The energy company Uniper is taking drastic measures because of the lack of deliveries from Russia. The energy giant has been tapping gas storage facilities since the beginning of the week in order to be able to fulfill its own contracts.
Due to a lack of deliveries from Russia, the energy company Uniper has started taking gas from storage facilities. “Since the beginning of the week we have been taking gas from the capacities we use ourselves,” said a spokesman on Friday. He cited liquidity reasons and the fulfillment of contracts as arguments. Uniper boss Klaus-Dieter Maubach already announced last week that such a step would be necessary.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which is important for Germany, is currently being maintained so that no more gas flows through the pipes under the Baltic Sea. Even before that, the Russian state-owned company Gazprom reduced deliveries to 40 percent and justified this with a missing turbine. The federal government considers the argument to be advanced and fears that gas will no longer flow through Nord Stream 1 even after the maintenance.
Uniper had submitted an application for stabilization measures to the federal government. The Düsseldorf group has to buy gas on the market because of the reduced Russian gas supplies. However, the group has not yet been able to pass on the significantly higher costs for this to its customers, which leads to liquidity problems at Uniper. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had promised the company support.