Greek police trace European Union carbon rights thieves

The theft of pollution permits that forced the closure of the spot market in EU emissions permits last week, may have originated in Romania, a Greek police official said on Saturday. 

Police identified between eight and 10 internet protocol addresses which hackers used to attack Greece's national registry for carbon trading rights, said the official who declined to be named. 

"We have located the addresses in Romania, Interpol has been notified," the official said.  

The spot market for EU emissions permits was closed after allowances worth up to €30 million ($41.12 million) were stolen from the national registries of several European countries.      

National registries are the place where so-called EU allowances (EUAs) are electronically assigned to trading companies and polluters in the EU emissions trading scheme, the bloc's chief weapon against climate change.

The theft, possibly a concerted hacker attack, was the latest in a string of scandals and added to factors discouraging other countries from adopting similar cap and trade systems.

The market remained shut on Friday, two days after an EU Commission deadline for a phased re-start.