STORY: Germany’s Uniper has posted a record loss.

On Thursday (November 3) the soon-to-be-nationalized gas importer said its deficit hit $39.3 billion.

Uniper said that figure factored in expected future losses in the wake of Russia’s move to halt supplies.

It’s had to buy gas on the spot market at much higher prices.

Now Uniper says it’s weighing up whether to sue former supplier Gazprom for billions in compensation.

It’s also trying to exit the Russian market, where it owns a majority stake in one gas firm.

Uniper has already had tens of billions in state aid, but that wasn’t enough to keep it afloat.

The German government said in September that it would nationalize the company to avert chaos and job losses.

That will see the state buy out the holding of Finnish parent company Fortum.

Shares in Uniper were down around 2% in early trades on Thursday.