Lanxess boss feels “left out in the rain”
Lanxess boss Matthias Zachert: In the current form, company relief often comes to nothing
Source: pa/Ulrich Baumgarten
The energy-intensive companies are hardly relieved by the price brakes, criticizes the boss of the chemical group Lanxess, Matthias Zachert. The federal government must do more to ensure the competitiveness of industry – otherwise there is a risk of migration.
Dhe Cologne-based specialty chemicals group Lanxess complains about a lack of support from German politicians. After the outbreak of the Ukraine war a year ago, the federal government initially reacted calmly, Lanxess boss Matthias Zachert told WELT AM SONNTAG.
“In the meantime, however, my assessment has changed,” the manager continued. “The energy-intensive industry in Germany is no longer supported by politicians – or at least only to a very limited extent. We are left out in the rain.”
The energy and gas price brakes, for example, are “ineffective” in their current form because the instrument “is being undermined by European state aid law. As a result, there is no relief for many companies, and the competitiveness of the industry is massively damaged.”
Even before the war, people had to contend with unfavorable conditions, “back then energy prices were three times higher than in the USA,” says Zachert. “Of course, the outbreak of war in Ukraine made things worse again. This puts us under enormous pressure in Germany. This is especially true for the chemical industry and especially for medium-sized companies.”
Zachert calls on the federal government to set the framework conditions in such a way “that the competitiveness of the industry is maintained. Because otherwise energy-intensive sectors will no longer invest here in Germany and will migrate. Germany is painfully freeing itself from its dependency on Russian gas, but companies are threatening to tear apart value chains. This is how new dependencies arise.”
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