The hydrogen affair in the Wissing Ministry now also has financial consequences: For the time being, no new money will be approved for funding projects of this type. The background is the suspicion of nepotism.
The Federal Ministry of Transport is no longer approving any new funds for hydrogen funding for the time being. This emerges from an internal letter from State Secretary Stefan Schnorr, which was available to the dpa news agency. The “Spiegel” first reported about it.
The letter went on to say that no contracts on the subject of hydrogen should be entered into until further notice. In the event of a “material and temporal irrefutability”, a justified exception can only be made after approval by the state secretary level.
Suspicion of irregularities in the allocation of funds
Last week, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing drew personnel consequences due to possible irregularities in the allocation of funding.
The FDP politician relieved the head of the hydrogen department, Klaus Bonhoff, of his duties with immediate effect. The reason given was that the “necessary relationship of trust between the minister and the department head no longer exists.” In addition, Bonhoff will be transferred within the ministry. The affair was triggered by media reports that Bonhoff had funded hydrogen projects worth millions in 2021 – with close personal connections to the beneficiaries.
At that time, he is said to have provided a lobbyist friend with millions in funding for hydrogen projects. The allegations first became known last summer. The Ministry of Transport then launched an internal investigation. However, the final report presented in December concluded that there was “no undue influence” on procurement procedures.
Doubts about Investigation report
Schnorr now explained that, based on further media reports, it emerged that the department had not forwarded all the necessary documents and emails to the internal audit department.
Last week, “Spiegel” reported again on the allegations, which date back to 2021, when Andreas Scheuer (CSU) was still Federal Transport Minister. The magazine quoted emails from Bonhoff that cast doubt on the portrayal in the investigation report. The Ministry of Transport has now stated that these emails were not handed over to the internal auditors and therefore could not be included in the final report. Wissing’s State Secretary Schnorr made it clear that the ministry felt deceived. Hence Bonhoff’s dismissal.
The case could be just as explosive for Minister Wissing as the Graichen case was for Minister Habeck. The former State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Patrick Graichen, also had to vacate his post in spring 2023 following allegations of nepotism in connection with funding projects.