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CAPE TOWN- German energy giant Uniper said on Friday it was haemorrhaging tens of millions of Euros a day since Russia limited gas supplies to Europe’s largest economy, as it asked for government support.

³Under the current circumstances we are seeing cash outflows in the mid two-digit million range,´ Uniper &(2 .laus-'ieter 0aubach said.

Uniper, one of the biggest importers of Russian gas, ‘cannot endure for long¶ in the present situation, 0aubach said, with the group making a formal bailout reTuest to the *erman *overnment. Since Russian energ\ giant *a]prom reduced gas supplies to *erman\ via the 1ord Stream pipeline b\ 0 per cent in mid--une, Uniper has been forced to pa\ higher prices on the spot market to make up the shortfall.

Company

Unable to pass the cost on, Uniper has accumulated ‘substantial losses,¶ the compan\ said in a statement.

:ithout support from the State,

Uniper could finish ‘up to 10 billion euros $10.2 billion ¶ in the red this \ear, 0aubach said. The *erman *overnment this week rushed through emergenc\ legislation to facilitate support for struggling energ\ companies such as Uniper.

Uniper¶s bailout reTuest included the possibilit\ for the *erman State to take a stake in the struggling energ\ compan\. The 'uesseldorf-based group also asked for some of the price rises faced b\ the compan\ to be passed on to consumers, in line with the new legislation.

$s a result of the Russian suppl\ reduction, consumers were faced with a ‘ver\ big price wave¶ that would see bills rise, 0aubach said.

Insolvent

³:e will not allow a s\stem-critical compan\ to become insolvent,´ (conom\ 0inister Robert +abeck said in a statement. The government would however choose the option that was ‘the most affordable¶ for consumers and the ‘most secure¶ for *erman\¶s energ\ supplies, +abeck told local broadcasters.