Insolvency: René Benko Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof wants to get rid of branches and employees. Investor Haselsteiner and consultant Gusenbauer are taciturn.
Just in time for Halloween, the management of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof showed its true colors: The German department store group, which is part of the corporate network of the Austrian department store juggler René Benko, is again choosing the path to the insolvency court and wants to cut branches and employees through protective shield proceedings. The branch network must be “reduced by at least a third”, according to the company management. Galeria currently operates 131 department stores in 97 cities with 17,400 employees. As early as 2020, shortly after the outbreak of the corona pandemic, Benko’s grandiose department store plans were hit hard. At that time, 40 branches and 4,000 jobs were cut in insolvency proceedings. Creditors had to waive claims of around two billion euros and, according to the Handelsblatt, should get around 100 million back from “owner Benko”, “which corresponds to a quota of just five percent”. Since 2021, Galeria has collected 680 million euros in state aid alone. Where is the owner? Now the pressure on the owner is increasing. According to ARD, the German trade unionist Stefanie Vorteilberger addressed clear words to Benko: “Our colleagues in the 131 department stores are wondering where the owner is in this existentially highly threatening situation for 17,400 people and their families.” In the summer, Benko calmly sailed along his 62-meter yacht “RoMa” in the emerald-green water off Sardinen, now things are getting more uncomfortable: From November 8th he will be in court in the major corruption trial of the former Viennese Green politician Christoph Chorherr. The trial is scheduled for twelve days. Not only does the department store juggler himself have his hands full keeping his balls in the air at the moment, but other rather vocal Benko companions are also taciturn: NEOS financier Hans-Peter Haselsteiner is after all a major investor in Benko and the former SPÖ chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer was his advisor from the very beginning. “Sinking more and more into the swamp” The “Focus” recently noted in a large article about “Ösigarch Benko” that he had “seen better times”: “The former real estate star is sinking more and more mired in bribery, tax evasion and illegal donations. The list is likely to grow even longer in the coming weeks. The public prosecutor recently searched his premises.”
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