01/04/2022 21:02 (act 01/04/2022 21:10)
Gazprom has large gas storage facilities in Germany and Austria. ©APA/dpa central image
Russian state-owned Gazprom surprisingly separates from its German subsidiary Gazprom Germania. The company has large gas storage facilities in Germany and Austria. The National Energy Ministry does not expect “that this step will have an immediate impact on gas supply”. “Gazprom’s announcement is known only to the media” and is examining “this development together with our partners E-Control and AGGM,” the APA said.
The ministry referred to other very large gas storage facilities in Austria, such as those owned by partially state-owned OMV. Gazprom Germania did not provide further information about the planned withdrawal on Friday. No comments were immediately available from the company. The Russian parent company was previously the sole owner. Gazprom Germania’s holdings also include subsidiaries in Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Gazprom Germania’s business areas are the trading, transport and storage of natural gas. Initially, it was unclear whether the announcement would have consequences for Russian natural gas deliveries to Germany and Austria.
The company Gazprom Germania, founded in 1990, has gas storage facilities in Germany and Austria with a total capacity of six billion cubic meters through its subsidiary Astora. In Germany, this includes the storage facilities in Rehden, Germany, and in Austria, in the town of Haidach in Salzburg. The Haidach natural gas storage facility is a joint project of the Austrian RAG with Russian export Gazprom and the German subsidiary of Gazprom Wingas. Like many other companies, RAG was surprised by plans to withdraw from Gazprom’s German subsidiary. “We are evaluating the situation. There is currently no official information available and therefore we cannot comment on this,” RAG told the APA.
According to data from the European industrial association GIE (Gas Infrastructure Europe), the gas storage facility of the subsidiary of Gazprom GSA in Haidach is practically empty with a level of 0.05%, the other storage facility of Haidach of the subsidiary of Gazprom Astora is 12.5% full.
One can only speculate about the strategy behind the sale of Gazprom Germania, said gas market expert Fabian Huneke of the German Press Agency’s Energy Brainpool consultancy. “The physical assets (gas storage, pipelines) that will be lost with the sale of Gazprom Germania from a Russian point of view could be the pawn sacrifice to renegotiate the gas supply contracts.” Because Gazprom Germania holds the majority of import contracts through its two subsidiaries Wingas and WIEH. Existing import contracts currently bind Gazprom Export to currency, price and quantity. “This contractual obligation can now be lifted, for example, through the insolvency vehicle of Gazprom Germania and its subsidiaries involved in the gas trade,” said the expert.