The German government said on Tuesday it had decided to extend the external management of Gazprom Germania GmbH, and provide the company with a loan to avoid bankruptcy.
Gazprom stopped owning Gazprom Germania at the end of March after media reports about searches that took place there. And already on April 4, the German authorities took Gazprom Germania under temporary management, deeming the acquisition of the company without their permission by new investors invalid. In May, the company found itself on the list of retaliatory sanctions imposed by the Russian government.
According to sources that asked not to be identified, Scholz was concerned that the nationalization decision could anger Putin and lead to an escalation in the standoff over Russian gas imports.