Schwerin (dpa / mv) - The controversial climate protection foundation MV sees a letter from the tax office Ecovis, which is entrusted with tax matters, confirming its view that it is exempt from gift tax. "Since the MV Climate and Environmental Protection Foundation serves exclusively the purposes of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the donations from Nord Stream 2 AG to the MV Climate and Environmental Protection Foundation also fall within the scope of the tax exemption standard of Section 13 Paragraph 1 No. 15 2. Alternative ErbStG", says the statement distributed in Schwerin on Friday.
The foundation was set up by the state in early 2021 to promote climate protection and at the same time to actively support the completion of the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The main financier of the foundation was the Gazprom subsidiary Nord Stream 2 AG with 20 million euros, the state provided 200,000 euros as a contribution.
The tax office Ecovis points out that the 20 million euros provided by Nord Stream have been transferred in full to the account of the public interest area and, according to the will of the donor and according to the foundation's statutes, "may only be used for public interest purposes". According to the board of directors, the business part of the foundation, through which work and services for pipeline construction are said to have been carried out in the amount of 165 million euros, has largely been dissolved.
As the Ministry of Finance in Schwerin had already announced in April, the Ribnitz-Damgarten tax office, which is responsible for such matters, was entrusted with examining a possible tax exemption for the foundation. The results of these investigations have not yet been reported.
The aim of the state government is to quickly dissolve the foundation and to promote climate protection with its own funds through the state energy agency. In response to the war of aggression against Ukraine, the money from Russian gas deals is no longer to be used for the original purpose and instead made available for humanitarian purposes.
