Germany is nationalizing natural gas importer Sefe, the company formerly known as Gazprom Germany, according to a statement released by the economy ministry in Berlin on Monday, as cited by Reuters.

Sefe was spun off from Gazprom earlier this year and placed under German state control in April, and has since taken almost €10 billion in loans to stay afloat.

The economy ministry in Berlin justified the measure as the need to secure natural gas supplies to the country, as Sefe was threatened with bankruptcy after a drop in Russian natural gas imports led to billions of euros in losses for the company and other natural gas importers, who were forced to turn to expensive spot contracts. markets or look for gas sources in other places.

At the beginning of September, Gazprom announced the indefinite suspension of all natural gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, through which Germany is supplied with Russian gas.

Sefe became the second natural gas importer to be nationalized by the German government, after Uniper in September, amid a European energy crisis triggered by Russia’s decision to freeze natural gas supplies to countries that refuse to pay for energy imports in rubles and a sharp cut in supplies. to other countries.

Germany will compensate Gazprom for the nationalization of its assets

Germany’s economy ministry announced on Monday that it had used the country’s new energy security law to reduce Sefe’s capital so that Gazprom would lose its stake in Sefe.

Officials in Berlin, however, said Gazprom would receive compensation following the ruling, with the amount to be determined according to Sefe’s market value, but details of the compensation procedure have not yet been determined.

This weekend, the European Commission gave the green light to a measure proposed by Olaf Scholz’s government.

In early April, the German government announced that it was analyzing the possibility of nationalizing the assets of Gazprom and Rosneft, another major Russian energy company.