Court Rejects PGniG's Attempt to Limit Gazprom's Use of Opal Pipeline
A German court on Friday confirmed it had rejected a request by Polish energy company PGniG and its German subsidiary for an injunction to block Russia's Gazprom from increasing its use of the Opal pipeline in eastern Germany. The case is part of a long-running dispute over the routes for transporting Russian gas to Europe. The Duesseldorf higher regional court said in a statement to Reuters that relevant applications had been rejected on Oct.
Former Deutsche Banker Jailed for Carbon Trading Fraud
A former Deutsche Bank employee was sentenced to three years in jail on Monday for his part in a scheme trading carbon emission permits to fraudulently collect 220 million euros ($248 million)in sales tax. The case stems from an investigation into so-called carousel trades in the European Union's carbon market in 2009 and 2010, in which some buyers imported emissions permits in one EU country without paying value-added tax (VAT).
Briton Extradited in Carbon Trading Probe
A Briton arrested in Las Vegas last year in connection with suspected evasion of taxes worth 136 million euros ($153 million) in the trading of carbon emissions certificates has been extradited to Germany, local prosecutors said. The move is part of a probe into so-called carousel trades made in 2009 and 2010, in which buyers imported emissions permits in one European Union country without paying value-added tax (VAT) and then sold them to each other…
German Court to Decide on Nuclear Exit Complaints in 2015
Germany's highest court aims to decide this year on complaints filed by the country's biggest utilities against a decision to phase out nuclear power faster than initially planned, a spokesman for the court said on Tuesday. E.ON, RWE and Vattenfall all filed complaints with Germany's Constitutional Court in the wake of the decision, taken by the government in 2011 as a direct result of Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster. Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoffc
Somali Pirate Sentenced to 12 Years by German Court
A German court sentenced a Somali asylum-seeker to 12 years in jail on Thursday, for his involvement in the pirate hijacking of a tanker in the Indian Ocean in 2010. The judge in the Osnabrueck court in northern Germany said the man was guilty of kidnapping and severe extortion. The ship was released for a ransom of $5.5 million after eight months in the hands of Somali pirates. "After four months of extensive evidence gathering…
German Court: Utilities to be Reimbursed Nuclear Fuel Tax
A Hamburg court on Monday said it reached a preliminary decision that would see German utilities being reimbursed more than 2.2 billion euros ($3.06 billion) in nuclear fuel taxes they paid in the past. The decision is not yet legally binding, a spokesman for the court said. ($1 = 0.7201 Euros) (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
