As of: February 22, 2024, 5:52 p.m
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The lawyer Andreas Urban speaks at a press conference.
© Jens Büttner/dpa
The MV Climate Foundation was controversial from the start.
Especially because it was founded to complete the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Dissolving them, as demanded by the state parliament, is not possible.
Schwerin - The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Climate and Environmental Protection Foundation, financed with money from Russia, can remain in existence despite the state parliament's decision to the contrary.
“Due to the current legal situation, there is no possibility of dissolving the foundation or terminating it in any other way by the board or the foundation supervisory authority,” says a report presented on Thursday in Schwerin by lawyer Andreas Urban.
In November 2023, State Parliament President Birgit Hesse commissioned the renewed legal review from a renowned law firm headquartered in Düsseldorf in order to pacify the ongoing dispute in Parliament on the issue.
The foundation is politically highly controversial because it was founded to enable the completion of the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea.
Hesse said her goal was for the state parliament, together with the state government and the foundation board, to find a way to find an amicable solution.
“I am still available for this path,” she emphasized.
However, the reactions from the ranks of the opposition parties already made it clear that an agreement on the issue was unlikely.
On March 1, 2022, under the immediate impact of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the state parliament decided by a large majority to dissolve the foundation.
A report prepared on behalf of the state government saw this as possible.
However, the board, led by former Prime Minister Erwin Sellering (SPD), refused to implement the decision, citing foundation law, and in turn submitted a counter report that classified the dissolution as legally unenforceable.
According to Urban's assessment, the report, which considered the foundation's dissolution to be possible, was based on assumptions that had not been confirmed.
The foundation expert argued that the representation that the Nord Stream 2 foundation's funds were so-called blood money is untenable because the money did not come directly from criminal transactions and flowed before the start of the war of aggression.
In addition, with the dissolution of the economic part, all of the foundation's contacts with Nord Stream were cut off, and with the change in the statutes, climate and environmental protection that serves the common good is now the foundation's sole goal.
The foundation also has enough money to implement it.
According to Urban, the foundation's assets still amount to around 16 million euros.
The lawyer certified that Sellering's foundation board was acting in accordance with the law, but also explained that the state parliament's resolution to dissolve the company was not legally objectionable.
However, the dissolution of a foundation should always be viewed as a last resort and is not necessary in this case.
Urban suggested abolishing the political influence of the state government on the foundation, which previously determined the board, and putting the foundation entirely in private hands.
“The discussions are already making the foundation’s activities more difficult,” said the lawyer.
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The MV Climate Protection Foundation was founded at the beginning of 2021 to enable the completion of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline while circumventing threats of sanctions from the USA against the companies involved.
The subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom contributed 20 million euros to the foundation for environmental projects, and the country contributed 200,000 euros.
The foundation's business operations, which were temporarily set up to complete the construction of the gas pipeline and were also financed by Nord Stream 2, were wound up.
A special committee of the state parliament deals with the background and circumstances of the founding of the foundation and its impact.
According to Interior Minister Christian Pegel (SPD), the state government responded to the state parliament's decision within the scope of its legal possibilities.
“There has been a partial dissolution through complete dissolution of the foundation's economic business operations.
This was also appreciated by the expert,” emphasized Pegel.
According to his own admission, he was significantly involved in the formulation of the foundation's statutes and is also criticized for this.
Pegel expressed the hope that the new report would make the debate about the foundation more objective.
“We are of course available for further discussions,” he emphasized.
After the report was published, foundation board member Sellering thanked State Parliament President Hesse for her initiative.
“With the representative Dr.
Urban managed to present an important proposal to objectify the conflict.
Now the state parliament can discuss how it will view the foundation in the future,” said Sellering.
According to CDU MP Sebastian Ehlers, the new report does not change his party's stance.
“The political will to dissolve the foundation remains for our group.
A lot of time was wasted due to the charade of Manuela Schwesig and her political foster father Erwin Sellering,” complained Ehlers.
FDP parliamentary group leader René Domke also criticized the fact that the delay had prevented the implementation of the state parliament's decision.
The FDP is not available for subsequent greenwashing of the foundation, as indicated.
In the opinion of Green MP Constanze Oehlrich, the results of the foundation representative appointed by the President of the State Parliament were predictable.
“You can’t shake the impression that the red-red coalition is ordering so many reports until one fits their view.”
SPD parliamentary group Julian Barlen, on the other hand, certified that the expert had done profound work with clear results.
“It must therefore be accepted that the state parliament's resolution of March 1, 2022, passed by the SPD, Die Linke, FDP, CDU and Greens - beyond the separation from Nord Stream 2 and the winding up of commercial business operations - is no longer legally complete can be implemented,” he said.
The possibility shown by Urban of separating the foundation from any state influence could be the solution to come close to the original will of the state parliament.
Torsten Koplin from the Left also called for recognizing the realities.
The expert clearly explained that there was no justification for liquidation.
According to AfD MP Horst Förster, the report confirmed his group's position on all points.
He demanded that the decision to dissolve the foundation be withdrawn.
dpa