The German cabinet has agreed to introduce a levy on gas consumers from October 2022 to April 2024 to help suppliers hit by soaring gas import prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine given their critical roles for the country's energy supply. The levy, which will be accompanied by targeted relief, could be set at a level between €1.5c/kWh and €5c/kWh. Gas importers will be able to access the levy proceed by applying for compensation to the country’s market area manager Trading Hub Europe, which should set the exact tax rate by mid-2022. Companies are entitled to claim 90% of the actual additional procurement costs, and only for existing contracts.
In July 2022, the country agreed to provide a €15bn bailout to Uniper to prevent the company to collapse. The German government will take a 30% stake in the power utility, reducing the ownership of its parent company Fortum from 80% to 56%. Under the agreement, the country will buy 157 million new ordinary Uniper shares for €267m and make available capital of up to €7.7bn via a mandatory convertible instrument. In addition, the state-owned investment and development bank KfW will increase an existing credit line by €7bn to €9bn in total.