Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. A warm welcome to our virtual press conference for the first half year of E.ON SE.

I'm delighted to welcome you virtually the representatives of the media who are joining us via Teams and our viewers on the live stream, our CEO, Leonhard Birnbaum, is with us; and Nadia Jakobi, our CFO. A warm welcome to both of you.

In the 30 minutes ahead of us, we will give you an overview of the business development of E.ON in the first 6 months. Afterwards, we will have the opportunity to ask questions to Mr.

Birnbaum and Nadia Jakobi.

Members of the press, ladies and gentlemen, good morning from me. I would like to start with a topic that's on many people's minds right now, the never-ending war in Ukraine and the still unresolved conflict in the Middle East.

Both have handed dramatically brought energy into the spotlight again. The good news is, despite all the bad news in Europe, companies and Europe -- European governments and operators of critical infrastructure are much more prepared than ever.

They have learned from the energy crisis in 2022. But it's also clear that Europe and Germany, in particular, need to further strengthen their energy supply.

The volatility tied to the navigability of the Meuse and the limited availability of gas there pose a threat to energy supply. That's why the focus of the second half of the energy transition needs to be on making energy not only sustainable, but also keeping it affordable and ensuring it reaches the customers reliably.

And that brings me to E.ON's business. E.ON again, delivered financially in the first half of 2026.

Adjusted group EBITDA of EUR 5.4 billion and adjusted group net income of EUR 1.9 billion puts us fully on track to meet our 2026 guidance. The tempo on our investments remained high as well.

We invested EUR 3 billion in the first 6 months alone in networks, in customer solutions and in the future of an advanced European energy system. The details on all of these numbers will be presented to you by Nadia in a moment.

It is our employees that make these results possible. They move the energy transition forward day after day.

They have delivered operationally. And for that, I would like to thank them.

I also want to acknowledge that many of them do this in environments that involve inherent risks. So electricity and infrastructure that is dangerous.

And that is precisely where it matters that our employees return home safe and sound every day. And I'm therefore, deeply saddened to share with you that 2 fatal workplace accidents occurred last week, one in Germany and one in Turkey.

My deepest sympathies go out to the families and the loved ones of the deceased employees. and also to their colleagues.

Our goal remains clear. That is totally unacceptable.

Our vision is Vision Zero. We don't want any workplace accidents.

We want to make sure that all of our employees return home safe and sound every day. Today, the energy transition can't just focus on debating policy targets and expanding renewables.

We need a systemic shift. And that's exactly where things stand right now.

In Germany, we added more than 130,000 grid connections in Germany and more than 5 gigawatts of additional renewables capacity were connected to our networks. That equals to more than 1,000 state-of-the-art turbines.

E.ON now integrates and administers more renewable capacity than all other network operators in Germany put together. Large-scale battery storage continues to boom as well.

Beyond battery systems already connected, E.ON has issued approvals for more than 26 gigawatts of new capacity. To put this in perspective, that's more than 1/4 of Germany's entire peak load.

Requests for data center connections are growing at a similar rapid pace. We've already approved more than 13 gigawatt of new connections.

So we're living in a completely different world today. In the past, the energy systems, as you know, was a one-way street from big power plants to consumers.

Today, we have smart homes, electric mobility and over half of Germany's electricity comes from renewables. These millions of assets don't just need to be securely integrated and controlled, but also build.

Also, the current scale of new batteries and data center connections wouldn't have been imaginable just a few years ago. In this challenging and highly complex environment, E.ON ensures that the system stays stable and energy reliably reaches our customers.

And we're not just enabling the energy transition, but also the next steps in digitization and artificial intelligence. We are Germany's leading network operator in rolling out smart meters, and we're doing everything we can to provide new connections even faster, more efficiently and smarter while innovations and new business solutions are enabling us to make the best possible use of limited grid capacity.

I'll illustrate this with 3 examples. First, our introduction of flexible connection agreement, so-called FCAs provides a key tool for better integrating battery storage systems into our networks.

That enables us to connect these systems faster while making better use of existing grid capacities. Together with our partner, Eco Stor, we are testing a uniform standard for all E.ON network operators.

Second, many of our new approaches enable us to continue to optimize how we approve and install network connections swiftly and efficiently. These include projects by our regional subsidiaries such as the feed-in sockets, which thanks to its genuine added value is now included in the grid package under the name Einzeleinspeisernetz.

Some of our regional companies are also working on a new pilot plan for even more efficiently prioritizing grid capacity for connection requests with high load requirements. More details about this will be shared over the coming days.

Third, our digital twin technology from Envelio enables us to digitally model energy flows and thus make grid planning more precise, identify capacity faster and provide connections more efficiently. And this process recently received the Reuters Energy Industry Award 26 in New York.

All of this demonstrates that E.ON isn't just expanding the power grid, which is currently reaching its limits in Germany, we are also making sure new energy works better swiftly, efficiently and digitally. That is exactly what we're doing with our solutions in the retail business as well.

With the announced acquisitions of the energy provider, OVO in the U.K., we are strengthening our position in one of our most important markets and offering our customers an even broader portfolio of solutions. We are also helping our business customers reduce their energy costs and make their energy supply more autonomous even in tough economic times.

And in Germany, we're offering a combined package for solar and battery for larger facilities, which enables companies to meet more of their energy needs flexibly, cost efficiently and autonomously. We're working to create another source of flexibility as part of Germany's government-funded BDL NEXT project.

This project brings us together with industry and other network operators to reach and research institutes to test how to scale up bidirectional charging. In our Energy Infrastructure Solutions business, we installed highly efficient energy recovery system at an Imerys production facility in Belgium.

This system peaks output is 29 megawatts, which is enough to power the entire site and surplus electricity is fed into the grid and will meet the needs of around 40,000 households. Projects like these demonstrate that E.ON is shaping the second half of the energy transition.

We're enabling our customers to tap into the potential of electrification. And that's why we welcome the EU's massive push for electrification.

Increased electrification of heating, transport and industrial processes will correspondingly reduce Europe's dependence on fossil fuel imports. Right now, though, Europe still needs gas, especially for heating.

Germany's gas storage facilities are currently 49% full, which is significantly lower than the EU average. In a tense geopolitical environment, Germany can't rely on neighboring countries and LNG supplies.

It needs to take actions just to ensure that the more than 20 million households that still rely on natural gas have a secure supply this winter. Volatility and geopolitically induced price swings on commodity trading markets are here to stay.

We are doing everything we can to cushion our customers from price spikes on wholesale markets. Our long-term procurement strategy will enable us to keep power and gas prices in our largest market, Germany, stable this year for all existing customers and those on default supply contracts.

And in our second largest retail market, the United Kingdom, we're offering customers the Pledge tariff, which guarantees savings relative to the government set-price cap. All of this underscores E.ON's commitment to being a reliable partner for our customers also in turbulent times.

We back up this commitment with our investment program. E.ON plans to invest EUR 48 billion between 2026 and 2030, which is about -- of which about EUR 40 billion is allocated to our Energy Networks business.

This is one of Europe's largest private infrastructure programs, contributing to value creation and employment in economically challenging times. It's also essential for the success of the energy transition and the transformation of the energy system.

Today, there's more competition for capital than ever. A key factor for future investments is, therefore, the upcoming determination of Germany's regulatory cost of capital rates for power and gas networks, which must adequately reflect the real financing costs.

The task is to get the whole package right. Full planning certainty for the next regulatory package is only achieved once all of the parameters are finalized.

These parameters include the rate on return, the efficiency benchmark and the OpEx adjustment factor. The totality of these regulations will determine whether amid global competition, Germany will be an attractive market for private infrastructure capital over the long term.

The message is simple. Anyone who expects significant private investment in networks in the future must now establish the regulatory framework to make that possible.

That's why we have unambiguously made our announced investments in Germany contingent on economically viable regulation. The sooner we get comprehensive clarity on the parameters for the fifth regulatory period for power, the sooner we can sharpen our investment planning for 2029 onwards.

The first half of the energy transition was about expanding renewables. The second half is primarily about network infrastructure system integration and efficiency.

The policy framework for the energy transition, therefore, needs to be realigned. This applies, first and foremost, at the European level.

We fundamentally welcome the direction of the planned EU grids package. It recognizes networks as backbone of the energy transition and addresses key challenging challenges in planning, financing and permitting.

There also needs to be greater legal certainty for faster network connections as well. And where grid capacity is scarce, there needs to be provisions for transparent and legally binding prioritization mechanisms.

Equally important are visible achievements in reducing bureaucracy for larger companies like E.ON. If Europe wants the energy transition to progress at maximum speed, it needs to set the lowest possible bureaucratic hurdles, reporting requirements, documentation obligations and regulatory rules like the Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligation in supply chains or the Pay Transparency Directive for the EU taxonomy, and I could give much more examples, can't allow to stand in the way of transformation, especially when these rules offer actually little benefit and do not help us in our day-to-day work at all.

And Germany needs to be faster, too. Together with the energy industry, I'd have preferred for progress on the core issues around network connections to be much faster.

After all, the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy's grid package has been around since the start of the year and contains specific and solid proposals to enhance system cost efficiency. That's why the federal government finally agreed on the grid's package in late July, a package aimed at reducing Germany's consumers' exposure to high energy system costs, which was an important step.

The key is to shift away from the first-come first-served approach to legally binding prioritization of bottlenecks, not the one who puts the application in first gets first served, but only those who really want to connect to the system. Equally important are locational signals to propel the renewables expansion.

System costs currently remain high because generating capacity is being built in regions that already have grid bottlenecks. Going forward, Germany needs effective signals to counteract this.

The redispatch proviso is a sustainable tool for this, but its modalities can't be so relaxed that it becomes a mere paper tiger. Consequently, the grid's package needs to be adjusted and passed by parliament without delay, and it too needs to be as simple and straightforward as possible and also actually reduce system costs.

We don't need even more well-intentioned detailed regulations and exceptions that only make things more complex and expensive. In July, the Coalition Committee announced a distribution grids package as well.

This again underscores the urgency of faster network connections, especially for industry. It also highlighted a key factor for increasing speed, faster permitting processes.

This will require less bureaucracy and again, faster legal review. Germany can move fast.

We saw that with the energy expansion grid. We -- rapid expansion is now needed as a new normal standards.

The distribution grid package is, therefore, generally the step in the right direction, but it's only the second step. The grids package needs to get across the finishing line first because it's not ambitions and aspirations that count for the second half of the energy system, but what happens on the field is what counts.

And that's precisely where E.ON comes in. That's where precisely we want to use our role as playmaker to shape the game.

And that's precisely where again, we will be continuing. And with that, I hand over to Nadia.

Thank you, Leo. A warm welcome from me, too, ladies and gentlemen.

Leo just outlined where we are standing in the energy transition and how we continue to deliver operationally. The demand for grid connections is rising.

We are encountering more storage systems, more data centers and more electrical applications. In short, the energy system is becoming bigger, more complex and more digital.

I would now like to turn to our financial figures and discuss how earnings and investments developed across our business divisions. The top line message is that E.ON had a successful first half of 2026.

We increased our earnings year-over-year. We continue to make massive investments, and we're reaffirming our full year guidance.

This is not a given in the current environment. Economic and geopolitical conditions remain challenging.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to cause volatility in wholesale electricity markets. At the same time, we see a very clear structural trend in our markets.

Demand for energy infrastructure continues to grow. Customers want to electrify.

Industrial enterprises are looking for solutions for a more efficient and climate-friendly energy supply and the grids are a critical enabler of this development. E.ON is well positioned to play exactly this role.

This is also reflected in our earnings figures. In the first half of 2026, adjusted group EBITDA increased by 1% to EUR 5.4 billion, which was in line with our expectations.

Adjusted group net income rose by 5% to EUR 1.9 billion. In the first 6 months -- after the first 6 months, we are, therefore, fully on track to achieve our full year targets.

For 2026, we continue to expect adjusted group EBITDA in the range of EUR 9.4 billion to EUR 9.6 billion and adjusted group net income of EUR 2.7 billion to EUR 2.9 billion. This corresponds to adjusted earnings per share of EUR 1.03 to EUR 1.11.

Let me now turn to our individual business divisions. Starting with Energy Networks, adjusted EBITDA increased slightly year-over-year to more than EUR 3.8 billion.

The business continued to benefit from substantial investments in the expansion and modernization of energy networks. Positive contributions came both from Germany and other European markets, especially in Central and Southeastern Europe.

In Germany, the further expansion of our smart meter business also supported earnings performance, whereas expenditures for sustainable growth measures as well as the deconsolidation of the NEW Group had an adverse effect. Next is Energy Infrastructure Solutions.

The business division delivered a strong performance in the first half of the year. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 19% year-over-year to around EUR 390 million.

The main driver was the industrial customer business in Germany, where new growth projects were brought into operation. In addition, the pass-through of higher procurement costs from prior years had a positive effect on earnings.

I will now turn to Energy Retail. Energy Retail also had a successful first half of the year.

As expected, adjusted EBITDA of EUR 1.2 billion was slightly below the prior year level. This development mainly reflects structural effects in Germany, including the deconsolidation of the NEW Group.

In contrast, process optimizations in customer management processes had a positive impact. In the United Kingdom, positive effects in the residential customer business and in connection with energy efficiency measures more than offset the earnings declines resulting from the continued roll-off of legacy contracts with industrial and commercial customers.

Let me now turn to our investments. In the first half of 2026, we invested a total of EUR 3 billion, and we stand by our plan to invest a total of about EUR 8.7 billion for the full year.

In Energy Networks, investments amounted to roughly EUR 2.3 billion in the first 6 months of the year. They were primarily -- they went primarily towards new grid connections and the expansion of network infrastructure.

This figure is lower than in the prior year period, and the decline is mainly attributable to Germany, where weather conditions caused delays in the first quarter and some projects were temporarily postponed. These investments will be caught up over the course of the year.

At the same time, Energy Networks increased its investments in the first 6 months in several European countries, especially in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. This underlines that investment needs are not limited to a single market.

They arise across Europe. In Energy Infrastructure Solutions, we invested about EUR 360 million, slightly above the prior year level.

These investments focused on energy infrastructure for industrial customers, cities and municipalities, supporting projects that make energy supply more efficient, climate-friendly and resilient. In Energy Retail, investments amounted to around EUR 240 million, also slightly exceeding the prior year level.

They went primarily towards the expansion of charging infrastructure across Europe and digitalization. All these investments advance the energy transition in specific ways.

We are enabling new grid connections, increasing grid capacity, digitalizing our infrastructure and developing solutions that unlock additional flexibility for the energy system. At the same time, we are investing in charging infrastructure and new customer solutions.

This not only helps to integrate renewables more effectively into the system, it also supports further growth driven by the increasing electrification of transport, heating and industry and enables our customers to actively participate in and benefit from the energy transition. To continue to invest at a scale, we need a reliable and appropriate framework.

Long-term infrastructure investments require planning certainty where regulation supports investment and innovation, we can continue the expansion of energy infrastructure and meet the growing demand for electrification. I'll conclude with a summary.

First, E.ON delivered in the first half of 2026. Adjusted group EBITDA and adjusted group net income both increased year-over-year, and our business divisions are performing as planned.

Second, we continue to invest in the infrastructure needed for the second half of the energy transition provided that the regulatory framework is right. And third, we confirm our guidance for the full year of 2026 as well as our outlook through 2030.

Overall, we remain firmly on track operationally and financially. Demand for energy infrastructure continues to grow across Europe.

And through our investments, we are creating the foundation needed to support this growth while advancing the energy transition. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] First questions have already come in. It would be nice if you could show your camera if you're showing -- if you do not want to be seen in the live chat, then switch your camera.

But as mentioned, we would be delighted to see you.

Well, the first on our list of journalists, [indiscernible] from Handelsblatt. I've got 2 questions.

One, about the grid package, which you just mentioned, Mr. Birnbaum.

You said that you would wish for some improvements to be made, maybe the redispatch proviso. Maybe you can explain exactly what you do not like at the moment.

I mean there are requests from other parties as well for the network operators to do more as part of this package. What do you have to say to that?

And secondly, you also mentioned that the next regulatory period, your investment is under the proviso that conditions are changed. So what amount is subject to that proviso?

And why is it so important for the conditions to be improved? I mean there's much criticism of the network operators.

And apparently, you are coping with the current conditions pretty well. And yes, they are not investors as with TenneT.

So what improvements are you looking for, for you to be able to continue to invest?

Well, first of all, the grid package. What is important here is, as I said in my speech, we need a locational signal.

We need to make sure that the addition happens in the grid where it just doesn't drive up system costs, but where the projects actually offer a real benefit for the customers. And this redispatch proviso is the instrument of choice here.

It was selected by the legislator, by the ministry. And we would now wish for this not to be watered down until the end.

It turns out not to be an effective instrument after all. And when I talk about improvements, then, well, people are trying to bring in all sorts of exceptions and to water down the effect, and we need to counteract that.

We would wish an even stronger signal than envisaged in the draft now, and we would wish for a rule that we can administer later on because let me say that the entire complexity of regulation is always to be shouldered by the network operator. Most of the players in the energy transition don't have to do that or are not burdened with that.

And when it comes to assuming responsibility, we are assuming responsibilities already. We have to ensure the connections regardless of where they are.

We have to ensure system integration. We have to administer the complexity, which is enhanced all the time.

Let me give you an example. Our E.ON Grid Solutions business that deal with all the measured values also for the feed-in in 2020 had 5 million measured values.

Now we have 27 billion measured values and the rollout of the smart meters has only just begun. So we are meeting our obligations.

What we need? We need to invest massively, and we can only attract the capital we need if we can show returns on the capital markets that are competitive by international comparison.

And for that, we need improvement. We never complained about regulatory period 4.

We just said the fifth regular period has to afford the same opportunities for us and has to allow us to earn money with the additional investment. If we have to invest more and more to not earn more than in the end, then the question is why should we invest in the first place?

And the last point without private capital, the energy transition cannot be accomplished. We need to attract private capital.

And also the capital that invested in Amprion is expecting higher returns for the fifth regulatory period or at least the same profitability we have at the moment.

Well, let me add to that. The current proposals are actually worsening what we have seen in the fourth regulatory period.

For example, if in 2025 or 2026, we have invested, we are currently getting for this new investment, the mark-to-market whereas with the investments in or the same investments in 2026 will give us in 2027 only the borrowed capital financing costs over the last 7 years, which is the low interest rate phase from the beginning of the decade. They are factored in as well.

So the improvements we are expecting are compared to the current proposals because they are much lower than the better returns in the fourth regular period. For example, the stricter benchmark, the redispatch measures, which are now a factored into the conditions.

Can you still say how much money is under the proviso? How much of the -- your investment is under the proviso?

No, we don't want to speculate about that. We -- it will depend on how the energy package pans out in the end.

But haven't you communicated that last year already?

No. Last year, we communicate the potential upside we see if there is appropriate regulation, but that continues to apply.

Okay. Two additional questions were, okay, I think you posted 6 questions now.

We can do this bilaterally if you want to. There's a long list of other questions.

So we can come back to that later on after today's event. Next, Mr.

Brendan from Bloomberg. Ms.

Brendan, please.

I've got 2 questions. One is, do you see any impact of the drought and the heat we're seeing at the moment on grids?

Or are you only indirectly affected? And what is your take on the current progress of electrification in Germany?

More and more people are interested in e-mobility because refueling petrol cars has become so expensive. But what's the status concerning gas heating and also in industry?

Let me start with the second part of your question. We're seeing a considerable rise in e-mobility or cars being registered by some 50%, and we are seeing a considerable increase in the installation of heat pumps.

The speculation that the flexibility in the system will lead to a boom in gas-fired heating cannot be confirmed by us. So electrification in the private customer segment is developing positively in industry, well, they are still kind of reserved at the moment, and that compensates the rise.

Therefore, in total, we are seeing a low but slight increase in power demand. The heat is hitting us in the customers business where we get extreme volatile wholesale prices, which we need to pass on to our customers.

So that need to be managed. And it's hitting us in the network business as well, particularly in countries like Hungary and Romania, where we have investments and we are involved in managing the scarcity.

But operationally, it's not hitting us direct. I mean, we do not have to, well, stop parts of the system.

The stress on the system remains the same. In principle, we have so far managed to keep the implications under control, the effects under control and supply to the customers will continue to be ensured in all probability, particularly in markets where things are critical.

I've already mentioned Southeastern Europe.

Then next, Christoph Steitz from Reuters.

Hello from Frankfurt. I've got 2 questions as well.

I'd like to come back to the heat topic. You said that the stress on the networks remains the same, but still when it comes to this particular topic, there are a number of stress factors that have an impact on the network.

Maybe you can explain why in network management, it doesn't seem to make a difference? I think it's placing more demand on the management of network assets.

And in Europe, we have a highly integrated network, also connections to other countries, and we're seeing what's happening in France at the moment. Maybe you can provide a little more clarity there for us why you are not affected that much at the moment?

And my second question is, can you explain -- once again, I mean, in the first half of this year, in Energy Infrastructure Solutions, your business did pretty well. Maybe you can explain what exactly went so well in Germany?

So is it the demand of large industrial customers or municipal utilities? Maybe you can enlarge on that.

That would be very helpful.

Okay. Let me start with the heat, and I'll give the rest to Ms.

Jakobi. Well, heat.

Okay. There are many reports being heard at the moment.

So let me try and slice that information. Well, the nuclear power plants being shut down or its output being reduced is mentioned a lot.

French nuclear power plants have reduced their output and the Paks in Hungary and Cernavoda in Romania have reduced their output. Yesterday -- I don't know what the situation is today, but yesterday, France is producing less in their individual facilities.

So they have reduced their output. But in total, they were still exporting energy yesterday.

So from a nuclear perspective, there is less nuclear energy, but France is not seeing that problem, but the European market is getting less energy because they're exporting less. So nuclear is stabilizing the system, but not helping as much as that energy normally does.

So that's nuclear. Now if we go into Eastern Europe, it's less a question about nuclear, but market integration.

The Paks power plant, the nuclear power plant in Hungary is too big for that small market. And if such a large power plant then fails, then this small market has a problem.

I could put it the other way around. Let's assume Paks was a large solar-fired power plant, then Hungary would have a problem when there's no sun.

The market is too small for such a large power plant and therefore, needs to be integrated more into Europe. The problem of the Eastern European markets is that the network connections are too weak.

So if we're looking for solutions going forward, nuclear is still a part of the solution, not in Germany, but in other countries. And it's a significant part of the solution if we provide better integration for more market -- for more connections.

And that's always important also with regard to the development of renewables because for the renewables, which are also part of the solution, a more integrated network helps with storage and flexibility and -- to improve overall energy supply. What is also true in principle is that, of course, in the summer and particularly in a phase like this conventional power plants that require cooling water have a problem.

But that doesn't mean that we do not need such a reserve. On the contrary, renewables are not available at all times.

And therefore, we believe that an integrated system, highly integrated system that offers all of these components, flexibility, battery storage, conventional power and renewables. This is what Europe really needs and ensures affordable energy for Europe.

So last comment on networks. Our network revenues do not depend at the end of the day, they depend on the regulated return.

So regardless of these dry periods.

And on the EIS side, we have 2 positive effects. We have new customer connections, which we commissioned in Germany and in Aschaffenburg, but we've also seen positive effects, the Coromatic data center business in Sweden and the delay we've seen in our heat business has given us the opportunity to pass on the material prices this year.

And this has had another positive effect compared with last year, both in our Nordic business segment and also in Germany.

Next on the list is [ Ms. Baitnar from DPA ].

I hope you can hear me.

Yes, we can hear you very well and also see you.

I've got 2 questions. One, after the colleagues have already asked about the heat situation.

I would like to look at it from another perspective, the low water levels. What's the situation there when it comes to the supply of components or whatever?

Is that secure? Are you affected?

Do you have to shift to transportation on the roads, maybe transformers, for example? And the second topic is drones.

A lot is being said about that at the moment as well. Do you believe your sites are properly protected?

Or would you want more support from policymakers as far as the threat situation is concerned?

Well, logistics for the components we need -- we use rail and trucks. Ships are not so relevant for us.

Of course, we will see indirect effects if the logistic freight -- the freight rates go up because lorries become more scarce and more expensive, then that will have an effect as well. But that's an indirect effect only, and it's not a main cost driver for us.

So we believe that the effect for us will be relatively small. If you compare that to a chemical industry -- chemical site along the River Rhine, they are affected in a totally different way than we are.

Now drones. That's a difficult question.

Of course. The answer is, of course, we cannot say that we are sufficiently protected in Germany.

We are unable at the moment to secure airports, the big, small airports we have. How could I then tell you that many of our 100 distributed grid points are fully under control.

That's not the case, of course. Germany, Europe needs to do more across the board.

We are in the process of improving the physical security of our sites also as part of the KRITIS legislation, and we have had initiatives ongoing for years. But when it comes to drones, we need to say that progress is so fast here and so huge that -- well, we simply need to say full 100% protection against drone attacks cannot be guaranteed.

What we need to guarantee what we need to prepare for is being able to restore the supply after what might be a successful attack. So full protection is an illusion, I think.

We can show that attacks are not simple, but we cannot ensure that it's impossible to attack us. This is a job for us.

we need to deal with. This is for the transmission system operators and E.ON to deal with because the high-voltage grid is the most attractive for attackers, but the -- that's where the interesting assets are.

Work is not becoming any easier and it's not becoming boring either.

Ms. Wagner, thank you very much.

At the moment, we do not have any further questions in the chat. Therefore, again, my question to you is there anything else?

Are there any further questions? Mr.

Steitz is coming back?

I have a short question concerning the business in Romania. The sale did not materialize, unfortunately, but you apparently had the intention to dispose of the business.

Do you see any options in the future? Or are you keeping the business after the transaction failed, although you no longer want to keep the business?

Could you put that in perspective, please?

We don't really want to speculate on M&A, but the businesses that we have are operated decently as long as we have them. And we didn't say that it's not an attractive business.

We had a more attractive offer that we pursued, which unfortunately didn't materialize, and that's why we currently are not -- cannot really comment on this further. We -- at the beginning of the year, we only mentioned that the disposal process was interrupted.

Mr. [ Jansen from FAZ ].

What you just mentioned, Mr. Birnbaum, concerning drones was very interesting.

It's clear that each and every line cannot be protected. But could you please explain without this being too detailed, what you have in terms of defense and what -- over the past few years, have you been setting up task forces over the past few years in order to protect your equipment, have you built up technological expertise, a power plant can be protected by a drone protection zone by a GPS network?

But for a line, I don't know if this is possible, how can you protect your lines even if you have the good intentions to do so?

Well, the protection of the airspace is something that the government has to ensure. We cannot ensure drone-free Germany.

Our networks are located everywhere. Of course, the threat situation is rising, and there is a greater awareness of this being a topic that we have to deal with.

And there is also a -- well, the industry, the politicians and the energy suppliers have closed ranks. We are working on this topic.

We have drone centers. We have teams of specialists that are being set up, and that's the right beginning.

What we need, in my opinion, is a system that works realistically. I, as a private person, feel that we need a system that is integrated that over airports, it will be the police, but beyond the airports, it will be the military.

We would be in charge of our equipment until the fence of the substation. These are things that we will have to develop over time.

And I do hope that at some stage, the awareness of the problem will exist. And what happened in Leipzig was a wake-up call.

We have systematic -- we systematically survey our critical infrastructure on a regular basis. And now we have to respond to what has been happening.

But it's a government task. We will make our contribution to this government task, but we cannot replace things or do what the government cannot ensure.

Another question from Julia Becker from FUNKE Media.

I'm from WAZ. A question concerning your subsidiary, Westnetz.

Two years ago, you had a problem after -- in customer service after an IT change. What are you doing for customers?

Or what are you optimizing in the area of customer service?

Well, let me put this in perspective. You said it accurately.

We had a major change in the IT system, and I had already mentioned that in my speech or in an earlier answer. We have to prepare our systems or have to upgrade our billing systems.

We now have increased the number of entities feeding electricity into the grid from 2 to 3 million PV systems are being integrated. Everything needs to be steered and controlled.

The measured values have increased exponentially. And with the smart meter rollout, we've been able to cope with this.

But with the old IT system, we were not able to do billing. In the whole of Germany, billing systems were changed.

Westnetz was the pilot company in this case. And we learned from the pilot because something failed, and that was in the area of existing systems that were being processed and changed.

And during the migration, we had loopholes. This had to be repaired manually, but 10,000s of values had to be done manually.

1 percentage point didn't work, and that led to the problems. But it would have not been an alternative not to do it.

The rollouts in the other companies went comparatively well. We didn't have the same problems as in Westnetz.

We've identified the problems. We have identified groups of problems that we are working on with task force with special task forces and teams that are working on these topics.

And together with the Federal Network Agency, we're looking at the problem and how things are developing so that we can solve the problem quickly. And for the customers, we have interim solutions, which made it possible that down payments are made so that they do not have to wait until the complex processes have been completed.

In addition, we have teams for special complex situation. So we're doing everything in order to make sure that the customers are not put at a financial disadvantage that the processes can be completed and that we will learn our lessons for the future.

But I would like to summarize that this is not our aspiration. Of course, we do not want our customers to feel any negative impact, but -- and we truly deplore that this was the case and that the customers were affected.

Thank you very much. We don't have any further requests for the floor in the chat.

I would now like to close the Q&A session. I would like to thank you warmly for participating.

Thank you very much to the journalists in the call and to the audience in the live stream, and thank you very much to Leo and Nadia. Thank you very much and all the best from Essen.