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Miklos: We'll Tax Surplus Emission Limits at 80 percent
Friday 26 November 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, November 26 (TASR) - Slovak companies received overly generous emission limits from the previous government worth €660 million for the period 2008-2012, Finance Minister Ivan Miklos (SDKU-DS) said on Friday.
According to Miklos, these limits were disadvantageous for the state and therefore the ministry has decided to tax these surplus amounts. For 2011 and 2012, these surplus quotas will be hit with an 80-percent tax, which would yield €150 million for the state coffers. Miklos added that the rules for the system will be changed for the 2013-2020 period.
"These revenues will at least partially cover the loss caused by Robert Fico's government, which acted in favour of private companies instead of in the public interest," said Miklos, adding that the new taxation will affect 133 firms.
As many as 37 companies received quotas that exceeded their actual consumption by more than 30 percent in 2005 and 2006 from Fico's government. He mentioned the multinational wood processor Mondi SCP, for example, which received a limit for 391,000 tonnes while its actual consumption reached barely half that.
At the same time, Miklos didn't rule out that he may file a criminal complaint if it is discovered that a crime was involved.
[Miklos's claims thus may be interpreted that the companies involved may have earned money from the surplus quotas. The state emission business during Fico's reign experienced a major scandal involving the shady U.S.-based company Interblue Group that bought 15 million tonnes of emission quotas from the Environment Ministry at a rate of €5.05 per tonne. The then opposition claimed that the price was about half what it should have been. - ed. note.]
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