43 Related-party disclosures
Federal Republic of Germany and other related parties. The Federal Republic of Germany is both a direct and an indirect shareholder (via KfW Bankengruppe) and holds 31.9 % (December 31, 2019: 31.9 %) of the share capital of Deutsche Telekom AG. In previous years, this resulted in the Federal Republic of Germany representing a solid majority at the shareholders’ meetings of Deutsche Telekom AG due to its level of attendance, giving it control over Deutsche Telekom. Thanks to higher levels of attendance, the Federal Republic has not had a majority of the voting rights at the shareholders’ meetings of Deutsche Telekom AG since 2016. As such, it is no longer deemed to have control over Deutsche Telekom, but rather only a significant influence. Therefore, the Federal Republic and the companies controlled and jointly controlled by the Federal Republic, but not the companies over which the Federal Republic can exercise a significant influence are classified as related parties of Deutsche Telekom. In the course of business, Deutsche Telekom deals directly with these companies, and with authorities and other government agencies as an independent party. Deutsche Telekom participates in the spectrum auctions of the Bundesnetzagentur. The acquisition of mobile spectrum through licenses may result in build-out requirements.
The Federal Posts and Telecommunications Agency (Bundesanstalt für Post und Telekommunikation; Federal Agency) has been assigned certain tasks by law that affect cross-company issues at Deutsche Telekom AG, Deutsche Post AG, and Deutsche Postbank AG. The Federal Agency’s responsibilities include the continuation of the Civil Service Health Insurance Fund (Postbeamtenkrankenkasse), the Recreation Service (Erholungswerk), the Deutsche Bundespost Institution for Supplementary Retirement Pensions for Salaried Employees and Wage Earners (Versorgungsanstalt der Deutschen Bundespost), and the Welfare Service (Betreuungswerk) for Deutsche Telekom AG, Deutsche Post AG, and Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (as legal successor of Deutsche Postbank AG). The coordination and administrative tasks are performed on the basis of agency agreements. Up to and including the 2012 reporting year, Deutsche Telekom AG maintained a joint pension fund, Bundes-Pensions-Service für Post und Telekommunikation e.V., Bonn (Federal Pension Service for Post and Telecommunications – BPS-PT), together with Deutsche Post AG and Deutsche Postbank AG for civil-servant pension plans. The German Act on the Reorganization of the Civil Service Pension Fund (Gesetz zur Neuordnung der Postbeamtenversorgungskasse – PVKNeuG) transferred the functions of BPS-PT relating to civil-servant pensions (organized within the Civil Service Pension Fund) to the existing Federal Agency effective January 1, 2013. The civil-servant pension functions are therefore performed by the Civil Service Pension Fund as an integral part of the Federal Agency. This joint Civil Service Pension Fund works for the funds of all three companies and also handles the financial administration of the pension plan for the Federal Republic on a trust basis. For the 2020 financial year, Deutsche Telekom made payments in the amount of EUR 121 million (2019: EUR 146 million; 2018: EUR 123 million). Furthermore, payments are made to the Civil Service Pension Fund in accordance with the provisions of the Act on the Reorganization of the Civil Service Pension Fund.
For further information, please refer to Note 15 “Provisions for pensions and other employee benefits.”
The Federal Republic and the companies controlled and jointly controlled by the Federal Republic are customers or suppliers of Deutsche Telekom and as such have mutual contractual relationships with Deutsche Telekom.
There are no material revenue, receivables, or liabilities from or to joint ventures and associates.
Related individuals. In the reporting period, expenses for short-term benefits payable to members of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board amounted to EUR 20.5 million (2019: EUR 19.9 million) and expenses for other long-term benefits amounted to EUR 7.3 million (2019: EUR 4.4 million). Service cost of EUR 2.3 million (2019: EUR 2.4 million) was recorded for Board of Management benefits. In addition, expenses for share-based payment for Board of Management members were incurred in the amount of EUR 2.0 million (2019: EUR 2.0 million). No termination benefits were expensed in 2020 or 2019.
As of December 31, 2020, Deutsche Telekom recognized provisions for Board of Management and Supervisory Board compensation from short-term benefits of EUR 11.6 million (2019: EUR 11.4 million) and from other long-term benefits of EUR 14.3 million (2019: EUR 10.3 million). Furthermore, the present value of the defined benefit obligation (DBO) from the Board of Management pension amounts to EUR 28.0 million (2019: EUR 27.1 million).
The compensation of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board totaled EUR 32.2 million in the reporting year (2019: EUR 29.0 million).
For further information, please refer to the “Compensation report” in the combined management report and Note 44 “Compensation of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board.”
Employees elected to the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom AG continue to be entitled to a regular salary as part of their employment contract. The amount of the salary is the adequate compensation for their job or activity within the Company. Besides this, no major transactions took place with related individuals.
The members of the Board of Management and Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom AG are members of supervisory boards or management boards of other companies or are shareholders of other companies with which Deutsche Telekom AG maintains relations in the ordinary course of business. All related party transactions are performed on an arm’s length basis.