After board members resign
Thyssenkrupp chief supervisor takes over from steel management team
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Thyssenkrupp's steel division is to be restructured. However, a dispute breaks out over the future of the part of the group. Several board members of the steel subsidiary gave up. Thyssenkrupp chief supervisor Russwurm does not skimp on criticism of the departed managers.
After the resignation of three board members of the Thyssenkrupp steel division, the chairman of the supervisory board of the parent company Thyssenkrupp, Siegfried Russwurm, expressed massive criticism of the management of the steel subsidiary. “Despite all commendable efforts, the management of Thyssenkrupp Steel has not been able to provide successful answers to the structural challenges of the steel business and its economic difficulties, not only in the past few months but for years,” Russwurm said in a statement.
The manager is also President of the Federation of German Industries. The loss-making steel division is to be restructured and made independent. Among other things, there has been a bitter dispute between the group management and the steel management for weeks about the financial resources provided by the parent company on the way to independence.
It was announced on Thursday that steel boss Bernhard Osburg, the production director and the human resources director were leaving the company with immediate effect. In the course of this, four Steel supervisory board members also announced that they would resign from their positions. Among them is the previous chairman Sigmar Gabriel. He had accused Thyssenkrupp CEO Miguel López of a defamation campaign against the steel board. He indirectly accused Russwurm of inaction.
In his statement, Russwurm explained that Steel management had repeatedly failed to achieve its own plans. This currently also applies to the current financial year. Agreed restructuring programs would have been far from having the effects promised by Steel management. “Thyssenkrupp Steel is constantly consuming liquidity to the detriment of its own future, all other businesses and the group's owners and has not gained control of this situation under its previous leadership.”
The vacant positions should be filled “in a timely manner”
Against this background, the three members of the Executive Board who had been active for many years left the company by mutual agreement. After the resignations, the parent company stated that the remaining board members Dennis Grimm (Technology) and Philipp Conze (Finance) would continue to manage the steel segment. “The vacant positions will be filled promptly in a structured process,” it said.
The vacant departments will be divided up in the meantime. Grimm takes over the role of board spokesman. A decision should be made at short notice on filling the vacant seats on the supervisory board and on the successor to Sigmar Gabriel as chairman of the supervisory board.
The steel division has long been suffering from the economic downturn and cheap imports. For this reason, among other things, it has to reduce capacities and therefore also personnel. What the moving of chairs on the board of directors and supervisory board means for the future of the employees is still completely open. The supervisory board had actually wanted to come up with a plan for financing the next two years – but that didn't happen. The Thyssenkrupp steel division is Germany's largest steel producer. 27,000 people are employed there, 13,000 of whom work in Duisburg alone. The works council fears that the restructuring will result in the mill being “halved” and thousands of jobs being cut
