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Osteebad Binz

Photo: Stefan Sauer/ DPA

In the dispute over two LNG terminals planned off the Baltic Sea island of Rügen, the operating company Deutsche ReGas has won a preliminary legal victory. The Regional Court of Munich I prohibited the lawyer Reiner Geulen, who was commissioned by the municipality, from making several allegations against the company.

Geulen is no longer allowed to spread the word that the bosses of the operating company have not yet appeared in the energy sector and that there is no business activity at their headquarters in Bruchsal. In addition, Geulen is no longer allowed to claim that the managing director of Deutsche ReGas has transferred capital or "financial corporations" from the Cayman Islands to Germany.

However, the court refused to completely prohibit Geulen from alleging a "non-transparent financing background" against the LNG project. The lawyer is only no longer allowed to establish a connection with corporations in the Cayman Islands.

The ruling is an injunction that is not yet final.

At the end of July, lawyer Reiner Geulen said that research had revealed inconsistencies, among other things, in the origin of the money for the privately financed LNG plant. Above all, it was about alleged links between Deutsche ReGas and a fund in the Cayman Islands, which are considered a tax and money laundering paradise. Geulen called for an investigation by the customs financial investigators.

Deutsche ReGas immediately rejected the allegations. In addition to a re-examination of its own investors, the company also announced legal action against the "inaccurate allegations and suspicions".

The Rügen municipality is opposed to the fact that two floating terminals for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are to be anchored in the port of Mukran, within sight of the Binz beaches. There is sharp criticism of the project from the local tourism industry as well as from environmentalists and climate activists, which also provides for the construction of a connecting pipeline to Lubmin. The German government is funding the project and argues with the security of supply in the country.

Deutsche ReGas already operates an LNG terminal vessel in the port of Lubmin, which is to be relocated to Mukran with the construction of the new connecting infrastructure. In addition, another floating terminal is to be built.

ssu/AFP/dpa