Supply agreement signed with Gazprom

2019_06_07_pi_gazprom_EN.pdf (0,2 MB)
VNG Handel & Vertrieb GmbH

Supply agreement signed with Gazprom: VNG Handel & Vertrieb GmbH expands sourcing portfolio with additional natural gas supplies

VNG Handel & Vertrieb GmbH (VNG H&V), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Leipzig-based VNG Group, today signed a supply agreement with Gazprom Export (GPE). At the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg (Russia), Ulf Heitmüller, CEO of VNG AG, and Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller signed a supply agreement that will come into effect on 1 January 2021. The contractual volume is 3.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year.

“The direct contractual relationship with Gazprom increases the security of supply for our customers. By importing additional quantities of natural gas, we are helping make the market more robust and compensating for declining production in Europe,” explains Heitmüller. “Gazprom and VNG have been working in partnership for many years, which we are further consolidating with this purchase agreement. In order to meet the demand for natural gas in Germany, additional pipeline gas from Russia makes the most sense economically and ecologically,” adds Heitmüller. As the fossil fuel with the lowest CO2 emissions, natural gas is already making a big contribution to rapid and affordable climate protection in all sectors. Under its ‘VNG 2030+’ strategy, VNG is aiming to gradually ‘green’ its natural gas portfolio. Gas means that short-term climate protection goals can be met as well as the other milestones on the way to decarbonisation.

With the Gazprom contract, VNG H&V is consistently developing its wholesale operations and improving its market position in terms of supply and distribution. As Konstantin von Oldenburg, Managing Director of VNG H&V, points out: “2018 marked the 45th anniversary of the German-Russian natural gas partnership. The successful conclusion of this supply agreement underlines the willingness of both parties to further expand their cooperation in the European gas sector. The new contract contributes to the expansion of the physical sourcing portfolio and thus to the stabilisation of VNG’s entire European trading portfolio.” In addition to long-term supply agreements with Norway and Russia, VNG H&V obtains additional natural gas volumes on the spot and futures markets.

Verwandte Newsartikel

H2Global_1
VNG H&V is a Founding Member of H2Global

As part of the group's VNG 2030+ strategy, VNG Handel & Vertrieb GmbH (VNG H&V) is investigating the potential for adding hydrogen to their sales and trading portfolio and is involved in developing hydrogen as a possible source of energy for the future, particularly as an alternative to coal-based and fossil fuels. The company sees itself in a future role as a distributor and provider of hydrogen and intends to actively shape and support the creation of a viable H2 market.

Geschäftsbereiche
Sustainability at VNG H&V above industry average

EcoVadis offers industry-specific sustainability ratings as well as a platform for suppliers and their customers. Large industrial users of gas, in particular, are increasingly taking supplier sustainability into account when selecting business partners. VNG Handel & Vertrieb (VNG H&V), a wholly-owned subsidiary of VNG AG headquartered in Leipzig, therefore underwent a sustainability assessment for the first time in May 2020 and was awarded bronze at the first attempt. The company's result is above the industry average.
ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt and VNG cooperate on blast furnace conversion

ArcelorMittal and the natural gas supplier VNG Handel & Vertrieb will cooperate with each other in the future to make the production of steel products at the Eisenhüttenstadt location more sustainable. As the world's largest steel and mining company in Europe, ArcelorMittal aims to cut CO2 emissions by 30 percent by 2030 and produce in a climate-neutral manner by 2050. In this context, ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt is initially planning to reduce CO2 emissions in steel production from 2021 by converting the blast furnace by around five percent per year. In the future, natural gas will be used in the blast furnace to reduce the need for coal, which, in addition to lowering CO2 emissions, also contributes to lower energy costs. The refitting of the furnace should be completed by mid-2021, the costs for these investments amount to around four million euros.
Kerstin Schultheiß
Contract extended early

In view of the positive development in the recent past, VNG Handel & Vertrieb GmbH (VNG H&V) in Leipzig is focusing on consistency in terms of personnel: The contract with Managing Director Kerstin Schultheiß was extended early by another five years until 2026. The law graduate has formed the company’s management duo together with Konstantin von Oldenburg since the spin-off of the trading and sales business of VNG AG, headquartered in Leipzig, into the independent entity VNG H&V in 2018.