Ronald Pofalla Pofalla is leaving at the end of April.
(Photo: imago images/Klaus W. Schmidt)
Frankfurt When the control committee of Deutsche Bahn meets on Wednesday to adopt and approve the 2021 deal, there should actually be another important item on the agenda: the successor to Infrastructure Director Ronald Pofalla. However, as can be heard from those close to the supervisory board and the company, no decision will be made any time soon.
It is said that the topic will probably only be decided at an extraordinary meeting of the inspectors in April or May. Because the search is not easy. The company declined to comment.
The time pressure is great. Pofalla retires at the end of April. There are several reasons why the search for a replacement is dragging on. So the job offered is rather thankless. Pofalla has so far been responsible for the infrastructure, above all for the Germany-wide rail network.
This is ailing because there has been little or no investment in the past for many years. In the meantime, there is a lot of construction going on again. But that, in combination with the fragile network, has repeatedly led to major obstacles for months – and to rail rivals such as the private freight railways for a lot of trouble.
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Pofalla has had to take a lot of criticism for this in the past. He was repeatedly accused of management failure. Added to this was the mega project Stuttgart 21. The new underground station will not only be completed much later than planned. The construction costs have also multiplied and are approaching the imposing sum of ten billion euros.
Infrastructure is the problem child of the railways
There is a great risk that Pofalla’s successor will also quickly assume the role of the bogeyman. Because the investment backlog is so enormous that it cannot be remedied quickly. There are now many indications that the position will be filled internally. “But the candidates aren’t jumping out of their chairs in a row and raising their hands,” says an insider.
This may also be due to the fact that the delicate job comes with a rather modest salary. The search for an external successor for Pofalla is therefore extremely difficult. The 650,000 euros that he received as a fixed salary in 2020 according to the annual report does not sound like little money at first glance. But in the “free economy” managers can earn significantly more in a comparable position.
>> Read about this: “Personal reasons” and a mixed record – Board member Pofalla stops
Here the special salary system of the state-owned company takes revenge. The fixed salary of Deutsche Bahn board members is regulated in the long term. It only increases with contract extensions. The installments are already fixed at the first appointment. Nevertheless, the Supervisory Board must agree to the routine increase again when the time comes. There is also variable remuneration.
In the pre-crisis year of 2019, Bahn boss Richard Lutz was entitled to a fixed salary of 900,000 euros, including the bonus this amounted to around 1.7 billion euros. That’s about as much as Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr gets as a base salary, although the airline group generates less revenue than the railway group in normal times.
The CEO of the state-owned company can look forward to a slightly higher fixed salary, but has to be patient when it comes to the successor for his infrastructure colleague Ronald Pofalla.
(Photo: Reuters)
It is true that some board members are now to receive a higher fixed salary. The supervisory boards will decide on Wednesday for two board members a ten percent increase in fixed salary, according to the inspectors.
But that’s just the usual routine. Since the contracts of Bahn boss Lutz, passenger transport board member Berthold Huber and Pofalla were extended in April last year, they would have been entitled to a higher fixed salary at the time.
However, because of the consequences of the pandemic – the train made a loss of 5.7 billion euros in 2020 – the routine was suspended. Now – with a year’s delay – Lutz’s basic salary will probably increase from 900,000 to 990,000 euros, Huber’s from 650,000 to 715,000 euros. Pofalla goes away empty-handed as he is eliminated.
Uncompetitive salary at the railway
But even with this plus, the basic salaries of the board of directors at Deutsche Bahn are not considered competitive. The supervisory boards are aware of this, as are most of the employee representatives. However, a significantly higher fixed salary is difficult to convey – neither on the part of the federal government as the owner, nor on the part of the unions.
Especially since the state-owned company is pretty bad. Deutsche Bahn was able to significantly reduce its loss last year to around 910 million euros. When Bahn boss Lutz officially presents the figures this Thursday, he can also report an increase in sales of around 18 percent to 47.2 billion euros.
But the logistics subsidiary Schenker has a significant share in this. It alone contributed around 1.2 billion euros in operating profit in 2021. However, according to the will of the FDP and the Greens, Schenker should be sold, which would mean that the profit-maker would be gone. At the same time, Deutsche Bahn is pushing debts of around 30 billion euros. This is less of a problem for a company with the state in the background than for a private company. But it severely restricts management’s room for maneuver, for example when it comes to necessary investments.
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