Uniper belongs to the state - and Habeck is ready for the next rescue operation

At 7.50 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Robert Habeck's (Greens) Ministry of Economic Affairs officially announced what had been apparent for days: Germany was nationalizing the gas importer Uniper. 99 percent of the company will soon belong to the federal government.

That will cost around 16 billion euros – for the time being. But how expensive nationalization will ultimately be for taxpayers and gas customers in Germany, whether the gas levy will come despite the Uniper takeover and which companies may still be nationalized remains unclear on Wednesday morning.

An exciting sentence towards the end of Habeck's press conference suggests that Uniper could only be the beginning. The minister emphasizes that his guarantees do not only apply to the new state-owned company. "The state will do everything necessary to keep the company in the market," he says when asked whether the other two major gas importers VNG and SEFE - formerly Gazprom Germania - are also facing nationalization. The guarantee applies to all systemically important companies.

The rescue operations on the energy market could still be correspondingly expensive. In coalition circles, there is talk of 60 to 100 billion euros. The federal government actually wanted to finance part of the costs with the gas levy, but Habeck himself is now clearly moving away from the levy.

The amended regulation, which creates the basis, is now to be presented. "We've done our homework," claims the minister. The gas surcharge is only "a bridge," says Habeck, whose own ministry was responsible for developing the regulation.

Meanwhile, there are "financial constitutional" concerns. This question is being investigated intensively – in the responsible ministries. Habeck is trying to put the ball in the field of Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), who is said to be responsible for such an examination.

The question that now arises is whether it is even legally possible to save a state-owned company with a surcharge. After all, Uniper now belongs to virtually all taxpayers – but only gas customers are supposed to finance the losses from October.

Nevertheless, the levy should be introduced in any case. "The gas levy will come," Habeck says. This is mainly due to the fact that the implementation of the nationalization that has now been announced will take a long time. It will take at least three months before Uniper actually belongs to the federal government.

The allocation should therefore take effect between the beginning of October and the end of the year and thus cover the losses that are accruing. "To say now: 'No gas surcharge' is not an answer," says Habeck. "We didn't introduce them as a joke."

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