Status: 12/02/2022 3:37 p.m
The German state put several hundred million euros into rescuing the MV shipyards, but they still had to file for bankruptcy. Now there is apparently a risk of the guarantees failing.
The entertainment group Disney is to pay 40 million euros for the “Global Dream”. This was reported this week by “Capital” and “Stern”, citing financial circles. The cruise ship, which was largely completed, belonged to the insolvency estate of the MV shipyards, which went bankrupt at the beginning of this year. Last month it was announced that the US group would take it over.
For Disney, that’s a bargain price – even if you consider that the company apparently wants to invest up to a billion euros in the further construction of the ship. The value of the “Global Dream” was originally estimated at around 1.8 billion euros after completion.
The federal and state governments vouch for 430 million euros
In order to finance the construction of the mega cruise ship, the previous operator of the MV shipyards, the Malaysian Genting Group, had to raise a lot of money through loans from private banks – according to “Capital” a total of 650 million euros. When the shipyards got into financial difficulties in 2020, the federal government and the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania secured the loans with public guarantees. According to information from the “Handelsblatt”, the state took a risk of around 430 million euros in this way.
Now there is a risk of the guarantees failing, since only a small part of the loans can be paid off with the proceeds from the sale. In the end, the “Global Dream” could be a much less good deal for taxpayers.
“The sale was damage control”
Even so, selling it to Disney seemed like the only option. Because the US group made the best offer, negotiations with other buyers had failed, according to the insolvency administrator Christoph Morgan at the request of tagesschau.de. The other alternative would have been scrapping. “The fact that the ship was now sold for 40 million euros was damage limitation,” says Michaela Skott from the Taxpayers’ Association in an interview tagesschau.de.
The low purchase price of the “Global Dream” could tear a huge gap in the budget of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Because of the 430 million euros in guarantees, the state alone has pledged 300 million euros. “That’s money that Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania doesn’t actually have. For Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, 300 million euros are not peanuts with a total budget of around 10 billion euros,” said Skott.
The expert compares the sum with what the state spends on daycare centers and crèches: “In 2021, when the guarantee of 300 million was approved, 370 million euros were spent on daycare centers and crèches.” The state now lacks the money to invest in education and infrastructure.
Not the first failed rescue
“Here, people ran into the catastrophe with their eyes wide open. There is an urgent need to work through how it came to this,” says Michaela Skott. The taxpayers’ association calls for a political reappraisal of the events.
Especially since it is not the first time that the federal state has unsuccessfully provided state aid for the industry, according to the expert: “Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has invested money in the rescue of a shipyard several times – each time with the result that the shipyards were still broke .”
For example in the case of the P+S shipyards: When the company got into financial difficulties a good ten years ago, the auditing company KPMG certified its ability to be restructured. The federal government and the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania then approved loan guarantees worth millions. In 2012, the shipyards in Wolgast and Stralsund still had to file for bankruptcy – according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, guarantees and loans from the state amounting to 239 million euros failed at the time.
employees can hope
According to estimates, the failed rescue of the MV shipyards is likely to be even more expensive than the insolvency of the P+S shipyards. According to Economics Minister Reinhard Meyer (SPD), the costs for the state cannot yet be precisely quantified. However, according to the ministry, the possible damage is in the “notable three-digit million range,” reports the NDR.
The sale of the “Global Dream” is at least some hope for the approximately 900 employees of the insolvent MV Werften. Because the ship is to be further built in Wismar by the Papenburg Meyer shipyard. And the company has already promised prospects for the former employees of the MV shipyards: “Up to 650 people will receive an offer of employment at Meyer Wismar, at least 400 will be hired,” said Meyer-Werft yesterday. The construction of the ” Global Dream” is scheduled to be completed by 2025.