The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn (DB) is set to meet tomorrow, 2 October, to vote on the sale of its logistics arm DB Schenker to Danish shipping company DSV. Trade union EVG, which has two members in the Board, said it will reject the sale and vote against it.
“I’d like to highlight that the voices of the employees include representatives from both unions: EVG and GDL”, a spokesperson from EVG told RailFreight.com. However, the likeliness of the sale being blocked by the DB Supervisory Board remains low. The board is made up of 20 members, and, in case of a balanced vote, the Chairman’s vote counts double.
‘Use the money from DB Schenker sale to pay DB’s debt’
If the sale still does go through, EVG is asking for the money to be used to repay DB’s outstanding debts. DB Schenker will be sold for around 14 billion euros, whereas DB’s debts amount to over 30 billion. The company’s logistics arm was the main moneymaker of the group, leaving many questions about DB’s financial future.
“EVG strongly criticises the fact that there is no legally secure guarantee that the sales proceeds will be used to pay off Deutsche Bahn’s debts”, Martin Burkert, Chairman of EVG and Deputy Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board stated. This, he added, is the main reason why the union will vote against the sale.
Missed chance for synergies with DB Cargo
One of the main points raised by EVG is that selling DB Schenker would be a missed chance. DB Cargo could have largely benefitted from a close cooperation with DB Schenker by creating a door-to-door network, according to Burkert. “However, the Board of Management of DB AG failed to establish a meaningful link with DB Cargo”, he said in a statement.