“Lignite – a sink for billions? New risks for taxpayers”
ZDF frontal21
The governments of the federal states of Saxony and Brandenburg do not require insolvency-proof guarantees for the recultivation of pits from the new owners of Vattenfall’s lignite operations, the TV channel ZDF’s magazine frontal21 reports. Czech investor EPH will be obliged to set aside provisions on its balance sheet to pay for the renaturation of pits. But unlike guarantees, which both states have asked for from smaller mining operations, such provisions would be lost should the company go bankrupt, potentially leaving tax payers to foot the bill, the report says.
Find a brief article on the report and a video link here.
CLEW provides background on Vattenfall’s sale of its lignite operation in east Germany in a factsheet.
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