Bakery trade sharply criticizes Habeck for statements about bankruptcies
“That makes absolutely no sense from an economic point of view – unrealistic”
A statement by Economics Minister Habeck on the question of a possible wave of insolvencies at the end of the winter caused sharp criticism, not only from the opposition. The insolvency lawyer Prof. Fissenewert also sees this statement as critical and unrealistic.
The bakery trade feels abandoned by Economics Minister Robert Habeck. The central association of the bakery trade invited the Greens politician “to get an idea of the difficult situation of a medium-sized company directly in the bakery”.
Dhe Central Association of the German Bakery Trade criticized Economics Minister Robert Habeck after his comments on a possible wave of insolvencies and invited them to his office. It seems as if Habeck does not have an eye on the problems of artisan bakers, said managing director Daniel Schneider on Wednesday after the Green politician appeared on the ARD program “Maischberger”. “We are happy to invite Mr. Habeck to get an idea of the difficult situation of a medium-sized entrepreneur directly in the bakery.”
When asked on Tuesday evening whether he was expecting a wave of bankruptcies at the end of this winter, Habeck replied: “No, I’m not doing that. I can imagine that certain sectors will simply stop producing.” Habeck cited flower shops, health food shops and bakeries as examples because these shops “rely on people spending money”. Such companies would then have real problems because there would be a reluctance to buy. “Then they are not automatically insolvent, but they may stop selling,” says Habeck.
“We fear that many bakers will have to give up”
“Minister Habeck has upset many medium-sized companies and in particular the bakery trade,” said Schneider. “A bakery cannot just close for three months and then keep going. Bread will not be made up for.”
Habeck does not recognize the seriousness of the situation. The running costs remained the same for the bakeries even if customers were reluctant to buy. “We fear that many bakers will have to give up if there is no noticeable relief from politicians.”
According to the association, the bakery trade currently has three main problems: the energy crisis is making production more expensive, raw materials are scarce and expensive and the shortage of skilled workers makes it difficult to find personnel.
In northern Germany, bakers symbolically want to let the lights go out on Thursday. With the campaign they want to draw attention to the fact that without help the existence of many artisan bakers is threatened. “We’re going out of the light – today the light and tomorrow the oven?” It says in the call for the campaign, in which no lights should be on in the sales rooms. In the meantime, the sale “of course continues”.
According to the guild, around 800 artisan bakeries with many thousands of sales outlets are organized in the five federal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. With company sizes ranging from the smallest to companies with well over 1000 employees, they represented the medium-sized economy. “It is precisely this middle class that is currently threatened in its existence.”