Since June, the Russian company Gazprom has continued to cut gas supplies to Western Europe. As a reason, he now gives force majeure – probably to forestall lawsuits. But the German utility Uniper does not want to accept that.
The Russian gas giant Gazprom is asserting force majeure (“force majeure”) for the significantly reduced gas deliveries to the largest German gas importer Uniper. Uniper has received a letter from Gazprom Export “in which the company is retrospectively asserting force majeure for the previous and current shortages in gas deliveries,” the Düsseldorf-based group said. Gazprom Export is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company.
According to the letter dated July 14, Gazprom cannot meet its contractual delivery obligations due to extraordinary circumstances. Uniper does not consider this to be justified and has formally rejected Gazprom’s claim, the company said. In industry circles it was said that the letter concerned deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which are crucial for the Federal Republic.
Uniper has slipped into a dangerous situation due to a lack of deliveries from Russia, and money could soon run out. The group has already drawn on a multi-billion dollar loan from the state-owned development bank KfW and now wants a higher credit line.
The German Gazprom customer Uniper is forced to take “emergency measures” due to the lack of deliveries, said CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach. “Uniper is currently paying the price for the supply failures in the German gas supply due to reduced deliveries from Russia,” he complained. “We will only be able to prevent a chain reaction in the gas supply chain in the future if the supply cuts from Russia are ended or if the federal government jumps in to help.” The supplier’s gas customers also include numerous municipal utilities.
“Force Majeure” is understood to be an external, unforeseeable event which is beyond the control of the contracting parties. This can include, for example, war, natural disasters or pandemics, which mean that a service can only be performed inadequately or not at all.
Companies can try to protect themselves from legal actions by customers for their liability from supply contracts by referring to force majeure. The letter, meanwhile, raises concerns about a complete lack of Russian gas supplies in Europe and could further fuel tensions with the West after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which is important for Germany, is expected to be maintained until July 21, so that no more gas will flow through the pipes under the Baltic Sea. But even before that, on June 14, the Russian state-owned company Gazprom had reduced deliveries to 40 percent and justified this with the maintenance of a turbine in Canada – but according to a Russian newspaper report, this is on its way to Europe again.
The federal government considers this argument to be false and fears that no more gas will flow through Nord Stream 1 even after the maintenance. In mid-June, Gazprom also cut gas supplies to other Western European countries, including Austria and Italy, for the first time. Further reductions followed later.
