“Eat or die”: Works council Schwarz sees no reason to speed up the sale to investor Wolf. Siemens Austria boss Wolfgang Hesoun not on board any other potential buyers.

1:54 p.m., March 15, 2021

From “almost extortionate methods” speaks MAN-Steyr workers council Erich Schwarz, because the corporate headquarters in Munich at Selling the plant in Steyr is pushing the pace. It shouldn’t be one quick If an agreement is reached with investor Siegfried Wolf, closing the site is the only alternative, it was said on the weekend. The workforce representative described this on Monday with a “eat-or-die” mentality, he did not see any urgency.

March 24th, According to the current schedule, the around 2300 employees will be informed at a plenary meeting, under what conditions Wolf wants to take over the company. One of the “sticking points” for Black are Wolf’s connections to the Russian Automobile company GAZ group and the oligarch Oleg Deripaska. He sees the US sanctions against Russia as a “danger” after GAZ is supposed to deliver parts to Steyr.

“Wolf wants to start from scratch”

He also sees Wolf’s plan to “start from scratch” as a challenge. That could not be carried out “in a fast-track process”, as it was obviously planned. After “unrestricted production for MAN” in Steyr until autumn, there is still enough time. Last but not least, to wait for another offer. According to reports, a group under the leadership of Linz entrepreneur Karl Egger (KeKelit) is planning, which is advised by the law firm Lansky / Ganzger, is a “Green Mobility Center” with a focus on e-mobility. Ex-Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and Siemens Austria boss Wolfgang Hesoun are said to be on board.

According to Siemens, there is obviously a “misunderstanding”: “The maintenance and strengthening of Austria as an industrial and business location, as well as the necessary course setting, are regularly the subject of discussions with various stakeholders. In the concrete negotiations and discussions in connection with the MAN location in Steyr, GD Wolfgang Hesoun is neither involved nor involved. “

The Steyr plant is to be closed in 2023

MAN plans to close the plant in Steyr in 2023 as part of a group-wide savings program. Workers and politicians insist that the site is profitable and that there are site security contracts. These should actually have guaranteed the stock until 2030, but this was canceled by MAN. Since the mother’s savings plans became known, a solution for Steyr has been struggled with.