DÜSSELDORF (dpa-AFX) - The recently nationalized energy group Uniper has fulfilled a first condition of the EU Commission just under four weeks after the approval of billions of euros in state aid. The company sold a 20 percent stake in a gas pipeline between the UK and the Netherlands. The buyer of Uniper's stake in the undersea gas pipeline called BBL is the Spanish energy company Enagas, Uniper announced in Düsseldorf on Monday. The purchase price amounts to around €75 million. The sale is still subject to official approvals and the non-exercise of a pre-emptive right of other BBL shareholders.

The sale is part of the conditions that Germany's largest gas importer must meet under EU state aid law. The conditions are intended to compensate for the competitive advantage Uniper has on the market as a result of the state aid. Among other things, they provide for the sale of subsidiaries and other parts of the company by the end of 2026 at the latest. The aid of up to €34.5 billion became necessary after Russia suspended its gas supplies. In order to continue supplying its customers, which include more than 500 municipal utilities, Uniper has since had to buy gas at much higher prices on the world market. Since the end of last year, 99.1 percent of Uniper has been owned by the Bund./tob/DP/mis