Fortum should not invest more in Uniper, Finnish minister says

The Finnish government does not want Fortum to invest more equity into ailing German gas importer Uniper, the Finnish state ownership steering minister said on Tuesday. "We want to make sure ...

The Finnish government does not want Fortum to invest more equity into ailing German gas importer Uniper, the Finnish state ownership steering minister said on Tuesday.

"We want to make sure ... that this arrangement will not cause any extra or unnecessary costs to the Finnish taxpayers," Tytti Tuppurainen told reporters. Highlighting the fact that time is running out, she added that the timeline for negotiations is now measured in days instead of weeks.

Helsinki is negotiating with Berlin about a rescue plan for Uniper, which has been hit by curtailed Russian gas exports. The Finnish government owns 51% of Fortum which in turn is the majority owner of Uniper with a 78%-stake.

Fortum in January provided Uniper with an 8-million-euro credit facility and has now proposed separating operations that are critical to Germany's energy supply and transferring them to German government ownership.