UK government prepares to take over Gazprom retail arm

Bloomberg

The UK government is preparing to step in and temporarily run Gazprom PJSC’s British retail supply arm as it comes under increasing pressure from companies turning their backs on Russian business over the war in Ukraine.
Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd is a prime candidate to be taken into the UK’s special
administration regime if it fails, to ensure continuity of supply,
according to a person familiar with the matter.
Officials are closely monitoring the situation at the company, which has more than 30,000 business customers.
Teneo Inc is being lined up to oversee the running of the company in case it goes into special administration, according to people familiar with the matter. The appointment of any administrator needs 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 (SOLR) that we know about,” the retail unit said in an emailed statement, adding it was “entirely normal” for Ofgem to “consider all possible scenarios and formulate plans to respond to whatever events unfold.”
The subsidiary trades as Gazprom Energy and supplied over a fifth of UK business gas in 2020. It has staff of over 300 people across the UK, France and the Netherlands and supplies commercial and public bodies, including parts of the National Health Service.
The annual volume of energy supplied by the retail arm is about double that of Bulb Energy Ltd, the household supplier that’s currently being run by Teneo.