(Bloomberg) — Jutta Doenges, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who also ran Germany’s debt management agency, will take over as chief financial officer of recently nationalized utility Uniper SE, according to people familiar with the decision.
(Bloomberg) — Jutta Doenges, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who also ran Germany’s debt management agency, will take over as chief financial officer of recently nationalized utility Uniper SE, according to people familiar with the decision.
Doenges will replace Tiina Tuomela, whose contract expires at the end of March, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Uniper did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Dusseldorf-based company suffered massive losses after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a surge in gas prices and is in the midst of a management shakeup following its takeover by the government. Both its chief executive officer and chief operating officer said this month they were stepping down.
Doenges was a joint head of the Federal Finance Agency until October. She helped engineer government bailouts for tour operator TUI AG and airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which were on the verge of bankruptcy after tourism slumped during the coronavirus pandemic.
The 49-year-old began her career at Goldman and later worked for the German subsidiary of Sweden’s SEB AB. She sits on the supervisory board of both TUI and Commerzbank AG, in which the German government has held a 15.6% stake since it rescued the lender during the financial crisis.
She was appointed to the Commerzbank role by then-finance minister and now German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The German government decides the makeup of Uniper’s executive board because it took over of the company at the end of last year when Russia’s war on Ukraine roiled energy markets.
Uniper imported most of its gas from Russia and was facing bankruptcy. The utility reported a net loss of around €40 billion ($43 billion) in the first nine months of the year, including costs for replacing gas in the more expensive wholesale markets and anticipated future losses.
The nationalization is part of a €200 billion package Scholz’s ruling coalition put together to help companies and households cope with energy crisis. Uniper supplies gas to thousands of local German utilities and companies and its nationalization was needed to avert a collapse of the country’s energy system.
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