FRANKFURT, GERMANY- German energy giant Uniper on Monday said more state-backed loans were needed to shore up its financial position as Russian gas supply disruptions and soaring prices put the group under increasing pressure.
Uniper, which accepted a government rescue package in July, said in a statement it had asked for its credit facility with the public lender KfW to be boosted “by an additional four billion euros ($4 billion) for further stabilization”.
The Duesseldorf-based group said it had used up the nine-billion-euro line of credit agreed in the bailout as the cost for gas soared.
“Reduced Russian gas deliveries and the associated significant price increases for gas and electricity” meant Uniper needed more cash to buy extra supplies of the fuel at short notice and cover trading deposits, the group said.
One of the biggest importers of Russian gas, Uniper has been squeezed as Moscow has reduced supplies to the continent over recent months.
“As long as energy prices continue to rise in Europe, the need for liquid funds will also increase,” said Uniper CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach.
Within a month, Uniper said gas prices had “approximately doubled from an already high level”.
The German government will take a 30 percent stake in Uniper as part of the rescue package agreed in July.
Uniper was in ongoing discussions with officials in Berlin and the Finnish energy group Fortum, Uniper’s largest shareholder, about the “implementation of the stabilization package”, the German group said.
“We are working at full speed with the German government on a permanent solution to this emergency as otherwise Uniper will no longer be able to fulfil its system-critical function for Germany and Europe,” Maubach said.
The request for further credit “secures the energy supplies we have promised our customers and stabilizes the energy markets,” he added.
