Kremlin-backed supplier, Gazprom Energy, is reportedly at risk of collapse due to a customer exodus and staff shortages following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Gazprom supplies around a fifth of the UK's non-domestic gas, sparking concern that it may be too large for its customer base to transfer to another energy supplier under the "Supplier of Last Resort'"(SoLR) regime. The SoLR regime gives Ofgem the power to appoint another energy supplier (usually on a consensual basis) to take on the insolvent supplier’s customers via an overnight transfer process. This process works well for smaller suppliers with low customer numbers and is the reason many of us will have found ourselves unexpectedly transferred to a new, larger supplier over the last 12 months. 

As we have previously reported, although 30 energy suppliers have failed in the last year, only one has so far been placed into a government-backed energy supply company administration - Bulb Energy. Unfortunately for many of Gazprom's business customers, businesses are not usually afforded the same credit balance protection as household customers in the event of energy supplier failure. Any customers seeking to exit their contracts early (before any potential collapse) may also be hit with a double whammy of increased prices due to soaring energy costs and potential early exit fees. The outlook for Gazprom's customers does not look promising.