25. Contingent Liabilities and Other Financial Commitments
Contingent Liabilities
The following table shows contingent liabilities from warranty agreements and other contingent liabilities as of the reporting date:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dec. 31, 2021 |
|
Dec. 31, 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
€ million |
|
€ million |
Warranty contracts |
|
4 |
|
4 |
Other contingent liabilities |
|
5 |
|
8 |
Total |
|
9 |
|
12 |
Other Financial Commitments
Other financial obligations consisted of the following:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dec. 31, 2021 |
|
Dec. 31, 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
€ million |
|
€ million |
Orders already placed for started or planned investment projects |
|
335 |
|
304 |
Loan commitments to pension funds |
|
219 |
|
117 |
Total |
|
554 |
|
421 |
Some of the pension obligations allocable to the Covestro Group are funded through pension institutions used jointly with other companies (especially Bayer AG, Leverkusen (Germany)). In such cases, it can generally be contractually ensured that Covestro participates accordingly in funding measures that serve to guarantee adequate funding status and/or adequate solvency capital of these pension institutions for the long term. To this end, Covestro AG agreed to grant interest-bearing loans of up to €208 million to Bayer-Pensionskasse VVaG, Leverkusen (Germany), and up to €11 million to Rheinische Pensionskasse VVaG, Leverkusen (Germany), for the effective initial fund to be drawn down as required. Upon drawdown of the initial fund loan, the loan commitments to the pension funds were reduced by €102 million to €117 million as of December 31, 2022 (previous year: €219 million).
In fiscal 2022, Covestro received government grants on the basis of the guideline entitled “Subsidies for indirect CO2 costs” published by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action on September 1, 2022; these subsidies are subject to specific measures to improve energy efficiency being carried out in accordance with section 4.2.1a of this guideline. These requirements must be met by no later than December 31, 2024 and Covestro expects to be able to meet these requirements.