Proceedings on-going before public administration courts involving Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. mainly concern disputes with local government units regarding property tax. This stems from the fact that in preparing property tax declarations LWB (like other mining companies in Poland) did not take into account the value of underground mining excavations or the value of equipment located therein. These cases concern refunds of overpayments and the way in which property tax base is calculated.
In order to protect the Group from any potential consequences in the form of late interest on property tax – provided that the municipalities’ decisions that include equipment and support structures located inside mining excavations are eventually upheld – LWB in mid-2019 decided to include the value of underground excavations and equipment in calculations regarding this tax (given the majority of case law involving tax on elements of mining excavations).
The Management Board of ENEA S.A. filed in December 2018 a response to a lawsuit brought by the Company’s shareholder, Fundacja „CLIENTEARTH Prawnicy dla ziemi,” based in Warsaw, to cancel, determine the non-existence or repeal resolution no. 3 of the Extraordinary General Meeting of ENEA S.A. of 24 September 2018 regarding directional approval to join the Construction Stage of the Ostrołęka C project, and demanded that the lawsuit be rejected in its entirety as unjustified, along with reimbursement of court representation costs. The first hearing in the case was held on 10 April 2019, with no witnesses called to the hearing. The Court requested that the Company provide the Investment Agreement within 14 days, at least as regards points 1 to 8 (especially point 8.6), subject to the trial consequences indicated in art. 233 § 2 of the Civil Procedure Code. ENEA’s attorney filed a reservation to the protocol pursuant to art. 162 of the Civil Procedure Code. On 24 April 2019, the Company provided the Investment Agreement. The Court decided to postpone the hearing to 17 July 2019. On 31 July 2019, the District Court in Poznań allowed the main claim and declared the Resolution invalid. On 17 September 2018, an attorney for ENEA S.A. submitted an appeal against the ruling of 31 July 2019. The complainant submitted a response to the appeal, to which ENEA S.A.’s attorney replied. On 8 July 2020 the Appeals Court dismissed the Company’s appeal against the District Court’s ruling. As indicated in verbal major reasons for the ruling, the Appeals Court decided that the District Court’s ruling complies with the law because the Resolution is invalid due to the fact that adopting the Resolution breached the division of competences between the organs of a commercial-law company. In consequence, the ruling by the District Court in Poznań invalidating the Resolution became final. The Group has assessed the impact of this event as neutral for the reported data.
The Management Board of ENEA S.A. filed in December 2018 a response to a lawsuit brought by Międzyzakładowy Związek Zawodowy Synergia Pracowników Grupy Kapitałowej ENEA, based in Poznań, to cancel, determine the non-existence or repeal resolution no. 3 of the Extraordinary General Meeting of ENEA S.A. of 24 September 2018 regarding directional approval to join the Construction Stage of the Ostrołęka C project, and demanded that the lawsuit be rejected in its entirety as unjustified, along with reimbursement of court representation costs. The hearing was scheduled for 8 May 2019. That hearing, and others scheduled for 30 July 2019 and 1 October 2019, did not take place. The hearing has been suspended until a final ruling is issued in a case instigated by a shareholder of the Company – Fundacja „CLIENTEARTH Prawnicy dla ziemi.” Through a decision of 26 May 2021, the District Court in Poznań dismissed the case.
On 23 June 2021, the management board of ENEA Elektrownia Połaniec S.A. („EEP”) received information from the Minister of Climate and Environment on an administrative proceeding being instigated ex officio regarding public aid received by EEP in the form of CO2 emission allowances for 2016 for the modernisation of power generating units in 2013-2016 (tasks included in the National Investment Plan). EEP’s management board notes that the proceeding concerns a period in which EEP was owned by ENGIE (ENGIE International Holdings B.V.).
The estimated value of the public aid received back then, understood as the sum total of allowances prices as of the date on which each of the tranches was awarded in the aforementioned years, is approx. PLN 170 million, plus potential penalty interest. To the best knowledge of EEP’s management board, the ecological effect of these investments was achieved, and the ecological effect for these investments was also confirmed by an external, independent auditor in 2016 and 2017.
On 21 July 2021, EEP’s management board submitted explanations to the Ministry of Climate and Environment, confirming the ecological effect for these investments, along with an expanded opinion by an independent auditor. In its response to the notice, the management board also requested that the Minister of Climate and Environment dismiss this administrative proceeding.
On 9 August 2021 EEP’s Management Board received a decision from the Minister of Climate and Environment on the dismissal of the entire proceeding.