“The bus is laughing”
Lindner gets steel boss angry
13.09.2024, 11:03 a.m.
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Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner is calling on companies to take more risks. Saarstahl boss Stefan Rauber has no understanding for this: Only people who have no idea can talk like that.
Saarstahl boss Stefan Rauber is not particularly happy with Finance Minister Christian Lindner at the moment. The reason: The FDP politician recently called for more entrepreneurial risk: The lack of risk in the economy is a problem for the growth turnaround, said Lindner. Only people who have no idea can talk like that, the “FAZ” quotes Rauber as saying. “The bus is laughing!”
He had to manage a four billion euro project in Saarland, amidst maximum economic and political uncertainty, said Rauber, referring to the conversion to electric and hydrogen steel. He had to look employees in the eye at staff meetings. “Lindner is happy to share sleepless nights with me.”
Rauber was, among other things, managing director of the SPD in the Saarland state parliament and head of department in the SPD-led Ministry of Economic Affairs. His boss was the former SPD state leader and later Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. In 2019, Rauber became managing director of the state-affiliated Montan-Stiftung Saar, the owner of the Saarland steel industry. Last year he took over the management of Stahl-Holding-Saar and the two operating subsidiaries Saarstahl and Dillinger Hütte.
According to the “FAZ”, Rauber also lashed out at the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz. He noted that the Chancellor was suffering from “denial of reality”. Those responsible in the “Berlin crystal ball” did not know what was really going on. As a politician, you have to have a profile neurosis. But what is happening now borders on a loss of reality.
“Hydrogen dreams”
Next Monday, the so-called “National Steel Summit” will take place in Duisburg, which was convened by the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Economic Affairs. The aim is to build a climate-neutral steel industry in Germany. “Green” hydrogen is the beacon of hope for the climate-friendly restructuring of the economy.
The “hydrogen dreams” left him speechless, said Rauber. Politicians must ensure the right framework conditions. Green hydrogen is not competitive in Europe, while elsewhere renewable energies and thus the production of green hydrogen are much cheaper. Energy prices in this country are too high compared to other countries, criticized Rauber, and called for a subsidized industrial electricity price. However, Chancellor Scholz, among others, strictly rejects this.