A compromise is being negotiated in the dispute over a stake by the Chinese Cosco Group in a terminal in the port of Hamburg. According to this, the proportion would remain just below a blocking minority.
The container ship “Cosco Shipping Aries” of the Chinese Cosco Group is docked at the Tollerort terminal in the Port of Hamburg.
A possible compromise is discussed almost at the last minute in the fierce dispute over the planned participation of the Chinese Cosco Group in a container terminal in the port of Hamburg. According to consistent media reports on Tuesday, the federal government could allow the Chinese state-controlled group to take a stake of just 24.9 percent instead of the previously planned 35 percent in the Tollerort container terminal (CTT). This means that the stake would remain below the blocking minority of 25 percent, which is necessary under stock corporation law to block certain important decisions.
“An emergency solution”
On Monday evening, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” was the first reported on such a compromise. The holding is currently undergoing an investment review process. So far, the leading economics ministry and five other ministries had allegedly spoken out against the project because they feared too much Chinese influence on this infrastructure facility.
The Federal Chancellery and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who will be leaving for a trip to China next week, are said to have spoken out in favor of this. Officially, it was always said that the test was not yet completed. The federal government can reject participations by non-EU companies above certain thresholds or impose conditions if it fears a threat to public safety.
Time is of the essence because the test period expires at the end of October. If the Federal Government does not raise any objections or impose conditions or agree an extension of the deadline with the companies by then, the project is deemed to have been approved. The emerging compromise is described as an “emergency solution” because opponents of the project within the government fear that the 35 percent stake could otherwise go through in the end.
HHLA can live with that
Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) announced in September 2021to sell a 35 percent minority stake in the HHLA container terminal in Tollerort (CTT) to Cosco Shipping Ports Limited (CSPL). The CSPL is a member of the Cosco Shipping Group, a state-owned Chinese shipping company. HHLA, which is majority-controlled by the City of Hamburg, operates three of the four container terminals in the Port of Hamburg, including the CTT.
A spokesman for HHLA said on Tuesday that there had been factual and constructive talks with the federal government in the past few days. HHLA would be in agreement with Cosco’s 24.99 percent minority stake provided that no further conditions were attached. If Cosco agrees to a reduced stake, the purchase price would have to be renegotiated.
HHLA conducted the talks primarily with the aim of obtaining approval under investment law, the spokesman continued. So far, no factual reasons have been given to her that would justify non-granting for formal-legal reasons. Against the background of a decision that increasingly amounts to symbolic politics, compromises have been shown to be open.
criticism persists
Initial reactions to reports of a compromise were mixed. Verena Hubertz, deputy chairwoman of the SPD parliamentary group, said in a broadcast that it was good that the federal government had found a compromise. “The reduced share of 24.9 percent, which the federal cabinet is expected to agree on tomorrow, takes into account the justified concerns about Cosco’s participation,” she added. It was initially unclear whether the government would actually deal with the matter on Wednesday.
Criticism continues to come from the other two parties in the traffic light coalition and from the opposition. The Green foreign politician Anton Hofreiter said in the “ARD morning magazine”, although China would have significantly less influence with a participation of 24.9 percent than with 35 percent. “But it would still be critical, because we would still have a dictatorial regime that buys infrastructure from us with the help of state-owned companies.” The FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told the DPA news agency: “The ‘compromise’ with less Chinese participation is another serious mistake in times of great uncertainty.”