The UK government is preparing to step in and temporarily run Russian gas giant Gazprom’s British retail supply arm, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, as companies cut ties with Russian businesses.
Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd, whose ultimate parent is the Russian state-run Gazprom, is a prime candidate to be taken into the UK’s special administration regime, Bloomberg reported, citing one person familiar with the matter.
The unit, operating as Gazprom Energy, supplies just over a fifth of Britain’s commercial gas volume and serves thousands of customers including the National Health Service.
Neither Gazprom Energy nor Britain’s business ministry immediately responded to emails from Reuters seeking comment.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Times reported that Gazprom Energy has been trying to find a buyer to stave off collapse as many big clients seek to exit multi-million pound contracts in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
