uniper Group announced that its losses in the first six months of this year had exceeded 124 billion euros, of which 6.5 billion euros were related to Russia's energy supply restrictions. The company said: "In the same period last year, the company achieved very good results, and now the loss is mainly due to the reduction of Russian natural gas supply." In order to fulfill the supply contract with customers, the company had to buy natural gas from other sources at a high price.
Up to now, Uniper has received 20 billion euros of assistance from the German government to prevent the collapse of the company from endangering the energy industry.
It is reported that the group will hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in the fourth quarter to vote, and it is expected that the final transaction will be completed before the end of this year.
German Economy Minister Chabeck warned that there may be a "Lehman Brothers moment" in the European energy market, that is, a wave of bankruptcy of energy companies, and promised to try his best to prevent similar crises.
In addition to Uniper, the German government also intends to nationalize two other natural gas companies, VNG and European Safety Energy Company. Among them, European Safe Energy Company was originally a branch of Gazprom in Germany and was taken over by the German government in April this year.
Impose natural gas surcharge
German Deputy Chancellor and Minister of Economy and Climate Protection Chabeck said on September 2 1 local time that the German government's plan to levy natural gas surcharge will not change and will be implemented from June 65438+1 October1day.
Previously, the German government announced on August 5, 65438 that natural gas surcharge would be levied from June+10, 65438, with the specific amount of 2.4 19 Euro cents per kWh, and ordinary German families would pay hundreds of euros for it. According to the calculation of German media, a standard family that consumes 20,000 kWh of natural gas a year has to pay an extra fee of about 480 euros (about 3,300 yuan), excluding tax.
In this regard, the German government said that the additional fee was levied to help natural gas suppliers. Due to the crisis of natural gas supply in Germany, relevant suppliers have to buy natural gas from other places at high prices to make up for the shortage of supply. Imposing additional tax can make up for about 90% of the difference and avoid bankruptcy and supply failure of suppliers.
However, once the policy was introduced, it was controversial. Critics believe that many energy suppliers who have already made high profits will benefit from it again, while ordinary people will have to bear high losses. In this regard, Chabeck said that the scope of application of this policy will be limited, that is, only enterprises that are really in crisis can get compensation: "The state will make every effort to maintain the stability of enterprises in the market."
How to spend the winter in Europe?
According to Washington post's recent report, due to the deep energy dilemma in many European countries, the demand for firewood, as a traditional heating fuel, has greatly increased, and it has become a scarce commodity in many European countries.
According to the report, some European buyers began to hoard firewood for winter heating as early as summer, which led to soaring firewood prices in many parts of Europe. In some parts of Hungary, the price of firewood has almost doubled. In Stuttgart, Germany, illegal logging and theft have also increased. In Berlin, many families have also started cleaning fireplaces and chimneys to prepare for cooking this winter, because they are worried about stopping heating and further rising energy costs.
Experts say that although forests in some European countries have sufficient wood reserves, trees must be dried for a long time after being cut down, so it is impossible to supply a large amount of firewood immediately.
According to German media reports, almost all hardwood species in Europe are used as firewood, such as oak, chestnut, maple and birch, but they are still not enough. At present, Germany's firewood suppliers have begun to purchase goods from Poland. However, due to the recent sharp rise in energy prices, the Hungarian government declared an energy emergency in July and took measures such as prohibiting the export of firewood to ensure domestic energy security. According to RIA Novosti, Bulgaria also stopped exporting timber to non-EU countries in mid-August.
Experts said that the European people were forced to "cross" back to the era of burning firewood for heating, which was rooted in the energy crisis triggered by EU sanctions against Russia; If Europe does not stop sanctions against Russia, Europe's energy dilemma will inevitably continue.
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