• AcidSmiley [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      This is actually more like a bailout than an expropriation. Uniper went brankrupt due to having contract obligations that were calculated with pre-war gas prices, but then having to meet these obligations with gas bought at post-war prices. Their bankruptcy was foreseeable for months. Now the government is simply buying up their stock to prevent the entire company from being liquidated.

      BTW expropriations under German law are a joke, basically nationalizing here means "buying the company at regular market price".

      • AssadCurse [none/use name]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        Then once the crisis is over, the company is bankrupt, the stocks are dirt cheap, the state will sell the stocks back to private investors for pennies. That is assuming the crisis ends and the company can become profitable again (big assumption).

        If the crisis does actually destroy the company then at least investors got out intact and handed off all the losses to the state

        • Farman [any]
          ·
          2 years ago

          That first paragraph used to happen in latin america a lot.

    • Teekeeus
      ·
      edit-2
      4 days ago

      deleted by creator

  • emizeko [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    bailout

    Under the terms of the deal, the German government will buy Fortum's shares in Uniper for €500m (£437m) and inject €8bn (£7bn) of cash into the business.

  • Plants [des/pair]
    ·
    2 years ago

    My thought when I read the headline was that they're nationalizing Jupiter

  • SoyViking [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    After having privatised the profits it is now time to socialise the losses.

    Capitalism works exactly as intended.

  • Zoift [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I misread Uniper as Jupiter at first glace and expected this article to be significantly more :melon-musk: :galaxy-brain:

  • innocentlurker [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    In recent months it has had to replace Russian supplies with alternatives from the open market, where prices have soared.

    What an odd coincidence that market prices have soared right as Russia responded to western sanctions by stopping supply. Huh. :thinkin-lenin:

      • Thomas_Dankara [any,comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Why would the US coup its own colony?

        to make sure they stay a colony. Though I wouldn't call Germany a US colony. That's insulting to actual victims of US colonialism. While Germany isn't exactly free of US influence I wouldn't compare it to something like Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or American Samoa, or Guam.

        Would the US coup Puerto Rico?

        If Puerto Rico ever elected a governor who declared independence from the US, that might do the trick.