Uniper, the biggest victim of Europe’s energy crisis, is turning to the courts to resolve its dormant Russian gas supply contracts that could deter investors when it returns to the stock market, three people with knowledge of it said. folder.
In 2022, the German government rescued Uniper, which was once Gazprom’s largest European customer, after Uniper was forced to pay high prices to buy supplies to make up for the loss of Russian gas when Gazprom halted its deliveries.
Since then, the German group has completely replaced Russian gas volumes with other suppliers. However, the contracts with Gazprom are still legally in force. They run until 2035 and cover 250 terawatt hours (TWh) of gas, the equivalent of a quarter of Germany’s gas demand.
“This issue needs to be resolved because it could create risks for a possible IPO,” said one of the people, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, adding that it could deter investors. potential investors.
Initial preparations for the return of Germany’s 99.12% stake in Uniper are underway, and sources told Reuters in February that Berlin could seek to sell 20-30% initially. time next year.
The company’s dormant Gazprom contracts have been suspended but not canceled since Russia stopped supplying gas to Germany in 2022, following the Ukraine conflict, ending decades of reliable supplies.
With the European Union yet to impose sanctions on Russian gas, there is no legal framework for Uniper to dissolve the contracts, the sources said.
Christian von Hammerstein, a partner at law firm Raue, said the contracts remained in place as long as there was no legal basis to dissolve them.
“If Russian gas were sanctioned, it would be a case of force majeure that Uniper could also invoke against Gazprom without there being a breach of contract,” he said.
LEGAL DISPUTE
If Gazprom decides at some point to resume deliveries, which analysts say is unlikely but not impossible, Uniper could be forced to pay for the gas even if it doesn’t need it, as contracts stipulate. “take-or-pay” which are a pillar of the gas industry.
Several other European energy companies still have such contracts with Gazprom, whether in force or not, and some of them are also seeking damages.
In its annual report, Uniper referred to the potential impact of “Gazprom’s future behavior” on Uniper’s finances, without providing further details.
Uniper is seeking damages of more than 14 billion euros ($15 billion) from Gazprom, according to these people, and is awaiting a verdict from the Stockholm arbitration court, where it filed its claims, in the coming month.
The sources said it was possible that the Swedish court, in its ruling, would create conditions to declare existing contracts with Gazprom void, which would allow Uniper to legally cancel them.
Separately, if Gazprom decided to resume deliveries, Uniper could choose to take the gas until deliveries reach the value of its compensation claims, the sources said.
Uniper, which has fully written down all its operations in Russia, confirmed that it expects a court verdict in the coming months. She previously said that 250 TWh of contracts with Gazprom still existed.
Gazprom Export, the Russian company’s exporting arm, successfully challenged the case in a St. Petersburg court which ruled in March that Uniper and a subsidiary would be fined 14.3 billion euros. They continued the arbitration.
“Gazprom has failed to meet its delivery obligations since summer 2022, leading Uniper to incur billions of dollars in gas replacement costs,” Uniper said, declining to quantify the claims.
The German Finance Ministry, which oversees the government’s stake in Uniper, declined to comment.
Gazprom did not respond to a request for comment. (1 dollar = 0.9323 euros)
