The German government is trying to nationalize three major gas companies to prevent an energy collapse.

Bloomberg reports that German authorities are negotiating a takeover of Uniper, VNG and Securing Energy for Europe as a major solution to the country's energy problems.

The potential move is due to the fact that Europe has already passed a series of financial assistance programs as the energy crisis deepens, and Uniper reported that the company's losses are up to 100 million euros a day after the termination of supplies through the Nord Stream-1.

Without an influx of Russian gas to make up for the energy shortfall, Germany is pondering what would be a drastic step to prevent a collapse.

Becoming the owner of the three companies would not be easy, as Unipar is still controlled by Finnish utility Fortum. Meanwhile, the takeover of SEFE could lead to an unintended transfer of funds to Russia as a result of the company being owned by a Russian legal entity called Palmary Joint Stock Company.

Although the law passed by Germany in April allows the takeover, it would also likely require payments to the company's Russian owners.