SEFE, as it is now called, is likely to be taken over by the government, but there are arguments that the move will not pay off in the long term.
After Uniper and VNG, Germany’s third largest natural gas importer based in Leipzig, SEFE now seems to be following suit. At least this is what the German government is considering, according to a report by Spiegel. But who is SEFE? Her whole name is Securing Energy for Europe GmbH, based in Berlin. Until last March they were called Gazprom Germany and was a subsidiary of Russia’s Gazprom in Germany. But after the Russian invasion of Ukraine it was placed under state management, to ensure the continued supply of natural gas to the country.
However, this solution does not seem to satisfy the German government. Yes, the goal is being achieved, but it cannot guarantee the stability of the supply in the long term, as at least it is heard from government circles. But any nationalization is not something that is easily decided, as it happened in her case Uniper. The same circles state that in purely operational and economic terms, the full nationalization of SEFE would make sense and is feasible under the Energy Security Act. But there is a counter-argument: The concern that Russia would “retaliate” and could expropriate German subsidiaries in Russia. There is no official announcement for nationalization. Economy Minister Robert Haber was content to say that “discussions are being made about its future SEFE“. The economic review Handelsblatt, in its today’s paper, publishes exclusive information, according to which there are different opinions between the relevant ministries, the Ministry of Finance and Economy. And the fear of “retaliation” in the form of expropriation of German subsidiaries from the Russian government is more intense in the Ministry of Finance.
There is no final opinion, so it may still take some time until the German government makes the final decisions. Together with Uniper and VNG, SEFE is one of the largest natural gas importers in Germany. In addition to the trading of natural gas, its business sectors include its transportation and the management of gas storage facilities. The supply of natural gas to many municipal utility companies directly depends on it. Last June, to prevent it from collapsing, the government supported it with a 9.8 billion loan from the state-owned KfW bank. At the time, it was even mentioned that in a next step Berlin would consider converting the loan into equity. Like Uniper, SEFE is among those energy companies that will be financially supported by consumers through the special gas levy they are required to pay from October 1.
DW
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