New Actor: German prosecutors raid Gazprom-linked offices

Federal prosecutors searched premises in Berlin linked to the former Gazprom subsidiary Gazprom Germania and a company site in Frankfurt. The investigation targets suspected attempted sabotage of Germany’s gas supply and possible breaches of foreign-trade law.

It centers on the late March 2022 separation of Gazprom Germania from Russia’s Gazprom through indirect share sales, after which a Moscow company with no industry ties emerged as owner and immediately ordered the firm’s liquidation. At the time, Gazprom Germania controlled at least 25% of Germany’s natural-gas storage capacity. The liquidation order was issued without the Economy Ministry authorization required by the Foreign Trade and Payments Act.

The suspicion is that the sale and liquidation were intended to disrupt Germany’s gas supply amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and a suspect is accused of helping to carry out the plan. The liquidation was halted when the Federal Network Agency took the company into temporary trusteeship. The firm has since been nationalized and now operates as Securing Energy for Europe, SEFE.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources