The American multinational investment bank JPMorgan Chase plans to move activities taking place in its offices in Germany to London in England because it fears that the largest economy in the European Union could face power outages in the coming months, writes The Telegraph, reported by Jutarnji list.

The bank is preparing to implement a series of security measures so that it can continue operating in the event that power distribution is disrupted in Germany due to the decision of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to stop gas deliveries to that country.

JPMorgan Chase's decision comes after the energy crisis shaking Europe deepened. The Kremlin recently said that the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would remain closed until the West removes the sanctions imposed on Russia because of the war in Ukraine. In addition, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus (OPEC+) agreed to reduce crude oil production.

JPMorgan Chase is currently considering solutions such as moving activities from its office in Frankfurt to London and other European cities. A source told The Telegraph that it is possible that employee transfers will take place in all of the bank's offices. JPMorgan Chase, which transferred assets worth billions of dollars from London to Frankfurt ahead of the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, could also fight power outages with the help of diesel generators, and it was said that it may also tell its employees to work from home in order to reduce energy consumption.

The Telegraph states that these plans have been prepared, but have not yet been implemented.

– A lot of things would have to align for the flow of Russian gas to be completely cut off, for restrictions on gas use not to be introduced, and for gas not to be procured from other sources. Our business would suffer only if all three of those things happened – said one source.

The German government announced on Sunday that it would provide an aid package worth more than 65 billion euros to its citizens to help them cope more easily with increased energy costs and inflation in general.

The European Union is considering taxing all electricity producers operating in its member states. French President Emmanuel Macron supported such a plan. It is believed that some owners of wind farms and solar power plants are currently generating large revenues because wholesale electricity prices have risen while their costs have remained the same. The wholesale price of electricity in Europe is linked to the price of gas, even if the electricity is obtained from other cheaper energy sources, reports Jutarnji list.

Source: slobodnadalmacija.hr