Imtech bankruptcy and BER: The predictable disaster – comment – SPIEGEL ONLINE

There they were again, the furrowed by worry faces that managers and politicians like to show when bad news are to proclaim the capital airport BER. This time it is the insolvency of the German subsidiary Imtech. That company, which is mainly responsible for the still non-functioning smoke extraction system, and their impending bankruptcy now likely to delay the completion of the airport again. But if the Imtech bankruptcy – like many other supposedly unpredictable disturbances – time and financial plans can be to waste again, especially the BER Management is responsible, in particular, the former CEO Rainer Schwarz and Hartmut Mehdorn. And also, the Supervisory Board is not entirely blameless – sitting here the representatives of the federal and the states of Berlin and Brandenburg.

They knew that Imtech was often more than clammy financially. You have tolerated that the company was able to stuff his financial holes at the expense of the airport and ultimately the taxpayer provisionally. And even showed up as evidence that Imtech employees should have greased a conductive BER employees, those responsible attracted no clear consequences

Imtech had repeatedly received advance payments amounting to millions -. Not able to produce evidence of the alleged construction , The airport company apparently not examined or only very selectively. The end of 2012 the company received again an advance more than 50 million euros, the Supervisory Board had approved the payment. Since circulating in the industry already the first bankruptcy rumors.

condition for those payments was that the company until 31 May 2013 to submit evidence supporting this level of expenditure. But Imtech did not think, or maybe it was not even. Nevertheless, the new airport boss Mehdorn waived repayment. Instead, new deadlines have been set which Imtech was again pass unmoved. Consequences:. No

The airport authority would have the company should set long ago just outside the door. As the chairman of the committee of inquiry BER Martin Delius (pirates) is absolutely right. The work made in any case not Imtech, it was done by a whopping 200 subcontractors. Should it in the smoke extraction continue, the airport company has with some of them now close to the Imtech-insolvency own contracts. They could have done three years ago. It would have remained the BER saves a lot of money and trouble.