Germany

The German Cabinet on Wednesday approved plans to loosen insolvency rules until the end of next year in the face of exploding energy and raw material prices, Reuters reported. The planned easing of the law, which must be put to parliament, applies to the obligation to file for insolvency in the case of over-indebtedness. Companies are to be exempt from this if they can prove that their business is financed for the next four months rather than the current 12-month requirement.

The majority of funds made available as part of the European Union's pandemic recovery fund have not yet been disbursed, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday when asked about the possibility of further joint debt to address the energy crisis, Reuters reported. "These funds have overwhelmingly not been spent yet," Scholz said after a meeting with the Dutch prime minister in Berlin, adding that this support could be "particularly effective" now that a second crisis has followed the COVID-19 pandemic.

Germany is ready to discuss measures that could contain gas and power prices in the European Union, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. "We need to tackle this problem at its roots.

Poland’s foreign minister on Monday signed an official note to Germany requesting the payment of about $1.3 trillion in reparations for the damage incurred by occupying Nazi Germans during World War II, the Associated Press reported. Zbigniew Rau said the note will be handed to Germany’s Foreign Ministry. The signing comes on the eve of Rau’s meeting in Warsaw with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who will attend a security conference.

Porsche Automobil Holding SE won the dismissal of lawsuits from hedge funds seeking about 5.4 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in damages they say they incurred during Porsche’s failed takeover of Volkswagen AG more than a decade ago, Bloomberg News reported. Institutional investors and private shareholders had pursued Porsche for compensation for losses they suffered in the trading of Volkswagen stock.

Germany on Thursday unveiled a wide-ranging price cap on energy in response to growing concerns among German businesses that a wave of insolvencies could wash over the country and disrupt the supply chains serving Germany’s largest industrial sectors, the Wall Street Journal reported. The government said that it would cap the prices of electricity and natural gas as part of a fourth package of measures aimed at shielding businesses and consumers from soaring energy prices following Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Germany is drawing up plans to cap the price of electricity and gas that could be rolled out in the coming weeks, according to government officials, the Wall Street Journal reported. The caps would be aimed at shielding consumers and businesses from further increases in energy prices triggered by the economic war between Russia and the West over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. German officials said Berlin would move ahead with an electricity-price cap if the European Union failed to agree on such a mechanism for the entire bloc.

The German government is in talks about providing urgent financial support for scores of regional state-owned energy providers which are struggling to cope with soaring gas prices, Reuters reported. The discussions centre on the critical network of hundreds of firms that supply energy and other vital services, such as water, to the country's homes and industry, underpinning Europe's biggest economy.

Germany will nationalize Uniper, seeking to save the country’s largest gas importer that was hit hard by Russian natural-gas cuts to Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported. The German government said Wednesday that it would take a 99% stake in the energy giant and inject in €8 billion, equivalent to around $8 billion. Berlin will acquire the stake of Uniper’s parent company, Finnish utility Fortum Oyj. Uniper was Germany’s largest importer of Russian natural gas and suffered heavy financial losses after Moscow throttled supplies.

Hakle has been a German household name since 1928, but the Duesseldorf-based toilet paper manufacturer said all it took was this summer's gas price shock to drive it into insolvency, Reuters reported. Energy-intensive firms such as Hakle were particularly vulnerable after Russian gas supply cuts to Europe, which Moscow has blamed on Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine in February.