"EPH will manifest itself as a responsible owner of the eastern Germany lignite business. With the finalization of the purchase of the Lusatian lignite mining district 8,000 employees of the lignite industry and an entire region will have prospects. The 'Energiewende' in Germany will for the foreseeable future need a dependable partner like the competitive cost efficient lignite has been for years.
Our experience in the energy industry, especially the lignite industry, gives us the assurance that in Lusatia the management and employees carry out highly qualified and valuable industrial work in one of the world's most modern opencast mines and power plant fleets. We want to preserve this continuity.
Important decisions on extending the opencast mines will have to be made as soon as possible. We are well aware that for everyone in Lusatia this prolonged time of uncertainty must end. For this reason we will make an effort to complete our analyses by the end of this year in order to announce our well thought through decision.
Of course we must run our business according to the political framework. Despite the current debate on lignite arousing much controversy, we are convinced that when the last nuclear power plant in Germany is closed down in 2022 the importance of lignite will remain stable. The lignite power production is economical, provides full security of supply an is a domestic source of energy providing jobs to thousands of people in the region.
Therefore if we rely on the future of lignite, then also with trust that Germany will successfully shape the 'Energiewende' with good judgment and moderation. In this we would like to play our part."
