France last year applied a 3 percent levy on revenue from digital services earned in France but suspended collection of the tax. The French Finance Ministry has sent out notices to big tech companies liable for its digital service tax to pay the levy as planned in December, the ministry said on Wednesday. Source NBCNews
Britain, which faces soaring natural gas prices, has been forced to run coal-fired power stations in order to secure energy supplies, electricity generation company Drax said on Thursday. Source France24
Two more energy firms have ceased trading as rocketing wholesale gas and electricity prices push the majority of the UK’s smaller energy suppliers to the brink. Avro Energy and energy firm Green have both collapsed today putting hundreds of thousands of customers into limbo. Ofgem has reassured people affected that their energy supplies will continue. Source Wales Online
Russian gas giant Gazprom has turned down an option to maximize gas shipments to Europe as the continent faces a looming energy crisis amid surging natural gas prices. Gazprom did not book any of the additional capacity available in transit pipelines running through Ukraine in auctions for October, the state-run Interfax news agency reported Monday. The company also reserved only a third of the space it was offered on the Yamal gas pipeline, which goes through Poland. Source The Moscow Times
