Germany’s utility giant Uniper obtained in the first quarter proceeds from realized claims for damages in its ongoing dispute with Russian gas firm Gazprom, the now-nationalized German energy group said on Tuesday.
Uniper’s operating income included “income from enforcement activities conducted against Gazprom Export,” the German company said in its Q1 earnings release.
Last year, Uniper said it had decided to terminate its long-term Russian gas supply contracts and thus legally ended the long-term gas supply relationship with the Russian state-owned company Gazprom Export, the export unit of gas giant Gazprom.
Uniper’s decision was made possible after an arbitration tribunal in June awarded the German company the right to terminate the contracts and awarded it more than $14.7 billion (13 billion euros) in damages for the gas volumes that Gazprom Export has not supplied to Uniper since the middle of 2022.
After Uniper suffered substantial losses due to the Russian gas supply restrictions, the company initiated arbitration proceedings against Gazprom Export at the end of 2022.
Last year, Uniper also appealed an injunction by a Russian court that said that the German energy giant needs to pay as much as $17 billion (14 billion euros) if it seeks to continue arbitration against Gazprom, which was Uniper’s main natural gas provider before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Germany had to nationalize Uniper in 2022 to avoid its collapse amid soaring gas prices and a lack of Russian supply in the wake of the Ukraine invasion and the EU sanction barrage. The Federal Government took over 99% of the company in order to secure Germany’s energy supply. The bailout by the Federal Government goes alongside a ban on bonus and dividend payments at the company.
The total bill for Uniper’s nationalization came in at $53 billion.
After the nationalization, Germany owns more than 99% of Uniper, whose shares are still listed in Frankfurt, but trade is thin.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- Big Oil Isn’t Backing Down at $60 Oil
- Weak Chinese Imports Sink Asia’s Coal Prices to Four-Year Low
- World Bank: Get Ready for a Commodity Price Freefall
