UK prepares to ‘temporarily’ nationalize Gazprom retail unit – report

The UK is preparing to temporarily nationalize Gazprom’s British retail supply arm, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The measure is taken to ensure distressed companies continue energy supplies to customers amid losses due to higher energy costs.

Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd is a prime candidate to be taken into the UK’s special administration regime, Bloomberg has cited a person familiar with the matter, adding that no one at the Gazprom unit was available to comment.

The unit – trading as Gazprom Energy - has over 30,000 business customers and supplies energy to businesses and public institutions, including parts of the UK’s National Health Service.

A special administration regime as a resolution mechanism for distressed energy supply companies intended to ensure the continuity of supply in the event of a failure of a supplier.

On March 8, the UK announced that it was planning to phase out Russian oil and gas imports by the end of the year.

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