Thursday newspaper round-up: Offshore windfarms, hydrogen heating trial, Amazon

(Sharecast News) - The Cyprus police force is investigating how an oligarch attempted to transfer a £1bn stake in a public company on the day he was placed under EU sanctions, government insiders have told the Guardian. News of the involvement of the financial crime squad came as the Cypriot government and the European Union responded to revelations that local service providers appear to have played a key role in enabling Russian oligarchs to shield assets from EU sanctions within days of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. - Guardian The government will offer significantly higher subsidies for new offshore windfarms after crisis talks with developers that are battling cost inflation across global energy supply chains. Ministers have agreed to raise the starting price of the government's next auction for offshore wind subsidies by around two-thirds to £73 per megawatt hour to help more offshore windfarm projects to move ahead despite higher costs. - Guardian

The Energy Secretary is poised to approve a landmark hydrogen heating trial in a north Yorkshire town despite growing local protests. It is understood Claire Coutinho is "minded to approve" the scheme in Redcar, with an announcement expected in weeks. Government support for the project will pave the way for Northern Gas Networks (NGN) to start supplying up to 2,000 homes with hydrogen instead of gas for heating and cooking, in the first trial of its size. - Telegraph

The owner of Boots is understood to be close to striking a deal for Legal & General to take over more responsibility for its £5 billion legacy staff pension scheme in a transaction that could help revive plans to sell the health and beauty chain. The US group Walgreens Boots Alliance has been negotiating a so-called pension risk transfer deal with L&G for some time, taking advantage of rising bond yields that have propelled the traditional defined benefit scheme into surplus. - The Times

Amazon is refusing to promote employees who do not follow its policy of returning to the office for at least three days a week. "Promotions are one of the many ways we support employees' growth and development, and there are a variety of factors we consider when determining an employee's readiness for the next level, an Amazon spokesman said. - The Times