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Qatar will become in the first quarter of this year the largest shareholder of the energy company RWE, one of the largest electricity producers in Germany. Qatar’s participation, announced in October 2022, will have been completed in less than five months, proof of the interest brought by the Gulf monarchy to the German economy.
With our correspondent in Berlin, Natalie Version
It is rather a fine operation for RWE, which is finalizing the acquisition for nearly seven billion dollars of the American Cleantech, one of the leaders in renewable energies in the United States, a market with very strong growth since that Washington has increased its subsidies to the sector as part of Washington’s stimulus package.
RWE will be able to finance its investment in the United States thanks to the investment of the Qataris. RWE will thus become number two in solar power in the United States.
Qatar has invested 25 billion euros in Germany
The fact is that Qatar is very interested in German industry. According to the German press, the Gulf monarchy has invested 25 billion euros in Germany, at Volkswagen, at Hapag Lloyd, Deutsche Bank, Siemens. The former boss of Siemens is convinced that Qatar will not stop there. Not so much to try to influence German policy, but rather to prepare its own perspectives, for the post-oil era.
There has been criticism surrounding these transactions, notably when Germany announced that it would seek to buy gas from Qatar. And then the relations between the two countries are not always in good shape. The Qataris have indeed hardly appreciated the very strong criticism in Germany, against their country, during the Football World Cup.
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