The German state support fund WSF for corona was in the red last year due to the difficulties at department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof of the Tyrolean real estate investor Rene Benko.
The net profit of 760 million euros on the sale of the Lufthansa shares from the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) was not enough to make up for the losses at Galeria and other bankruptcies or near-bankruptcies.
As a result, the WSF had to give up hope of repaying most of the 680 million euros with which it supported the trading company, which belongs to Benko’s Signa empire.
According to the report, money could only flow back from a subordinated loan of 88 million euros.
TUI has now fully repaid the support
The WSF also had to write off the aid to shoe chain Görtz (28 million), which had gone bankrupt, and plastics technology specialist Frimo (ten million). The Corona Fund has also said goodbye to the fact that it can still get its money back in full at the travel agency chains FTI Touristik and Berge & Meer, to which more than 600 million euros flowed. The TUI travel group, on the other hand, has now fully repaid its support. However, the expected profit for the WSF of more than 600 million euros will only become available in 2023.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
