(Bloomberg) -- The German government will lend as much as 10 billion euros ($10.4 billion) to rescue a former arm of Gazprom PJSC that was brought under the control of the country’s energy regulator in April, according to people familiar with the plan.

According to the terms of the bailout, state-owned bank KfW Group will provide the loan, part of which could eventually be converted into a direct stake under a new form of trusteeship, the German government said Tuesday in an emailed statement, without providing a figure. The name of the company, currently Gazprom Germania GmbH, will be changed to Securing Energy for Europe GmbH.

The loan is designed to help stabilize Gazprom Germania’s finances and ensure supply security after Russia curbed gas shipments in retaliation for Germany seizing the company and its subsidiaries.

The group was shunned by trading partners and faced liquidity problems, risking the collapse of major gas retailers in Germany and the UK, Wingas GmbH and Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd., which trades as Gazprom Energy.

The group owns Germany’s largest gas storage site and employs a global trading team with branches as far afield as London and Singapore.

Its failure would have rippled across global markets. As well as being one of Europe’s top gas and power traders, it has units in Asia and North America and traded more than 100 liquefied natural gas cargoes in 2020. It’s still battling sanctions from Russia that have imperiled the future of its lucrative LNG business which relied on supplies from the country.

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