Germany fully nationalizes SEFE (ex Gazprom Germania)

Germany will nationalise the natural gas importing company SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe), which was previously called Gazprom Germania. This was reported by the Ministry of Economy of Germany. Nationalization was a step to protect the company from bankruptcy and push Russia out of the market.

Earlier this year, Russia's Gazprom withdrew from SEFE, and in April the company was transferred to German custody. Since then, the company has received about €10 billion in state-backed credit lines.

The move was necessary to secure the country's energy supply, the ministry said, as SEFE was at risk of insolvency after falling Russian imports cost it billions in losses as the company and other gas importers were forced to buy gas on the spot market.

In addition, the European Commission agreed to allocate financial assistance of €226 million to support the work of SEFE.

After Uniper, SEFE became the second German company to be nationalized as a result of the energy crisis caused by Russia's war in Ukraine.