UK government mulls move to take over Gazprom unit

The UK arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom could be placed into administration in the coming days, the BBC understands.

Bloomberg reported the government is preparing to step in and temporarily run Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd, which supplies thousands of organisations across the UK.

Its clients include McDonalds, Siemens, hospitals and councils.

It is understood the government is looking at all options and monitoring the situation closely.

One possibility could be to put the company into special administration, where it is temporarily run on behalf of the government.

The company's UK retail operation does not sell gas from its parent company in Russia, but a number of companies and councils are thought to be trying to end their contracts with the company in protest at Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Gazprom itself has also been sanctioned by the UK government.

Earlier this month, a number of councils in England told the BBC they were looking to end their Gazprom contracts as soon as possible.

According to the public services data firm Tussell, UK public sector contracts amounted to £107m in total between 2016 and 2021

The Health Secretary Sajid Javid also urged NHS trusts to stop using energy supplied by Gazprom.

Gazprom and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been approached for comment.

A spokesperson for McDonalds said it was trying to exit its deal "at the earliest opportunity" while Siemens UK said it was looking at the terms of cancelling supply contracts with Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail.

"We support the severe and broad sanctions applied by western governments and are ensuring that we act in compliance with them," it said.