The gas crisis in Germany is entering a new phase: the German government is connecting the population to finance the purchase of much more expensive fuel. The authorities decided to allow energy companies to charge end consumers for the supply of gas an additional fee in addition to the tariffs stipulated in existing contracts.

On August 15, Trading Hub Europe, a joint venture of gas transport companies tasked with defining and industry-wide agreement on the new gas margin (Gasumlage), announced that it would be 2,419 euro cents per kilowatt hour. (kWh). This is significantly less than many feared.

Family expenses in an individual house will increase by 40-45 euros per month

As a result, a family living in an individual house with an annual energy consumption of 20,000 kWh will have to pay an additional 484 euros a year (about 40 euros a month) for hot water and heating, calculated the dpa news agency. . According to the Institute of German Economics in Cologne (IW), additional costs for one family per person with a floor area of ​​60 m². it will be around 203 euros per year (17 euros per month) and around 542 euros per year (45 euros per month) for a family in an individual house of 140 square meters. m.

At the same time, the additional financial burden for German industry will be around €5.7 billion, with more than half of this amount to be paid by chemical, metallurgical and metallurgical companies, glass and ceramic manufacturers, warns the IW Institute. .

In addition, value added tax (VAT) amounting to 19% must still be levied on the markup amount. However, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (Christian Lindner) has already sent a letter to the European Commission with a request in this case to make an exception to EU rules. If that does not happen, he stressed, the State will not send additional revenue to the budget, but will return it to the population in the form of support for those who suffer most from the rise in energy prices.

Gasumlage is officially introduced from October 1, 2022, however, German consumer protection laws require customers to be notified in advance of upcoming increases. Therefore, the first time that German families will have to pay a surcharge, probably in November or even December.

Exception to the rule of not changing prices in existing contracts

Giving concessionaires the right to receive extra money from customers is an extraordinary anti-crisis measure. After all, strict compliance by the parties with contractual obligations is one of the pillars of the functioning of the market economy: companies that supply goods and services to other companies and to the public do not have the right to change the prices prescribed therein before the contracts expire.

But the emergency required emergency measures. In Germany, electricity and gas companies usually enter into contracts with end users for one or two years and then automatically renew them for another year under the same conditions. If the supplier intends to raise prices, then he is obliged to advise the customer about this in time, and he has a legal right and a real opportunity to change the previous supplier to a new and more profitable one, as there is a lot of competition and a wide choice in the market.

Nord Stream 1 receiving terminal in Lubmin: gas flow has declined sharply since mid-June

So far, this system has functioned normally. However, since mid-June, Russia, represented by Gazprom, in breach of its long-term contractual obligations to German importers, has drastically reduced gas supplies. Because of this, the prices of the same, which had already increased many times in relation to the period before the pandemic, more than doubled again. As a result, there was a real threat of ruin for the biggest German energy companies.

After all, their contracts with end consumers are based on prices calculated based on previous agreements with Gazprom. Since the Russian state-owned company stopped supplying the prescribed volumes, German energy companies, in order to meet their obligations to customers, have to buy the missing gas on the spot market (in exchanges for short-term contracts) at prices that have skyrocketed. to unimaginable heights. Of course, the “buy high, sell low” business could not work for long.

RWE and Shell will not pass on costs to customers

However, the mechanism now introduced by the German government to redistribute the costs of gas purchases gives companies the right to transfer 90% of their additional costs to the population and companies, but does not oblige them to do so.

RWE is German lignite and active renewable energy development

The concern of RWE, one of the leaders in the energy market in Germany, just days before the announcement of the marking announced that it would not introduce it yet. “We get relatively little gas from Russia,” said Markus Krebber, the company’s head. And on this occasion, he announced his company as a “financially strong and stable company”.

Then the German division of the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas company Shell announced that it would not even register to participate in this cost-sharing mechanism. Some observers believe that in doing so, the industry giants want to hush up the discussion about the need to introduce a special tax on excess profits for companies that, for one reason or another, benefit from the current high cost of energy.

German gas margin threatens to raise inflation up to 9-10%

But many companies will still have to pass on most of their vastly increased gas purchase costs to customers. For example, Uniper, the biggest German importer of Gazprom products, found itself in such a dire financial situation in July that the German government had to take a series of urgent measures to save it, including buying a stake in its capital and the granting of loans from the state bank KfW.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promises new support measures for Germans due to high energy cost

Most German experts assume that the introduction of a gasoline surcharge, combined with the expiration on September 1 of a three-month program of reducing public transport fares by €9 per month and a three-month tax cut on fuel for cars, will lead to a new wave of inflation. In the 4th quarter, the growth rate of prices in Germany may in the short term exceed 9% and even approach 10%, experts believe.

After the publication of the mark-up, several politicians, consumer organizations and industry associations demanded from the German authorities additional measures of financial support to the population and companies due to the increase in energy prices. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in turn, recalled via Twitter that the measures already taken have reduced the financial burden on the country’s inhabitants by 30 billion euros and that the next package is being prepared. “We are not going to let anyone face to face with rising costs”, assured the head of government.