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German natural gas distributor Uniper announced Tuesday that Klaus-Dieter Maubuch intends to step down as chief executive officer. File Photo by Friedmann Vogel/EPA-EFE
Jan. 10 (UPI) — Months after the German government nationalized natural gas distributor Uniper, its chairman said Tuesday it was time to step aside for the sake of strategic realignment.
Uniper announced that Klaus-Dieter Maubach intends to step down as chief executive officer, though he agreed to serve in an interim capacity until a replacement is appointed.
Tom Blades, the supervisory chairman of the board, thanked Maubach for navigating the company through a difficult period. Before the war in Ukraine, Uniper was heavily dependent on Russian natural gas and incurred hefty costs in its pursuit of alternatives.
“He has succeeded in stabilizing the company, for which he deserves great thanks, which I would like to express on behalf of the entire supervisory board,” Blades said.
David Bryson, the company’s chief operating officer, is also departing.
The reshuffling follows a November decision from the German government to increase its holdings in Uniper from 30% to 99%, securing most of the shares held previously by Finland-based energy company Fortum.
Markus Rauramo, the CEO at Fortrum, said at the time that Uniper had racked up around $8 billion in gas-related losses and it might not be able to fulfill its role as a key supplier of natural gas.
Germany, like many of its Western peers, was forced to reconfigure its energy sector as Western-backed sanctions imposed on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine created severe energy security concerns.
Germany sits at the receiving end of Russia’s Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, an artery that’s been closed for months. But it was able to build an offshore regasification facility in less than a year to turn liquefied natural gas, much of which is coming from the United States, back to its gaseous form for use in the energy sector.
And after spending much of last year concerned about supplies, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe show German natural gas storage levels are about 90% full.
Nevertheless, Maubach said the company was now entering a new phase and it was time to move aside.
“A strategic realignment of the company will have to take place, and there is no time to lose,” he said.
