According to the “Spiegel”, the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Udo Philipp is said to have a stake in several companies that receive state subsidies via a fund. The ministry and he himself reject any conflict of interest.
The personnel quarrels over the mixing of private and professional life in the Federal Ministry of Economics were just a few weeks ago. Now there are new allegations of alleged conflicts of interest against State Secretary Udo Philipp.
According to “Spiegel”, Philipp has an investment fund stake in a total of seven companies that receive money from state subsidy programs. The magazine refers to a response from the Federal Ministry of Economics to the question of Left MP Pascal Meiser.
Higher six-digit funding amounts
Philipp, who is responsible for industrial policy and start-up financing, among other things, holds shares in the private equity fund First Momentum Ventures. This in turn has invested in a number of companies, seven of which are publicly funded. According to “Spiegel”, the funding amounts to higher six-digit amounts.
The start-up Dive Solutions gets the largest financial help with 363,000 euros, writes the “Spiegel”. The money comes from a funding program for the development of digital technologies. In addition, 350,000 euros went to the IT company QuantPi. According to the report, another company funded by the ministry is the packaging start-up one.five GmbH.
Ministry instructs conflict of interest return
While the ministry did not deny Philip’s involvement in the fund, it did reject allegations of a conflict of interest. The funds are not subsidies, but a financial investment “with an expectation of repayment,” according to the ministry, according to “Spiegel”. In addition, it is not involved in the decision as to which start-ups receive support. “There is therefore no conflict of interest,” the magazine quoted the department as saying.
State Secretary Philipp also pointed out that he had no influence on which companies the fund manager from First Momentum Ventures invested in.
Meiser: “Hard to keep as Secretary of State”
According to “Spiegel”, Meiser criticizes the Ministry of Economic Affairs for not sufficiently disclosing Philipp’s holdings in the company and “only igniting smokescreens”. The conflicts of interest are much greater than previously admitted.
It casts a bad light on the entire top of the ministry that companies in which Philipp has a stake benefit from the decisions of the ministry, says Meiser. “If Mr. Philipp was personally involved in any way in decisions in favor of investments by First Momentum Venture, it would be difficult to keep him as State Secretary,” the left-wing politician told the magazine.
Other connections to the fund
The First Momentum Ventures fund is particularly important because it became known that Economics Minister Robert Habeck had included co-founder Sebastian Böhmer in the “Young Digital Economy” start-up advisory board. The Advisory Board advises the Ministry of Economic Affairs on start-up issues.
In May, the Federal Ministry of Economics disclosed Philipp’s direct shareholdings after a media report on possible conflicts of interest. Shortly before, the former Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Patrick Graichen, had been dismissed from office. Among other things, the 51-year-old was accused of nepotism when filling posts.