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Still No Word from Interblue, Ministry Vows to Act
Wednesday 17 February 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Holic, February 17 (TASR) - U.S.-based company Interblue Group, which bought 15 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide emission quotas from Slovakia in 2008, still hasn't submitted relevant documents concerning transfer of the company's business rights to Swiss company Interblue Group Europe, TASR learnt on Wednesday.
Speaking after a Government session in Holic (Trnava region) on Wednesday, Environment Minister Jozef Medved said that the company has failed to respond to the ministry's letter dated February 2. In its letter, the ministry notified the company of its failure to submit the documentation.
"They haven't answered at all, we'll act then," said Medved, but was reluctant to specify what measures are planned.
Environment Ministry officials met Jana Luetken, a board member of Interblue group Europe, in Zurich on January 20, with the meeting ending in confusion. Luetken begged out with complaints of concussion after being hit by a door being opened by a journalist, whom she accused of assault.
The documents pertaining to the company transfer were missing at the meeting, however, and the company was asked to deliver them by January 31. "Given that the deadline has passed, and with respect to the weekend with which January ended, the ministry expects that what was agreed on will be carried out in the next few days," said Kaplanova.
As well, Environment Minister Medved, a Smer nominee brought in to replace a succession of SNS ministers, declared on January 12 that Slovakia will insist that the Interblue Group's legal successor should pay an additional €15 million – a bonus tied to so-called green projects. "We're going to take all measures possible to ensure that the matter ends well for Slovakia," he promised.
The case goes back to 2008, when Slovakia sold 15 million tonnes of emission quotas to the Interblue Group for €75 million at a rate of €5.05 per tonne. The deal was harshly criticised by the Opposition, and received huge media attention. According to the contract, an extra euro per tonne should have been paid for the aforementioned green projects, but this didn't happen. Luetken said in early December that the projects weren't well defined, and that the company therefore wouldn't pay the outstanding €15 million to Slovakia.
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