The government could temporarily take control of Gazprom’s British gas supply arm if it collapses as customers dump the company for its ties to the Kremlin.
Ministers are expected to assess all options, should Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail fail.
The London-based Gazprom subsidiary supplies power to a number of hospital trusts, councils and academies, as well as businesses across the country.
It supplies more than a fifth of the energy used by commercial and public sector customers in the UK.
Gazprom Marketing and Trading does not sell to UK households and buys energy on wholesale markets rather than importing gas directly from Russia.
British customers are under increasing pressure to end their ties with Gazprom, which is a key source of funding for the Kremlin.
Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, has urged NHS trusts to stop buying from Britain’s Gazprom subsidiary, after it emerged public sector organizations had more than £100m worth of contracts with the company between 2016 and 2021.
The parent company of the subsidiary was sanctioned by the government.
Among the options being considered is a special administration, Bloomberg reported. The process would result in Gazprom’s UK operations being temporarily managed by a third party on behalf of the UK government.
The special administrator would then find the least detrimental means of liquidating the company or reselling it.
Bulb was the first supplier to be placed in special administration last year, with £1.7billion of government funding set aside to cover the costs.
A UK government spokesman said: ‘Our very diverse sources of gas supply and a diverse electricity mix ensure that households, businesses and heavy industry get the energy they need.’
“We are aware that Gazprom Energy has a strong presence in the non-domestic energy retail market.
“Gazprom’s retail business continues to trade in the UK and customers should exercise their own commercial judgment in relation to the energy supply contracts they currently have in place.”
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Source: www.independent.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-22 14:41:37
