BERLIN: Germany has reached a deal to nationalise troubled gas giant Uniper, the government said Wednesday, as the energy sector reels from the fallout of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The deal will leave Germany with a 99 percent stake in the debt-laden gas company, the economy ministry said in a statement.

“Uniper is a central pillar of German energy supplies,” the ministry said.

Under the agreement, Berlin will inject eight billion euros ($7.9 billion) in cash into Uniper and buy 500 million euros of shares from its majority shareholder, the Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum.

Fortum will also be repaid for an eight-billion-euro loan it gave Uniper.

“The situation has become much more dramatic” for Uniper since the shutdown in late August of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, Economy Minister Robert Habeck told a press conference.

The crisis intervention was needed to “secure our gas supply and to protect consumers from an uncontrollable situation”, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said.