Berlin – The zoo receives Corona aid from the state of Berlin. The main committee in the House of Representatives agreed on Wednesday that the oldest German zoo will receive 16.5 million euros so that it can cushion the loss of income caused by the pandemic. But the coalition MPs are making demands. In return, they want a seat on Zoo AG’s supervisory board.
That was determined in the coalition round that met before the committee meeting. The reason: The MPs want to help the zoo and its daughter park in the crisis. But you couldn’t pay the millions so easily because you had the money in your budget, they said.
Therefore, the members of the SPD, the Greens and the Left took a decision accompanying the corona aid to the zoo, which was also decided. It says: The financial administration will start talks with the supervisory board, “with the aim of guaranteeing the state of Berlin a permanent seat on the supervisory board in the future”. This was justified by the fact that in the future one would be better informed about the financial situation of the zoo. The CDU voted against.
With this step, the coalition is starting the attempt in the main committee to bring back one of the two supervisory board seats that the state of Berlin had nine years ago through the back door. But only because at that time the Senate paid the zoo grants for ongoing business operations. When these were discontinued in 2012, the state of Berlin also lost its supervisory board seats.
The second demand for Corona aid to the zoo: The MPs expect “that increases in the reduced and family tariffs of the Zoo AG take place in coordination with the Senate,” it says in the accompanying resolution. According to reports, the zoo wants to respond.
Main committee member Sebastian Schluesselburg (left) brought the ticket prices into play. “We are pleased that we can help the zoo and zoo to cope with the current financial difficulties with this one-off payment,” he said. “At the same time, it was important to us that the Senate and Zoo AG coordinate this in the future before any admission price increases. A visit to the animal park and zoo must also be affordable for people with low incomes in the future. “
Due to the drastic decline in visitor numbers during the pandemic, the zoo is threatened with a loss of income of 24 million euros for 2020 and 2021. At the beginning of August, the tax authorities therefore asked the main committee to agree to a one-off transfer of 16.5 million euros to the zoo.
In return, the latter wants to terminate an old contract that guarantees the zoo annual compensation payments of around 400,000 euros for an unlimited period of time due to an exchange of space with the State of Berlin. Twice the approval in the main committee was postponed because MPs spoke out against this deal.
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