THE EUROPEANS

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REUTERS

"Turkey's Erdogan says 'Europe reaping what it sowed' on energy crisis"


Reuters

September 6, 2022

ISTANBUL, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Russia is cutting natural gas flows to Europe in retaliation for sanctions, adding that Europe is "reaping what it sowed".

Fears in Europe have increased over a potentially bleak winter after Russia announced it was keeping its main gas pipeline to Germany shut.

Russia indefinitely halted the flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and has cut or shut down supplies on three of its biggest westward gas pipelines since its invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24.

Oil supplies have also been redirected eastwards.

"Europe is actually reaping what it sowed," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara on Tuesday, adding that sanctions drove Putin to retaliate using energy supplies.

"Putin is using all his means and weapons, and the most important of these is natural gas."

"Unfortunately - we wouldn't want this but - such a situation is developing in Europe," Erdogan said.

"I think Europe will experience serious problems this winter."


"We do not have such a problem," he added.

NATO-member Turkey has sought to strike a balance between Moscow and Kyiv by criticising Russia's invasion and sending arms to Ukraine, while opposing the Western sanctions and continuing trade, tourism and investment with Russia.

Turkey, which has Black Sea borders with both Russia and Ukraine, has said joining sanctions against Russia would have hurt its already strained economy and argued that it is focused on mediation efforts.

Moscow blames disruption to equipment maintenance caused by Western sanctions for its halt to the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipe.

European countries call that nonsense, accusing Russia of weaponising energy supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Alexandra Hudson

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-09-06/
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REUTERS

"Russia says United States is behind Europe's gas supply crisis"


Reuters

September 6, 2022

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the United States had fomented Europe's gas supply crisis by pushing European leaders towards the "suicidal" step of cutting economic and energy cooperation with Moscow.

Europe is facing its worst gas supply crisis ever, with energy prices soaring and German importers even discussing possible rationing in the European Union's biggest economy after Russia reduced gas flows westwards.

When asked what needed to happen for Nord Stream 1 to begin pumping again, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Reuters: "Listen, you are asking me questions that even children know the answer to: those who started this need to finish this."

She said the United States had long sought to break the energy ties between Russia and major European powers such as Germany, even though Moscow had been a reliable energy supplier since Soviet times.

"The dominance of Washington prevailed," Zakharova told Reuters on the sidelines of Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

"Political forces were brought to power in the European Union who are playing the role of 'sheep-provocateurs'."

"It is absolute suicide but it seems they will have to go through this," she said.


The United States and European Union have accused Russia of energy blackmail after Moscow reduced gas supplies to European customers.

Russia said there were technical problems with a compressor station that sanctions have prevented being fixed.

The Kremlin says that the West triggered the energy crisis by imposing the most severe sanctions in modern history, a step President Vladimir Putin says is akin to a declaration of economic war.

Reporting Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Guy Faulconbridge

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-09-06/
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REUTERS

"Europe power firms need 1.5 trillion euros in margin calls, Equinor says"


By Marwa Rashad

September 6, 2022

Summary

* Margin calls in Europe exceed 1.5 trillion euros - Equinor exec

* Seen squeezing market liquidity - Equinor's Haugane

* Demand reduction only feasible fix to crisis -Haugane


LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - European energy companies need at least 1.5 trillion euros ($1.5 trillion) to cover the cost of their exposure to soaring gas prices, Norwegian energy group Equinor has estimated, and that does not include firms in Britain.

Several European countries are providing billions of euros in support to power suppliers caught out by extra collateral payments on their trades - known as margin calls - but Equinor's estimate suggests such support is a fraction of the overall bill.

Utilities often sell power in advance to secure a certain price, but must maintain a "minimum margin" deposit in case of default before they supply the power.

This has raced higher with soaring energy prices triggered mainly by Russia slashing gas supplies to Europe, leaving firms struggling to find cash.

Helge Haugane, Equinor's senior vice president for gas and power, told Reuters that in Europe excluding Britain, the total of such margin calls was probably more than 1.5 trillion euros, squeezing market liquidity and leaving a number of small- and medium-sized firms struggling.

"It is a function of the price, it keeps going up and up," Haugane said, adding this also needed government intervention.

"The market can function a lot better than what it is doing right now further out in the curve because people don't have enough liquidity to play," he said on the sidelines of an international gas conference in Milan.

Gas prices, which have soared to five times their level a year ago in the wake of Russia's Feb. 24 of Ukraine, jumped further on Monday after Moscow shut the major Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline indefinitely.

PRICE CAP

Haugane said he believed that wide-scale demand reduction would be the only feasible short-term solution to Europe's power crisis if Russia cuts off all gas supply.

He also said that a European Union proposal to impose a price cap on imported gas and gas used to produce electricity would not solve the continent's underlying problem.

"In case the Russian volumes halt completely, the demand reduction needs to be even larger than what we so far have experienced, and no price cap or anything like that can solve the underlying problem," Haugane said at the Gastech conference.

EU ministers will discuss in a meeting on Friday a number of options including a price cap on imported gas, a price cap on gas used to produce electricity, or temporarily removing gas power plants from the current EU system of setting electricity prices.

Advocates of the price cap say that it would prevent some derivatives transactions to avoid margin calls but Haugane was sceptical.

Demand reduction "is very hard political work for those who can do something about that....but there is no other fix in the short term".

The EU in July asked its 27 member states to reduce gas demand voluntarily by 15% this winter, with mandatory cuts possible in case needed.

However, governments have been slow to reduce consumption.

Reporting by Marwa Rashad; Additional reporting by Francesca Landini; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-09-06/
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FORTUNE

"Europe’s household electrical bills could surge by $2 trillion by next year amid a worsening energy crisis, Goldman Sachs warns"


Tristan Bove

6 SEPTEMBER 2022

European households should brace for an expensive winter due to the continent’s deepening energy crisis that will likely send electricity and heating bills soaring.

Energy affordability in Europe is reaching a “tipping point” that could peak next year, with total spending on bills across the continent growing by 2 trillion euros ($2 trillion), a Goldman Sachs research team, led by Alberto Gandolfi and Mafalda Pombeiro, said in a note published Sunday.

Many European households are already feeling the bite of a steadily worsening energy crisis, brought on by Russian natural gas producers intermittently pausing flows along the critical Nord Stream pipeline following Western sanctions this year.

Energy bills at some restaurants and coffee shops have already more than tripled this year, but with threats looming that natural gas supply from Russia could become even tighter as the Ukraine War rages on, analysts warn that Europe’s coming struggles are set to rival some of the worst energy crises on record.


“The market continues to underestimate the depth, the breadth and the structural repercussions of the crisis,” the Goldman Sachs analysts wrote.

“We believe these will be even deeper than the 1970s oil crisis.”

Cold winter ahead

In 2023, the typical European household may spend as much as 500 euros monthly on energy bills, according to Goldman Sachs.

This would represent a more than three-fold increase over 2021 costs, when average energy bills came in at 160 euros.

This scenario accounts for the likelihood that Russian gas flows to Europe will decrease, but not be shut off permanently.

Should Russian flows to Europe zero out completely, however, monthly energy bills could reach as high as 600 euros.

The Nord Stream pipeline linking Russia to Europe has been shut down since last week.

Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom has cited technical issues as the reason behind the shutdown, although the European Union has retorted by saying the company is acting under “fallacious pretenses.”

European officials have openly described this summer’s gas cutoffs as “politically motivated.”

On Monday, the Kremlin issued the clearest sign yet that Europe will likely continue having to deal with limited gas supplies from Russia for the foreseeable future, when a government spokesperson said the full resumption of operations along the Nord Stream pipeline was “undoubtedly” dependent on the West lifting its sanctions on Russia.

To prepare for what will possibly be a very cold winter in the absence of Russian gas, European countries have focused on filling their gas reserves, cutting back on energy use where possible, and are even considering implementing a gas price cap.

‘Significant policy intervention’

Government action to avoid the worst consequences of an energy crisis might well be necessary, according to the Goldman Sachs analysts, who wrote that “significant policy intervention” will likely be required by next year.

The European Commission is encouraging member states to implement an “emergency wholesale price cap” for gas, the Financial Times reported on Monday, aimed at decoupling electricity prices from soaring gas prices.

The price cap measures reportedly being considered would take a two-fold approach.

First, they would place a limit on how much utilities from across Europe can pay for gas coming from Russia.

The second measure would implement price caps for individual countries that would depend on how much each European nation relies on natural gas.

EU ministers will meet to discuss these measures later this week.

In their note, Goldman Sachs analysts approved price caps as a “very positive development” to help reduce energy stresses in Europe next year, but noted that even with price caps, the crisis would still be severe.

Goldman Sachs analysts estimated that price caps would save European households around 650 billion euros annually in energy bills, but given the meteoric rise in prices, families will likely still be saddled with extreme bills.

“Price caps would not fully solve the affordability issue: the increase in energy bills would still be over 1.3 trillion, or around 10% of GDP,” analysts wrote.

Goldman recommended further government actions — including a possible “tariff deficit” that would spread the costs of higher energy bills over the next 10 to 20 years, and more investments in renewable energy sources — to avoid the worst consequences of an energy crisis.

The analysts estimated that higher investment in renewable or low-carbon energy sources— including hydropower, solar, wind, and even nuclear power — could lead to a 75% drop in energy bill prices compared to current levels, as well as keep future energy costs more stable.

But while the Goldman analysts cited expanding renewable energy investments as key to Europe achieving energy security, they also noted that the process would not happen overnight, because of the time needed to gain permits and to build infrastructure.

“We believe the step up in [renewable] investments will be gradual, and that growth will continue accelerating until the end of the decade,” the analysts wrote, estimating that the EU would need to invest over 1 trillion euros by 2030 to meet its current renewable energy targets.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... a748edee78
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REUTERS

"EU plans to cap Russian gas price as Putin warns West of winter freeze"


Reuters

September 7, 2022

Summary

* EU to propose cap on price of Russian gas

* Putin threatens to cut off all energy supplies

* Bill rising to support businesses, households


BRUSSELS/VLADIVOSTOK Russia, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The European Union proposed a price cap on Russian gas on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut off all energy supplies if it took such a step, raising the risk of rationing in some of the world's richest countries this winter.

The escalating standoff could drive up sky-high European gas prices further, adding to already eyewatering bills EU governments are paying to stop their energy providers collapsing and prevent cash-strapped customers freezing in the cold months ahead.

Europe has accused Russia of weaponising energy supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia blames those sanctions for causing the gas supply problems, which it puts down to pipeline faults.

As tensions rose, Putin said contracts could be ripped up in the event of price caps and warned the West it risked being frozen like a wolf's tail in a famous Russian fairy tale.

The EU however plans to press ahead with a price cap on Russian gas and also a ceiling on the price paid for electricity from generators that do not run on gas.

EU energy ministers are due to hold an emergency meeting on Friday.

"We will propose a price cap on Russian gas..."

"We must cut Russia's revenues which Putin uses to finance this atrocious war in Ukraine," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters.

The Netherlands, which has consistently opposed a gas price cap, would support one that targets Russian gas, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

However, a Czech minister said earlier it should be taken off the agenda for Friday's meeting.

The Czechs are helping to guide discussions as holders of the EU's rotating presidency.

NO SUPPLIES

Putin had anticipated the move and said Russia would hit back.

"We will not supply anything at all if it contradicts our interests," Putin said at an economic forum in Vladivostok.

"We will not supply gas, oil, coal, heating oil - we will not supply anything," Putin said.

He also questioned a United Nations-brokered deal to export grain from Ukraine.

Europe usually imports about 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia.

Eurelectric, a body representing the European electricity industry, also criticised plans for an EU cap of 200 euros per megawatt hour on the price of electricity from generators that do not run on gas.

"The root cause of the problem is a shortage of gas supply and our addiction to imported fossil fuels."

"Governments should seek to tackle this rather than resorting to distortive, ad-hoc interventions in the electricity market," said Kristian Ruby, Secretary General of Eurelectric.

However, European utilities stocks rallied on the news with analysts viewing the level of the cap as a better than expected outcome for the industry.

The energy crisis facing Europe has grown more acute after Russia's Gazprom fully suspended gas supplied through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany after it said it found an engine oil leak during maintenance work last week.

The Russian president said Germany and Western sanctions affecting the supply of parts were to blame for the pipeline not being operational.

The impact of the surge in prices is forcing companies to curtail production and governments to spend billions on support to cushion consumers from the impact.

New British Prime Minister Liz Truss is expected to unveil her plans on Thursday, with the bill from a price freeze forecast to rise towards 100 billion pounds.

Reporting by Reuters Writing by Keith Weir, Editing by William Maclean and Carmel Crimmins

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 022-09-07/
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REUTERS

"Factbox: Euro zone bill for cost of living crisis nears 300 bln euros"


Reuters

September 7, 2022

PARIS, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The amount of money euro zone governments are committing to help consumers and businesses cope with the energy and cost-of-living crisis is quickly approaching 300 billion euros.

According data compiled by Reuters and think tank Bruegel, the bloc's governments have already committed 282 billion euros - 2.3% of their combined gross domestic product - to relief measures and several have plans for billions more in the pipeline.

The following is a breakdown of the fiscal packages in the bloc.

GERMANY

The government presented on Sept. 4 a third package worth 65 billion euros, bringing its total to 95 billion since February.

It includes benefit hikes and a public transport subsidy and is to be financed with a tax on power companies and by bringing forward Germany's implementation of the planned 15% global minimum corporate tax.

FRANCE

The finance ministry estimates measures taken since last year will cost 67 billion euros, including 24 billion euros to cover gas and electricity price caps and subsidised rebates on vehicle fuel.

Extra spending this year has been covered by better-than-expected tax income, which has allowed to the government to stick with its target for a budget deficit of 5% of GDP.

ITALY

The Italian government has so far committed 52 billion euros and flagged plans for a new multi-billion euro package which one source told Reuters could be worth at least 10 billion euros.

Outgoing government has financed his packages with increased revenue from value added tax on higher energy costs and by adjusting other areas of the state budget.

The government has refused to hike this year's fiscal deficit above an April target of 5.6% of GDP.

SPAIN

The Spanish government says it has mobilised over 30 billion euros.

That includes a first package worth 16 billion euros in March made up of direct aid and subsidised loans and a second 9 billion euro package in June targetting people in low incomes with pension increases as well as subsidies for rail and bus transport.

To limit the impact on the budget deficit, Madrid aims to partially offset the cost with a temporary tax on banks and large energy companies.

NETHERLANDS

The government has offered general tax breaks and targeted support for low-income households at a cost of over 6 billion euros.

It is preparing a further 16 billion euros in measures for next year, including a 10% increase in the minimum wage and higher income-related subsidies for health care and rent, which will mostly be paid for by hiking wealth and corporate taxes and a special levy for oil and gas companies.

GREECE

The government says it expects spending more than 10 billion euros to help households, which it hopes can be offset with record tourism revenues in order to maintain its fiscal target for a primary deficit of 2% of GDP.

AUSTRIA

The government announced a 6 billion euro package in June, which includes increased benefits to vulnerable groups and subsidies for energy-intensive companies.

The measures are due to push the budget deficit to 4% of GDP.

Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Additional reporting by Reuters bureaux, Belen Carreno in Madrid and Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; editing by Mark John and Angus MacSwan

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 022-09-07/
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BUSINESS INSIDER

"Germany's neighbors are avoiding committing to a gas-sharing deal as Europe's energy crisis deepens"


Jennifer Sor

9 SEPTEMBER 2022

Four of Germany's neighbors have yet to sign agreements to share natural gas supplies.

It's a blow to energy-strapped Germany, which could tip into a recession due to energy shortages.


German baseload year-ahead power is now three times more expensive than what households were paying in January.

Energy-strapped Germany is struggling to persuade neighboring countries to sign off on a gas-sharing agreement as Europe heads toward the winter months scrambling to fill its store of energy supplies.

Denmark and Austria are the only EU countries to jump on board, with Belgium, Poland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands refusing to sign agreements to share their natural gas supplies ahead of winter to prevent supply interruptions, according to Germany's economy minister Robert Habeck in a report shared with Bloomberg.

Habeck said the four countries have avoided "constructive negotiations" about the agreement, largely because they do not want to compensate their suppliers for redirecting natural gas to Germany.

Germany is also in negotiations with Italy and the Czech Republic, but Italy is postponing talks until after September elections, and the Czech Republic has said they would only agree to share supplies if there was a cap on the compensation its government would have to provide gas suppliers.

"There is currently no progress to be expected from negotiations about bilateral solidarity agreements," Habeck added.

Fatih Birol, the leader of the International Energy Agency, previously emphasized that the 27-country bloc would need to come together and coordinate in order to get past the energy crisis safely, especially if Russia completely cuts off Europe from its gas supplies.

Although Germany reached its 80% gas storage goal nearly two months ahead of schedule, it's still suffering from soaring energy prices, which have the potential to inflict serious pain on households and plunge the German economy into a recession.

With few alternatives, the country is turning to coal and nuclear power, but even those have yet to provide households with relief from sky-high energy bills.


Shortly after Russia indefinitely halted flows on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, German baseload year-ahead power, the European benchmark, jumped 23% to 625 euros per megawatt hour, more than three times what households were paying for electricity in January and 12 times what they were paying in January 2021.

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REUTERS

"Ukraine's western government creditors agree debt service freeze"


Reuters

September 14, 2022

PARIS, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Ukraine's western government creditors concluded on Wednesday a memorandum of understanding on a planned debt service suspension, the group said.

The group, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States, said in July that they would provide a coordinated suspension of Kyiv's debt servicing to the end of 2023 and potentially for an additional year.


"This MoU eases Ukraine's liquidity pressures and allows its government to increase social, health and economic spending in response to Russia's unjustified, unprovoked and illegal war of aggression," the group said in a statement issued by France's finance ministry.

The group called on other official bilateral creditors to also quickly reach a debt service suspension deal with Ukraine.

With a monthly fiscal shortfall of $5 billion, Ukraine is heavily reliant on foreign financing from Western allies and multilateral lenders including International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

"As with our budget support to Ukraine totaling $8.5 billion, the debt service deferral is one more way in which the United States stands with Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s brutal war,” U.S. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen said in a separate statement.


The Western creditors group said it welcomed reforms Ukraine is implementing to address the consequences of the war and it also welcomed an agreement by bond and warrant holders to defer debt payments for two years.

Ukraine's overseas private creditors backed in August its request for a two-year freeze on payments on almost $20 billion in international bonds, a move that will allow the war-ravaged country to avoid a messy debt default.

Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Tomasz Janowski

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 022-09-14/
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REUTERS

"Putin tells Europe: if you want gas then open Nord Stream 2"


Reuters

September 16, 2022

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, Sept 16 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Friday denied Russia had anything to do with Europe's energy crisis, saying that if the European Union wanted more gas it should lift sanctions preventing the opening of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Speaking to reporters after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan, Putin blamed what he called "the green agenda" for the energy crisis, and insisted that Russia would fulfil its energy obligations.

"The bottom line is, if you have an urge, if it's so hard for you, just lift the sanctions on Nord Stream 2, which is 55 billion cubic metres of gas per year, just push the button and everything will get going," Putin said.

Nord Stream 2, which lays on the bed of the Baltic Sea almost in parallel to Nord Stream 1, was built a year ago, but Germany decided not to proceed with it just days before Russia sent its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

European gas prices more than doubled from the start of the year amid a decline in Russian supplies.

This year's price surge has squeezed struggling already consumers and forced some industries to halt production.


Europe has accused Russia of weaponising energy supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia says the West has launched an economic war and sanctions have hampered Nord Stream 1 pipeline operations.

Russia has cut off gas supplies to several countries, including Bulgaria and Poland, because they refused to pay in roubles rather than the currency of the contract.

Russian gas giant Gazprom also said earlier this month the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Europe's major supply route, would remain shut as a turbine at a compressor station had an engine oil leak, sending wholesale gas prices soaring.

Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey/Guy Faulconbridge

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-09-16/
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REUTERS

"Germany takes control of Russian-owned refinery amid energy crisis"


By Markus Wacket and Paul Carrel

September 16, 2022

Summary

* German energy industry reeling since war in Ukraine

* German regulator now has control of Schwedt refinery

* Schwedt refinery is a main fuel source for Berlin

* PKN interested in controlling stake in refinery - sources


BERLIN, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Germany took control of a major Russian-owned oil refinery on Friday, risking retaliation from Moscow as Berlin strives to shore up energy supplies and meet its European Union commitment to eliminate Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

The economy ministry said it was putting a unit of Russian oil firm Rosneft under the trusteeship of the industry regulator and taking over the business' Schwedt refinery, which supplies 90% of Berlin's fuel.

"This is a far-reaching energy policy decision to protect our country," Chancellor Olaf Scholz told a news conference to present the government's plans to put the Schwedt refinery under the control of the Federal Network Agency regulator.

The plans included a "package for the future" with more than 1 billion euros ($996.10 million) in federal and state government investments over several years in eastern German states, with 825 million euros earmarked for Schwedt alone.

"Russia, we have known for some time, is no longer a reliable energy supplier," Scholz said.

"We did not take this decision lightly, but it was unavoidable."

Governments across Europe have been racing to prop up their power providers and secure fuel deliveries as they ratchet up sanctions on major supplier Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow has retaliated by reducing gas flows and has threatened to shut off all the taps, sending prices soaring and raising the prospect of energy rationing in Europe this winter.

The Schwedt refinery has posed a dilemma for Berlin for several weeks, as it has received all of its crude from Russia, but Germany is resolved to eliminate imports of oil from Russia by the end of the year under European Union sanctions.

Taking over Schwedt, however, risks retaliatory measures from Moscow.

Scholz said Germany had gamed out a possible sudden stop in crude supplies from Russia, adding: "That is why we are prepared."


A policy document released by Berlin on Friday showed that it is in talks with the government of Kazakhstan on securing oil deliveries for Schwedt.

Poland said earlier this year that ending Russian ownership of the refinery was a condition for potentially supplying it with seaborne oil via a terminal in Gdansk and via Polish pipelines to replace Russian crude.

TRUSTEESHIP, FOR NOW

Under Friday's deal, Rosneft Deutschland, which was majority owned by the Russian oil group and accounts for about 12% of German oil processing capacity, is being placed under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency.

The regulator said the original owner no longer had authority to issue instructions.

Rosneft Deutschland and Rosneft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Polish refiner PKN Orlen is interested in taking a controlling stake in the Schwedt refinery, which is Germany's fourth-largest and also supplies parts of western Poland, sources in Berlin and Warsaw familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Asked about the Polish interest, Scholz replied: "At the moment, we're doing a trusteeship."

Shell, which owns a 37.5% stake in Schwedt, has wanted to sell that for some time.

Shell said on Friday it was "unaffected" by the German move to take control of the refinery.

Germany's move on Rosneft Deutschland is its latest attempt to stabilise the energy market.

The government said this week it would step up lending to companies at risk of being crushed by soaring gas prices, and power utility Uniper said the state could take a controlling stake, adding a government rescue package worth 19 billion euros ($19 billion) was no longer enough.

The government has also put SEFE, formerly known as Gazprom Germania, under trusteeship after Russian energy giant Gazprom ditched it in April.

Berlin is grappling with Russia's move to halt flows of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which had been the biggest gas supply route powering Europe's biggest economy.

As a result of Friday's decision, the Federal Network Agency will also take Rosneft Deutschland's shares in the MiRo refinery in Karlsruhe and Bayernoil refinery in Vohburg.

Reporting by Markus Wacket, Rachel More and Miranda Murray in Berlin, Paul Carrel in Geneva and Shadia Nasralla in London; Editing by Edmund Blair, Mark Potter and Louise Heavens

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-09-16/
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