2024-08-22 19:52:20
Scholz speaks to employees
State intervention to save struggling Meyer Werft
Updated on 21.08.2024 – 18:33Reading time: 3 min.
The Meyer Werft shipyard has many orders but is fighting for its existence. Now the state may want to step in to save the company.
Meyer Werft, known for its cruise ships, is fighting for its existence – now there are increasing signs that a solution is within reach. On Thursday, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil and Lower Saxony’s Economics Minister Olaf Lies (all SPD) will speak at a works meeting, said works council chairman Andreas Hensen. The “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” had previously reported.
Participation of federal and state governments
A federal and state investment in the shipyard is under discussion, which would also increase equity by 400 million euros. The shipyard also needs guarantees to get loans to build ships. The company needs almost 2.8 billion euros by 2027.
“In principle, the three sides – banks, state, company and family – have largely reached agreement,” said a spokesman for the management. However, there are still a few technical issues to be clarified. These include the relocation of the holding company from Luxembourg to Papenburg and the organization of a group works council. But it is also about redefining the company’s value after Meyer Werft recently received four orders for cruise ships from the Disney Group – the largest order in the company’s history.
From the management’s point of view, however, the agreement will no longer fail because of these details. Antitrust issues must also be resolved by September 15, otherwise the shipyard will run out of money. “We are confident that the open questions can also be clarified and brought to life by September 15,” said the spokesman.
Government circles in Berlin said that there was no final decision yet, but there was a will to save the shipyard. According to this, the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony could each guarantee around 900 million euros and temporarily take over 80 to 90 percent of the shipyard. The “Handelsblatt” and the NDR reported on this. However, such a solution would still have to be approved by the Bundestag’s budget committee and the EU Commission, among others, it was said.
Economic crisis as a result of the corona pandemic
Meyer Werft is in the worst crisis in its more than 200-year history. One of the reasons for the financial difficulties is that some contracts for cruise ships were concluded before the Corona pandemic and do not provide for any adjustment to the energy and raw material prices that have risen since then.
In the industry, a large part of the purchase price of a cruise ship – 80 percent – is only paid upon delivery. The shipyard therefore has to finance the construction with loans. However, since the company slipped into the red due to the collapse of the global tourism market during the Corona pandemic, the banks have recently been very cautious about granting loans.
A recent report gave the shipyard good future prospects under certain conditions. Above all, the company must start making profits again. The shipyard has not been a “moneymaker” in recent years, said chief restructuring expert Ralf Schmitz a few weeks ago. The restructuring of the company is to be completed by 2028.
At the beginning of July, management agreed on a restructuring plan with the works council and IG Metall. 340 of the more than 3,000 jobs are to be cut. A supervisory board and a group works council are to be created and the company headquarters are to be moved back from Luxembourg to Germany.
“We stand by the employees and want to give the Meyer Werft a future,” said Andreas Audretsch, deputy leader of the Green Party parliamentary group, to the dpa. Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) has done the work to ensure that the shipyard has a future. Now it would be important for the Chancellor and the Finance Minister to do their part. “I am counting on the Federal Government to come to a decision quickly, so that we can then quickly deal with the issue in the Bundestag’s Budget Committee,” he said.