Page 6 - FSUOGM Week 44 2022

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM

Uniper hit hard by

Russian gas losses

Uniper has been running millions of dollars of losses every day since losing

its Russian gas supply

GERMANY UNIPER has posted a €40bn ($39bn) loss for out in July, and this will result in the company’s
the first nine months of this year, marking one nationalisation by the end of this year. Berlin
WHAT: of the biggest losses in German corporate his- viewed this as critical to avoid the country’s
Uniper posted a $39bn tory. The reasons are well-known. The company entire energy system collapsing. If Uniper had
loss for the first nine had its Russian gas supply drastically cut over the gone under, many more companies would have
months of this year. summer, before it ended completely at the end followed.
of August. In its financial results, Uniper said it had
WHY: Russia’s Gazprom began curtailing supply to posted “considerable losses because the replace-
After losing its Russian Uniper in mid-June, when it reduced capacity ment costs of procuring new gas aren’t being
gas supply, the company flow via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, claiming passed through to consumers.” The German
has had to buy costly technical difficulties caused by Western sanc- government has allowed Uniper to pass some of
supplies on the spot tions. The pipeline was completely closed at the the costs on to consumers, but only to an extent.
market. end of August, and following suspected sabo- With rising energy costs risking social unrest in
tage in late September, the pipeline is unlikely to Germany and across Europe, the Scholz admin-
WHAT NEXT: come back online this winter. istration wants to cushion the blow of the energy
Various approvals are Uniper had to continue supplying gas to its crisis on voters as much as possible.
needed for the company's customers. But without contractual Russian Uniper said the loss, on an international
rescue package. deliveries, the company was forced to buy that financial reporting standards basis, included
gas on the spot market, where prices have soared €10bn of realised costs for gas replacement vol-
over the past year to heights not previously umes and €31bn of anticipated future losses. For
thought possible. the nine-month period, the company booked a
The German government bailed Uniper €3.2bn adjusted net loss.

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