Uniper Seeks Buyers for 18.26 Percent Stake in Baltic Gas Distributor

Uniper SE has launched bidding for its 18.26 percent interest in AS Latvijas Gaze, which is involved in natural gas trading and sales to Baltic consumers primarily in Latvia.

The sale is “in accordance with the European Commission’s state aid approval decision of 20 December 2022”, the German gas and power utility said in a statement. The state aid approval concerned Uniper’s bailout agreement with the German government.

Latvijas Gaze sells gas in Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. In Latvia’s household sector, it is the biggest gas supplier, Latvijas Gaze says on its website.

Latvijas Gaze had a revenue of EUR 159.8 million ($167.8 million) last year, Uniper noted.

Besides Uniper, Latvijas Gaze’s largest shareholders are AS Rietumu Banka with a 28.97 percent stake, Energy Investments LLC with 27.85 percent, SIA Itera Latvija with 16 percent and UAB Haupas with 6.15 percent.

Bidders have until January 6 to submit expressions of interest.

In late 2022 the federal government took over about 99 percent of Uniper’s shareholding and agreed to a capital injection of EUR 25 billion. The state’s takeover from ex-majority owner Fortum Oyj served to prevent Uniper from collapsing from war-induced losses including from the purchase of substitute gas after Russia’s Gazprom PJSC failed to deliver contracted supply from mid-2022, according to online information from Uniper.

For the bailout to satisfy European Union state aid rules, Uniper agreed to several divestments that must be completed by 2026. Besides Latvijas Gaze, the assets to be divested comprised an 84 percent stake in Unipro in Russia, a 20 percent stake in the OPAL pipeline, a 20 percent indirect stake in the BBL pipeline, a hard coal-fired power plant in Germany, a gas-fired power plant in Hungary, Uniper’s German district heating business, part of its power operations in North America, its Middle Eastern marine fuels unit Uniper Energy DMCC and its international helium business, Uniper says on its website.

The German government must also cut its stake to a maximum of 25 percent plus one share by 2028 at the latest.

Last month Uniper said it had paid Germany EUR 530 million using proceeds from realized claims for damages it had won against Gazprom via arbitration. The arbitration concerned the Russian state-owned company’s alleged failures to deliver contracted gas.

“At the end of last year Uniper already recorded a provision of about €2.2 billion for an anticipated payment obligation to the Federal Republic of Germany in conjunction with aid granted in 2022”, Uniper said in a statement November 5, 2024. “The company reviewed the amount of the provision at September 30, 2024, and on this basis assessed it at just under €2.5 billion.

“It will calculate the precise amount of the payment obligation on the basis of its 2024 financial figures. The funds will likely be transferred to the Federal Republic of Germany at the beginning of 2025.

“Both payments should be regarded as repayments to German taxpayers. The federal government stabilized Uniper’s finances during the gas crisis following Russia’s attack on Ukraine”.

Gazprom Export has yet to respond to a request for comment emailed by Rigzone about Uniper's claims on undelivered gas and its enforcement of damages won via arbitration.

To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com