The UK government is preparing to step in and temporarily run Russian gas giant Gazprom’s British retail supply arm, as companies cut ties with Russian businesses.
Officials are closely monitoring the situation at Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd, whose main operating entity is Russian state-run Gazprom.
The unit, operating as Gazprom Energy, supplies over a fifth of Britain’s commercial gas volume and serves thousands of customers including the National Health Service.
The Gazprom signboard at St Petersburg, Russia. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The company is a prime candidate to be taken into the UK ‘s special administration regime if it fails, to ensure continuity of supply. A government spokesperson said: “We are aware that Gazprom Energy has a large 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 with regards to energy supply contracts they have in place at the moment.”
The government added that Britain was in no way dependent on Russian gas, which made up less than 4% of its supply.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Gazprom Energy has been trying to find a buyer to stave off collapse as many big clients seek to exit multi-million-pound contracts in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
More about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and what it means for Energy in Europe here.
