“We will protect the citizens from the crisis”/ Chancellor Scholz promises: You’ll never walk alone

The government will take a third of the shares of the company in crisis. This was announced by the company from Düsseldorf and the Finnish parent concern Fortum, as well as Chancellor Olaf Scholz after about two weeks of talks. Under the agreement, the federation will cover 30 percent of the capital increase, which is open only to the German government. The chancellor interrupted his summer vacation to attend the press conference.

Uniper applied for aid from the state. The utility needs to buy gas at a high price in the market because of dwindling Russian supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to the Baltic Sea in order to be able to stick to contracts. This has created liquidity problems for the concern.

According to the chancellor and the enterprise, the federation will buy shares from Uniper in the amount of 1.70 euros. The exchange rate is actually 10 euros, Scholz said. This purchase of shares will lead to the increase of the capital to 267 million euros.

The chancellor further said that gas importers can offset the high purchase prices starting from September or October by increasing the price for their customers. For this reason, at the beginning of 2023, the government will reform the system of supporting citizens in need so that they can afford rent and energy costs.

Scholz called the agreed measures “a substantial contribution to the rescue of the enterprise”. Uniper can now “see the future with stability”.

Stabilization measures are subject to approval by the EU Commission. Uniper will organize an extraordinary meeting with its shareholders to obtain their approval regarding these stabilization measures.

No one will be left alone

Scholz further said that he sees Russia as an unreliable gas supplier. It will not become more secure than it is now. He made it clear that Germany can no longer pin its hopes on Russia. “So we prefer to be safe.” Scholz pointed out the measures taken in the meantime to reduce gas consumption. We will do everything possible for the country to overcome this situation.

Against the backdrop of rising energy prices, the government will relieve citizens of this burden. At the beginning of next year there will be a major reform to support citizens with low incomes to meet the costs of housing rent. Among other things, the circle of people who may have the right to benefit from this system will be expanded, the chancellor said. He also spoke about a supplement for heating costs. It must be prevented that anyone is faced with situations without a solution. The chancellor said: “You’ll never walk alone” – we will not leave anyone alone.