Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck assumes that the procedure for filling the post of managing director at the federal German Energy Agency (Dena) will be restarted after allegations of nepotism. The appearance of an advantage cannot be ruled out, said the Green politician when visiting the coastal power plant in Kiel. “That’s why, in my opinion, the process has to be restarted. We informed the Dena supervisory board on Thursday.” That will now be discussed there. He thinks that a similar decision will be made there and that is correct.
Habeck’s Secretary of State for Energy, Patrick Graichen, informed the minister at the beginning of the week that the designated new Dena managing director, Michael Schäfer, was his best man. Graichen was a member of a selection committee to fill the management board. Graichen regretted his actions on Friday and spoke of a mistake.
Habeck also admitted a mistake. “There was a mistake. The mouse doesn’t bite off a thread,” he said about the incident in a stage talk by the editorial network Germany in Kiel. At the same time, the minister emphasized: “In my opinion, Patrick Graichen is the man who saved Germany from a serious energy crisis.” He brought the coal-fired power plants to the grid, let the last nuclear power plants run longer and brought the liquid gas storage tanks back into a legal norm.