Tuesday, January 26, 2021
"Every day 100,000 euros loss"
Entrepreneur wants to fight for Corona aid
The federal government had promised quick and unbureaucratic support in the Corona crisis. But many companies fail. The Bonn entrepreneur Jörg Haas thinks that differentiating according to size "contradicts the Basic Law". He wants to go to the Federal Constitutional Court.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz spoke of a "bazooka" when the corona crisis broke out. There is enough money to help companies affected by the pandemic – quickly and unbureaucratically. The balance sheet after almost a year is sobering: Entrepreneurs complain about complex specifications, software problems with the approval, sluggish payments.
"Now we are getting loans, which we have been chasing after ten months with a gigantic effort and at the end of the day we have to personally guarantee them with our private income," says the Bonn entrepreneur Jörg Haas in the podcast "Zero Hour".
With the Invite Group, he operates four hotels, ten restaurants, five fitness centers and two conference centers. Like many German catering and hotel companies, the Invite Group is one of the affiliated companies – a higher-level company holds the majority of the shares in several smaller ones. "As an affiliate, they have single-application eligibility," Haas explains on the podcast. The aid funds, which are capped by EU and federal guidelines, are quickly exhausted.
In addition: Bridging Aids I and II only applied to small and medium-sized companies. Anyone like the Invite Group more than 50 million Euro turnover, 250 employees and 43 million Euro balance sheet total goes away empty-handed.
"We didn't get anything for the first three months. We didn't get anything for June, July, August. Then there was Bridging Aid II. Again, this was only for small and medium-sized companies." This unequal treatment according to company size is discriminatory and contravenes the Basic Law, said Haas in an interview with Horst von Buttlar. In an interview, he explains which changes are necessary – and why he wants to go to the Federal Constitutional Court if necessary.
"We lose three million euros every month in lockdown. We lose 100,000 euros every day, and lose 70 euros every minute, whether they are awake or asleep." The government, Haas demands, should not classify the corona aid as voluntary services. You can't just go and say I'm taking away your property and not making up for it. "It is compensation in the sense of damages to which one has a legal claim."
In addition, there are confusing requirements and application chaos. In the economic stabilization fund alone there are 600 billion euros in aid, according to Haas. But: "The instrument is so subordinate and so unfavorable that you really have to be dead to use it at all."
Listen to the new episode of "Zero Hour":
- What bureaucratic hurdles the Invite Group had to overcome in order to get aid money
- How the company stays in touch with its employees during the pandemic
- What future prospects Jörg Haas sees for the hotel and leisure industry
You can find all episodes directly at Audio Now, Apple or Spotify or via Google.
.