Gazprom executives from the British trading arm of the Russian state-backed energy company are considering a management buyout as the UK government prepares to temporarily run the UK unit.
Senior managers at Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail, which supplies commercial customers including hospitals and local authorities across the UK, are looking to acquire the division, according to Sky News.
The move comes as the business is just days away from needing a government bailout from the UK’s specialist administration regime to ensure continuity of supply.
Gazprom’s British retail supply arm has come under increasing pressure from companies turning their backs on Russian business over the war in Ukraine.
While the company has more than 30,000 business customers, with concerns over their future supply needs, the UK subsidiary trades as Gazprom Energy and supplied over a fifth of UK business gas in 2020.
It has more than 300 staff across the UK, France and the Netherlands and supplies commercial and public bodies, including parts of the National Health Service.
The parent company's chief executive, Alexei Miller, reportedly a close associate of Russian president Vladimir Putin, has been placed under sanctions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Teneo is being lined up to oversee the running of the company in case it goes into special administration, according to sources, with the appointment of any administrator requiring regulatory and legal approval.
The preparations by the UK government are the latest sign of how the Russian-controlled firm is being squeezed as a result of the invasion. Other energy giants are also turning their backs on Gazprom’s wholesale trading unit, with only a few of Europe’s large companies still doing business with it in the over-the-counter market.
“We are in constant contact with our regulator Ofgem and no decision has been taken to appoint a special administrator or supplier of last resort that we know about,” the retail unit said in an emailed statement late on Monday. It added that it was “entirely normal” for Ofgem to “consider all possible scenarios and formulate plans to respond to whatever events unfold”.
The annual volume of energy supplied by the UK retail arm is about double that of Bulb Energy, the household supplier that is already being run by Teneo. The cost to the taxpayer of that rescue is already swelling as gas and power prices continue to surge.
Partly because of its size, Gazprom Energy is more likely to go straight into special administration than through Ofgem’s Supplier of Last Resort process that has been used to reallocate the customers of more than two dozen household suppliers since August.
So far only Bulb has been taken into SAR, where administrators run the firm with government money in order to prevent a shock to the wider market.
Gazprom Energy customers are not protected by Ofgem’s price cap, which limits the cost of energy for households only. If their contracts are cut short, many would face having to sign deals at much more expensive rates than they are currently paying.
LAST-16 EUROPA LEAGUE FIXTURES
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Karnatake Tuskers 114-1 (10 ovs)
Charles 57, Amla 47
Bangla Tigers 117-5 (8.5 ovs)
Fletcher 40, Moores 28 no, Lamichhane 2-9
Bangla Tiger win by five wickets
It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.
The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.
In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.
The show has long allowed car enthusiasts to sit behind the wheel of the latest models at the start of the calendar year but a more fluid car market in an online world has made sales less seasonal.
Similarly, everyday technology seems to be catching up on those whose job it is to get behind microphones and try and tempt the visiting public into making a purchase.
Although sparkly announcers clasp iPads and outline the technical gadgetry hidden beneath bonnets, people's obsession with their own smartphones often appeared to offer a more tempting distraction.
“It's maddening,” said one such worker at Nissan's stand.
The absence of some pizzazz, as well as top marques, was also noted by patrons.
“It looks like there are a few less cars this year,” one annual attendee said of this year's exhibitors.
“I can't help but think it's easier to stay at home than to brave the snow and come here.”
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Director: Michael Bay
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco
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Results
2-15pm: Commercial Bank Of Dubai – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Al Habash, Patrick Cosgrave (jockey), Bhupat Seemar (trainer)
2.45pm: Al Shafar Investment – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Day Approach, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash
3.15pm: Dubai Real estate Centre – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Celtic Prince, Richard Mullen, Rashed Bouresly
3.45pm: Jebel Ali Sprint by ARM Holding – Listed (TB) Dh500,000 (D) 1,000m; Winner: Khuzaam, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Shadwell – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Tenbury Wells, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Jebel Ali Stakes by ARM Holding – Listed (TB) Dh500,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Lost Eden, Andrea Atzeni, Doug Watson
5.15pm: Jebel Ali Racecourse – Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Rougher, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
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