BERLIN—The German government will temporarily take
control of a key unit of Russian state-owned natural gas
giant Gazprom PJSC in Germany in a bid to secure gas
deliveries, as tensions grow
between Russia and Europe
over energy supplies.
Economy minister Robert
Habeck said Monday that the
Federal Network Agency would
become a trustee of Gazprom
Germania GmbH until Sept. 30.
The move comes after Gazprom on Friday said that it
was exiting its business in
Germany without elaborating.
“The arrangement of the
trust administration serves to
protect public safety,” he said.
The move was triggered by
Gazprom’s failure to notify the
government of a change of own ership of Gazprom Germania, as
well as uncertainty as to who
owns the assets, Mr. Habeck
said. Gazprom didn’t respond to
a request for comment.
Gazprom Germania operates critical infrastructure in
Germany, including gas storage, trading and transporting
of natural gas.
Mr. Habeck said gas supply
currently is guaranteed. Gazprom has said that exports to
Europe are continuing in line
with contracts.
Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of
Ukraine and Europe’s subsequent sanctions against Moscow have triggered a growing
tussle between the two over
oil and gas supplies. Last
month, President Vladimir Putin said Russia would only receive rubles as payment for
gas exports. Gas contracts between German and Russian
companies are typically denominated in euros.
Germany and other European nations mostly have denounced the step, saying that
they would continue to pay for
the gas in euros or dollars. A
decree signed by Mr. Putin last
week outlined a plan whereby
European customers would pay
in euros or dollars to a Russian
bank which would then purchase rubles to pay for the deliveries. The new rules would
cover payments that have to
be made later this month.
Germany has been heavily
dependent on Moscow for energy, importing more than half
of its gas and about a third of
its oil from Russia last year.
Consecutive German governments gradually increased the
country’s dependence on cheap
energy imports from Russia.
Following Russia’s invasion,
the German government announced that it aimed to stop
all gas imports from Russia by
2024 and end Russian oil imports by the end of the year.
Just before the start of the
war, Berlin halted the certification of the Nord Stream 2
undersea pipeline, which
would have doubled the volume of Russian gas exported
directly to Germany.
Last week, Berlin triggered
the early-warning stage of a
contingency plan that aims to
insulate the country against
any possible reduction in Russian gas deliveries. The final
stage of the plan, which could
kick off if gas supplies are interrupted, would see gas being
rationed in the country.
A German government official said Gazprom’s attempt to
transfer the ownership of the
company to a foreign entity
without seeking permission
from the authorities fell afoul
of German laws. It remains unclear why Gazprom transferred
the ownership, and the company hasn’t communicated its
intention to the government,
the official said.
Under German law, foreign
acquisitions of strategic assets
such as energy infrastructure
must be approved by authorities if the buyer is a company
from a non-EU third country.
Gazprom Germania will
now be under state administration for six months until
the legal situation is cleared,
the German official said.
BY GEORGI KANTCHEV
AND BOJAN PANCEVSKI