Berlin dismisses report it may reduce compensation sought from Toll Collect

Germany's economy ministry on Sunday dismissed a report that it would accept a much lower sum in compensation from highway toll company Toll Collect than previously sought in order to bring a long-running legal dispute to an end.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported in its Monday edition that according to an internal economy ministry paper Berlin would try and recover 2.5 billion euros from Toll Collect instead of 7 billion euros due to a two-year delay to the start of the system.

Toll Collect, the world's first satellite-based truck toll system, is 45 percent-owned by German carmaker Daimler AG , 45 percent by Deutsche Telekom AG and 10 percent by Vinci unit Cofiroute.

The ministry said in a statement the paper related to possible risks and opportunities for the federal budget, and was in no way binding.

Germany earns more than 4 billion euros a year through the truck toll.

(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)