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Disclosed payment flows 2020

Participating companies and sector coverage

Of the 43 companies and/or consolidated group companies identified by the Independent Administrator in accordance with the requirements of the MSG, a total of 17 companies or groups of companies participated in the reporting process during the preparation of this EITI report.
It should be noted that the identification of companies or groups of companies was based on an estimate of the companies likely to be subject to the statutory requirements (cf. Chapter 10.b.ii. for details). Following the expiry of the deadlines for publication of the payment reports for the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 and the experience gained from the publication of the payment reports for the periods 2016 to 2019, it has become apparent that the number of payment reports actually published is lagging behind the number of companies or consolidated groups that have been identified. An estimation or assessment of the number of companies or groups of companies participating in the EITI reporting process should therefore also be made against the background of the actually-published payment reports. Taking into account the high coverage in the lignite, natural gas, crude oil, potash and salt sectors with regard to the production volume and the reported mining and extraction royalties, the participation can be assessed as positive.
All payment reports submitted by companies pursuant to §§ 341 q et seq. HGB are publicly available and can be inspected in the Federal Gazette . In the course of drawing up the first D-EITI report, the MSG, at the suggestion of the civil society, made a list of the companies identified that did not participate in the reporting for the first report of the D-EITI or in that of the supplementary report. In view of the public availability of the payment reports and the legal objections that the government has raised against naming these companies, the MSG has refrained from naming the non-participating companies for this fifth D-EITI report, as it did for the previous D-EITI reports. The legal concerns which, from the government’s point of view, oppose the naming of the companies are set out as follows:
On the one hand, data protection law applies in cases where the company name allows conclusions to be drawn about a specific natural person, such as when a company is named as a sole trader (possibly with further details such as the registered office). This is the case for at least two companies that have not reported under D-EITI, so that they may not be named for reasons of data protection.
On the other hand, it is to be feared that the publication of company names in the D-EITI report without sufficient legal basis could interfere with the fundamental right of companies to freely exercise their profession (Article 12 GG). There is no legal obligation to name the companies.
Protected property in Art. 12 GG includes free entrepreneurial activity serving profit purposes. The publication of the company names in the D-EITI report would intervene in the protected property as an act of state economic control, because the publication of all those company names that did not participate in the reconciliation could result in a certain pillory effect which could lead in turn to the fact that the companies feel compelled to agree to a reconciliation. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the data to be transmitted by the companies (payment flows such as corporate income tax, extraction and mine site royalties, incl. trade tax) are actually trade, business and tax secrets.
Publishing the names of these companies would also not be legally justifiable with regard to the decisions of the BVerfG (Federal Constitutional Court) in the so-called Glykol or Scientology case. In the cases in question, the Federal Constitutional Court decided that the Federal Government could fulfil its warning and information obligations even without a legal basis, especially if (e.g. as in the case of glycol) there are interests worth protecting on the part of consumers which are in favour of a warning (consumer health). However, there are no comparable interests among the companies, which did not report under the D-EITI.

Participating companies and/or groups of companies per sector

The following overview shows the distribution of the participating companies and/or consolidated companies throughout the various sectors for the fifth D-EITI report:

Sector

1

BEB Erdgas und Erdöl GmbH & Co. KG, Hannover

Crude oil and natural gas

2

Dyckerhoff-Gruppe, Wiesbaden

Quarried natural resources

3

ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, Hamburg

Crude oil and natural gas

4

Heidelberger Sand und Kies GmbH, Heidelberg

Quarried natural resources

5

Holcim (Deutschland) GmbH, Hamburg

Quarried natural resources

6

Hülskens Holding GmbH & Co. KG

Quarried natural resources

7

JTSD-Braunkohlebergbau GmbH, Zeitz

Lignite

8

K+S – Gruppe


K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH

Potash and salts

9

Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG, Cottbus

Lignite

10

Neptune Energy Deutschland GmbH, Lingen (Ems)

Crude oil and natural gas

11

Quarzwerke GmbH, Frechen

Quarried natural resources

12

RWE – Gruppe

Rheinische Baustoffwerke GmbH, Bergheim

RWE Power AG, Essen


Quarried natural resources

Lignite

13

Sibelco Deutschland GmbH, Ransbach-Baumbach

Quarried natural resources

14

Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG, Heilbronn

Potash and salts

15

Vermillion Energy Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Schönefeld

Crude oil and natural gas

16

Wacker Chemie AG, München

Potash and salts

17

Wintershall Holding AG (vormals DEA Deutsche Erdöl AG und Wintershall GmbH)

Quarried natural resources

The recording of government revenues from the extractive sector is difficult in Germany for various reasons. First of all, it should be noted that in Germany only the mine site and extraction royalties are a specific levy for the extractive sector. Moreover, companies in the extractive sector, like companies in other sectors, contribute to tax revenue, in particular in the form of corporate tax and trade tax or, depending on their legal form, income tax. Statistically, the total payments of corporate income tax and trade tax made by the extractive sector are not promptly recorded – they can only be extrapolated from other data.

Furthermore, German tax law has special features that make it difficult to record the tax revenues of the sector as a whole. The most important of these is the fiscal unity, which results in subsidiaries operating in the extractive sector not being recorded as taxable entities themselves, but instead in income taxes being paid on their earnings by a parent company, although the parent company itself is often not active in the extractive sector. At the level of the parent company, however, it is not possible to allocate the tax payments made to the individual companies included in the scope of consolidation (cf. Selection of payment flows). Furthermore, recording and allocation of trade tax are also made more difficult by the federal structure of the State system in Germany, as trade tax is levied by the individual municipalities.

A further difficulty lies in the clear classification of the companies that are active in the extractive sector and therefore have to prepare a payment report. This may result in deviations within the scope of recording under commercial law based on the EU Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU of June 26, 2013 and the statistical recording of sector-related government revenues.

Against this background, the production volume, supplemented by the extraction royalties, is the best possible yardstick for the coverage of the sectors.

Coverage of sectors

The following overview shows the coverage of the respective sectors by the group of identified companies and the companies actually participating in the reporting process, with their respective reference values upon which the determination procedure was based:

Sectors*

Estimated coverage of all identfied companies

Estimated coverage of all participating companies

Reference value-
Determination
Coverage

Lignite

100,0 %

99,5 %

Production volume 2020

Crude oil**

95,6 %

95,6 %

Production volume 2020

Natural gas

99,4 %

99,4 %

Production volume 2020

Potash and potash salt products

97,5%

97,5 %

usable quantity in 2020

Rock salt

96,5 %

k.A.***

usable quantity in 2020

Boiled salt

99,7 %

99,7%

usable quantity in 2020

 

Overall overview of reported company data

The following overview shows the 2020 payments made by the participating companies to government agencies for corporate tax, trade tax, lease payments and payments to improve the infrastructure:

Corporate tax


€

Trade tax


€

 Mine site/ extraction royalties

€

Lease

payments

€

Payments into the infrastructure

€

Totals

€

1

BEB Erdgas und Erdöl GmbH & Co. KG

-¹

8,111,338.35

20,023,981.39

–

–

28,135,319.74

2

Dyckerhoff-Gruppe

3,188,260.23

2,071,128.98

–

–

–

5,259,389.21

3

ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH

7,089,209.00²

16,315,776.00

14,632,202.00

–

–

38,037,187.00

4

Heidelberger Sand und Kies GmbH

–

123,352.00

199,371.00

474,653.00

–

797,376.00

5

Holcim (Deutschland) GmbH

248,625.50

405,169.00

–

550,000.00

–

1,203,794.50

6

Hülskens Holding GmbH & Co. KG

–

1,986,260.91

–

–

–

1,986,260.91

7

JTSD-Braunkohlebergbau GmbH/MIBRAG

4,045,363.54

4,118,037.36

–

–

–

8,163,400.90

8

K+S-Minerals and Agriculture GmbH

-²

-²

1,072,908.90

–

–

1,072,908.90

9

LEAG Lausitzer Energie Bergbau AG

–

–

–

2,313,431.20

2,589,627.76

4,903,058.96

10

Neptune Energy Deutschland GmbH (ehemals: Engie E&P Holding Germany GmbH)

-²

-²

6,856,478.46

–

–

6,856,478.46

11

Quarzwerke GmbH

4,620,000.00

4,367,000.00

–

–

–

9,987,000.00

12

RWE-Gruppe/RWE Power AG

-²

-²

–

–

20,640,429.00

20,640,429.00

RWE-Gruppe/Rheinische Baustoffwerke GmbH

-²

-²

–

109,458.00

–

109,458.00

13

Sibelco Gruppe

621,688.00

549,869.00

–

–

–

1,171,557.00

14

Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG

2,373,749.99

3,849,082.37

–

–

–

6,222,832.36

15

Vermillion Energy Germany GmbH & Co. KG

-¹

–

1,461,161.00

–

–

1,461,161.00

16

Wacker Chemie AG

-³

10,242.00

164,197.58

–

–

174,439.58

17

Wintershall DEA AG (formerly  DEA Deutsche Erdöl AG und Wintershall GmbH)

6,567,375.00

-²

54,887,307.61

–

–

61,454,682.61

Total amount of reported payments from all companies

28,754,271.26

41,907,255.97

99,297,607.94

3,447,542.20

23,230,056.76

196,636,734.31

1 No payments have been made due to the legal form of the company

3 Payments are made by the parent company

3 No payment information available due to the existence of a consolidated tax group

 

The reports on the payment flows of corporate tax and trade tax illustrate the high relevance of consolidated tax groups in Germany. In these cases, if the main activity of the consolidated tax group does not involve the extraction of natural resources, the details of the taxes paid by the parent company can be omitted (cf. footnote 3 table 14). On the other hand, if the consolidated tax group is mainly active in the extractive industry, a report (on a pro rata or complete basis) of the taxes paid by the parent company is required (see also Quality assurance procedure).

At the request of the MSG, the content and the composition of the reported payments to improve infrastructure were further analysed by the Independent Administrator in cooperation with the reporting companies. Payments are recorded based on statutory regulations (land transfer taxes) and payments based on private legal contracts between companies and public authorities (towns, municipalities and associations). The latter include the reconciliation of additional administrative costs caused by mining activities or services in connection with the construction and maintenance of local public infrastructures. The published payment reports for 2020 pursuant to §§341q et seq. HGB also show payments of water abstraction fees.

Data reported for mine site and extraction royalties per government agencies

Mine site/ extraction royalties

Amount according to the company
€

State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology, Hannover (LBEG)

58,787,121.60

LBEG for: Tax authority, Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel

36,140,095.93

LBEG for: Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg

96,822.53

Government of Upper Bavaria, Southern Bavarian Mining Authority, Munich

373,892.36

State Office for Geology and Mining, Mainz-Hechtenheim

2.345,758.04

State Office for Geology and Mining, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle

82,815.44

Arnsberg district government, Arnsberg

118,440.00

Regional Council Darmstadt, Wiesbaden

990,093.46

Freiburg State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining

164,197.58

Pfalzer Rheinauen Forestry Office, Bellheim

199,371.00

Total

99,297,607.94

 

 

(1) Go to https://www.bundesanzeiger.de/; enter the search term “Zahlungsberichte” (“Payment reports”) in the “Suchen” (“Find”) field.

Disclosed payment flows 2020

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Glossar

In Federal States in which legislation does not include an excavation law and the State-level Nature Conservation Law does not apply to the extraction of non-energetic, ground-based natural resources in the context of dry excavations, this type of natural resource extraction falls within the scope of the relevant state building regulations.

Legal limitations also exist: State building regulations apply to the excavation of solid rock (limestone, basalt, etc.), for example, in quarries with an area of up to 10 hectares (ha) in which no blasting is carried out. In the event that this area is exceeded, or if water bodies are formed after completion of the extraction operations, the German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) and/or Water Resources Act (WHG) are applicable.
In Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, the above-ground excavation of non-energetic, ground-based natural resources in the context of dry excavations is determined at state level by the existing excavation laws (AbgrG). For the excavation of solid rock (limestone, basalt, etc.) in quarries where blasting does not occur, the AbgrG applies to sites with an area of up to 10 ha. In the event that this area is exceeded, or if water bodies are formed after completion of the extraction operations, the German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) and/or Water Resources Act (WHG) are applicable. In the other Federal States, this type of natural resources extraction is regulated by the respective state building regulations or by the state-level nature conservation laws.

In general, the AbgrG applies to those raw materials the excavation of which is not directly subject to mining law or the mining authorities. These raw materials include (in particular) gravel, sand, clay, loam, limestone, dolomite and other rocks, bog mud and clays. However, the jurisdiction between AbgrG and mining law can vary from case to case in the case of certain raw materials, such as quartz gravels. The requested authority must always verify its own jurisdiction in each case. The AbgrG also encompasses surface area usage and the subsequent rehabilitation of the area.
The German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) is the most important and practice-relevant law in the field of environmental law. It constitutes the basis for the approval of industrial and commercial installations. In the natural resources extraction industry, quarrying companies must have approval to extract stones and earth. Every quarrying area of 10 hectares or more must undergo a full approval procedure, including public participation and UVP (environmental impact assessment). A more simplified approval procedure is used for quarrying areas of less than 10 hectares.

The sphere of responsibility for the legal immission control approval procedure is fully specified in the Immission Control Acts of the Federal States. The Federal States are tasked with the administrative enforcement of the approval procedure. Each individual state’s Environment Ministry – the highest local immission protection authority – usually bears the responsibility for this procedure. Subordinate authorities include regional councils, district authorities and lower-level administrative authorities. Administrative jurisdiction generally lies with the lower-level administrative authorities.
The GDP measures the value of goods and services produced domestically (creation of value) within a given period (quarter, year). The Federal Office of Statistics calculates the GDP as follows: production value minus intermediate consumption = the gross value added; plus taxes on products and minus subsidies = GDP
The gross value added is calculated by deducting intermediate consumption from the production values, so it only includes the value added created during the production process. The gross value added is valued at manufacturing prices, i.e. without the taxes due (product taxes), but including the product subsidies received.

During the transition from gross value added (at manufacturing prices) to GDP, the net taxes (product taxes less product subsidies) are added globally to arrive at an assessment of the GDP at market prices’. Source: Destatis
The planning approval procedure under mining law is used for the approval procedure of a general operating plan for projects which require an environmental impact assessment (§§ 52(2a), in conjunction with 57 a of the BBergG).
There are different definitions and methodological approaches at the international as well as at the national level as to what subsidies are and how they are calculated. According to the definition of the German government’s subsidy report, this report considers federal subsidies for private companies and economic sectors (ie grants as cash payments and tax breaks as special tax exemptions) which are relevant to the budget. Subsidies at the federal level can be viewed via the subsidy reports of the federal states (see Appendix 5 of the German government subsidy report).
In compliance with § 68(1), Water Resources Act (WHG), the excavation of landowners’ natural resources such as gravel, sand, marl, clay, loam, peat and stone in wet extraction operations requires a planning approval procedure. The reason for this is that groundwater is exposed in wet extraction, resulting in above-ground water. The planning approval procedure is implemented by lower-level water authorities.

The procedural steps of the planning approval procedure are governed by the general provisions of §§ 72 to 78 of the Administrative Procedures Act (VerwVfG). Within the meaning of § 68(3), nos. 1 and 2 of the WHG, the plan may only be established or approved if an impairment of the common good is not to be expected and other requirements of the WHG as well as other public-law provisions are fulfilled.