Excise duty expert joins BLOMSTEIN

Excise duty expert Hardy Bublitz joined BLOMSTEIN as independent Senior Excise and Trade Advisor in February 2018. Hardy Bublitz, 58 years old, is a renowned expert in excise duties, especially with regard to energy and electricity taxes. He began his career in 1982 in the Federal Customs Administration, where he worked inter alia as an auditor in the mineral oil industry. In 1985, Hardy Bublitz joined Shell, where he held various executive positions until the end of 2017 – most recently as Head of Indirect Tax Advocacy & Litigation DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Hardy specialises in European and national customs law and excise duty law as well as indirect tax compliance. He is a distinguished speaker at events and trade conferences, and an esteemed lecturer in excise duty trainings and in-house seminars.

BLOMSTEIN will benefit from Hardy‘s experience in dealing with the Federal Ministry of Finance, the German Directorate General for Customs, main customs offices and financial courts. He also maintains an extensive network with contacts to the relevant European and national trade associations such as MWV, BDI and FuelsEurope as well as government bodies. Having worked at Shell for more than 30 years, Hardy knows the ins and outs of a multinational petroleum company.

Hardy’s appointment is an important step in strengthening and expanding BLOMSTEIN’s excise duty practice led by Roland Stein. Particularly in proceedings before financial courts, clients regularly benefit from the experience of our Of Counsel Reinhart Rüsken, former judge at the German Federal Financial Court, who has decisively influenced the German excise duty case law.

For further information, please do not hesitate to reach out to Roland Stein.