Germany’s largest importer of Russian gas draws down €2bn credit facility amid energy crisis

 Germany’s largest importer of Russian gas, Uniper, has drawn on its 2 billion euros (or 2.03 billion dollars) credit facility from Germany’s state-owned KfW bank, the company said on Monday. Uniper has been hit hard by the reduction in gas supplies from Russia through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. In order to fulfill its contracts, the company has resorted to buying more expensive gas on the market, which has led to liquidity problems.

The government is currently working on an aid package for Uniper. The company agreed on the credit line with KfW at the beginning of January, in view of the looming invasion of Ukraine and extended it from the end of March until the end of April 2023 as a precautionary measure. The Finnish government said that Uniper’s majority shareholder Fortum which itself is majority owned by the Finnish government would not participate in any rescue measures for the German energy company. (dpa/NAN)