6. Other operating expenses
| (EUR thousand) | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|
| Rentals and lease rentals | 330,029 | 292,420 |
| Insurance expenses | 186,927 | 187,590 |
| Technical and business consulting | 154,398 | 179,761 |
| Travel expenses | 95,808 | 74,406 |
| Expenses from derivative financial instruments | 78,295 | 1,690 |
| Court costs, attorneys' and notaries' fees | 42,217 | 40,360 |
| External organization and programming | 40,370 | 33,806 |
| Office supplies | 27,451 | 26,105 |
| Restructuring and adjustment costs | 21,710 | 25,190 |
| Currency losses | 19,611 | 9,726 |
| Mail and funds transfer expenses | 16,821 | 18,612 |
| Marketing | 16,152 | 13,915 |
| Legal costs | 10,092 | 10,862 |
| Impairment losses and losses on disposal of current assets (except inventories) | 9,644 | 7,075 |
| Sundry other operating expenses | 210,151 | 191,839 |
| 1,259,676 | 1,113,357 |
The insurance expenses mainly relate to project risk management in the Turner Group. Insurance payments by Turner and other project stakeholders such as suppliers and clients are combined to minimize project execution risks to Turner and its clients. The insurance expenses are counterbalanced by insurance revenue reported in sales.
The increase in expenses from derivative financial instruments mostly consists of changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments in connection with obligations to make payments into the equity of infrastructure project companies, where the changes in fair value are partly recognized in profit or loss.
Sundry other operating expenses mostly comprise order processing, costs of materials for administrative purposes, costs of preparing the annual financial statements, losses incurred on disposal of property, plant and equipment, and other expenses not reported elsewhere. Also included under this heading are sundry taxes amounting to EUR 10,020,000 (2007: EUR 10,049,000).
Including personnel and material expenses, a total of EUR 5,212,000 was spent on Group-wide research and development projects by the central innovation management function in 2008 (2007: EUR 4,987,000).
7. Net income from participating interests
Net income from participating interests includes all income and expenses relating to equity-method investments and participating interests.These are classified as follows:
| (EUR thousand) | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|
| Share of profits and losses of equity-method associates and jointly controlled entities | 317,001 | 265,883 |
| Of which: Impairment | (35,652) | (-) |
| Net income from non-consolidated subsidiaries | (2,469) | (145) |
| Of which: Impairment | (2,421) | (1,764) |
| Net income from other participating interests | -34,570 | 75,328 |
| Of which: Impairment | (92,421) | (122) |
| Income from the disposal of participating interests | 25,866 | 8,677 |
| Expenses on disposal of participating interests | (13,236) | - |
| Income from long-term loans to participating interests | 13,395 | 4,560 |
| Other income from participating interests | (11,014) | 88,420 |
| 305,987 | 354,303 |




