Battered German Utility Uniper to Be Nationalized, Head to Resign

The CEO of German utility Uniper SE has announced plans to cut costs and boost efficiency in the face of challenging market conditions.Uniper SE CEO Klaus Schaefer said the company would focus on reducing costs and improving efficiency in order to remain competitive in the current market environment. He added that Uniper would also continue to invest in new technologies and renewable energy sources.
The CEO of Gazprom plans to resign this year after the company was nationalized by the Russian government. Gazprom was hit hard by Russia's decision to halt most of its natural gas exports to Europe.
Klaus-Dieter Maubach, who was appointed to the position in 2021, will exercise a special right of termination due to the change of ownership, the company said Tuesday. Uniper's Chief Operating Officer David Bryson will also depart, using the same right. Both will continue in their roles until suitable replacements have been found, the company said.
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After a difficult year for the company, management has undergone a reshuffle. Uniper, which was previously Germany's largest importer of Russian gas, has been criticized by security experts and some analysts for being too reliant on Russia for its supplies.
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Last year, Moscow cut gas deliveries to Europe in what Western officials say was an economic attack in retaliation for their support for Ukraine. The impact was quickly felt across countries and businesses, pushing up energy prices and threatening to tip Germany and other nations into a recession.
After Moscow began to throttle gas deliveries to Germany, Uniper had to scramble to replace gas volumes on the spot market. As a result, Uniper posted a net loss of around $39.3 billion for the first nine months of the year—one of the biggest in Germany’s corporate history.
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In an effort to save a company that is crucial to the German economy, the government has nationalized Uniper by taking a 99% stake. The process was completed in December.
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"The company is realigning itself so that it can fulfill its role in a changing energy world,"
Supervisory Board Chairman Tom Blades said. "This process, which was started by the former management board, must now be continued."
Uniper's shares fell by around 3% on Tuesday.
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For a period of time last year, Uniper was losing more than 100 million euros a day from gas purchases, as prices reached record levels. This amounted to approximately $107 million.
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The departing chief executive said that the nationalization marks a new phase for the company. Uniper has said that it is working intensively to restructure its gas portfolio to minimize risks and to end losses resulting from Russian gas curtailments by 2024.
"I strongly believe that now is the ideal time to pave the way for a new management board team to take on the new challenges that lie ahead of us," Mr. Maubach said.
Mr. Blades said that the supervisory board was working hard to put a new management team in place. He added that the board was committed to finding the best possible candidates for the job and that they would be announced in due course.
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Uniper's import terminal for liquefied natural gas is the first of its kind in Germany, and is a key part of the country's efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian supplies. The terminal was built quickly and efficiently, and received its first full cargo from the United States last week. This is a major step forward for Germany, and will help to ensure a more stable and secure energy supply in the future.