German Uniper Says It’s Facing Insolvency Amid $12 Billion Loss

Giant German utility Uniper has reported first-half 2022 losses of some $12.5 billion amid a mounting energy crisis that has seen natural gas supplies from Russia decline significantly over the past few months. 

According to Uniper, the losses were incurred due to the necessity of buying natural gas on the spot market as Russia cut flows to Germany. Uniper said the losses were related to anticipated future gas shortages. 

“Uniper has, for months, been playing a crucial role in stabilizing Germany’s gas supply — at the cost of billions in losses resulting from the sharp drop in gas deliveries from Russia,” chief executive Klaus-Dieter Maubach said, as reported by CNBC. 

"We at Uniper have de facto become a pawn in this conflict," Uniper Maubach added, warning that the company now faces insolvency.

In July, in a bid to rescue Uniper, the government agreed it would take over a 30% share in the company. That deal still requires shareholder approval, which is expected in the third quarter. Uniper received a $15-billion bailout from the government. 

Around half of Uniper’s profits previously came from Russian gas. 

Bloomberg claims the Uniper losses to be among the worst in Germany’s corporate history, noting that while others are profiting, Uniper has been losing around 100 million euros a day due to shortfalls in Russian Gazprom contract deliveries. 

Since the beginning of the year, Uniper’s share price has plummeted some 80% and the company was forced to take a 2.7-billion-euro charge, partly including a Nord Stream 2 loan after the pipeline was halted due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian reports. 

Uniper has said it anticipates a transition with more losses next year and then no losses in 2024. 

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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