Corona aid: trade association attacks Olaf Scholz

State: 8:47 am | Reading time: 4 minutes

reThe central association of German retail trade accuses Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz (SPD) of completely misjudging the serious economic situation of companies. Scholz, who is also a vice chancellor, took it as a good sign that crown aid from the federal government was not being fully used.

“Many tax exemptions or deferrals were used only briefly or not at all because the economic situation of many companies developed more favorably than was feared and businesses recovered quickly,” said Scholz. Stefan Genth, CEO of the German Trade Association (HDE), called this statement “outrageous”. “I’m not sure if this is due to complete ignorance or sheer mockery,” the HDE chief told WELT.

The real reason for the incomplete use of support is that it is not available quickly enough or easy to request. “The entry requirements for the grants are not adequate. Scholz is responsible for that, “Genth said:” The money just doesn’t come to the company. “

Stationary retail beyond supermarkets and pharmacies was completely shut down for the second time during the pandemic following a corresponding decision on December 13. Rather than feel the favorable developments perceived by Scholz, according to HDE around 50,000 of the nearly 200,000 retail companies in Germany face the end, a quarter of a million jobs could be dragged down by the decline. “Particularly in the fashion trade, regardless of the extended insolvency filing period, numerous companies are already bankrupt, and thousands are on the brink,” says the trade association. The blockade caused sales losses of 36 billion euros last year alone. This same week, Adler fashion stores with more than 3,300 employees filed for bankruptcy.

Rather than sales, bridging aid should in the future be based on the company’s gross profit, the retail lobbyist suggests: it is essentially sales minus cost of goods. From this gross profit, personnel costs, rent and other expenses must be paid. If profit sharing of an average of five percent is excluded, the result is a fixed cost component of about one-third of sales, which can be replaced as an operating cost subsidy for the closing phase. “That would be more productive and easier to calculate,” Genth said. This would mean an expense for the state of 0.220 million euros per day of sale, which the association considers manageable in view of the billions of aid paid.

At a distance of “We are opening up”

In 2020, due to bureaucratic hurdles and unfair treatment of trade, compared to the catering trade, commercial companies received only 90 million bridging aid. Therefore, the head of HDE expects a number of demands, especially from the textile retail sector. For city trade to survive, rather than state aid, it will soon need, above all, an openness perspective and better planning of disease control measures.

In the future, these should take into account the changes brought about by the vaccination campaign. The current focus on the number of new infections may need to be questioned. “In the opinion of many experts, the incidence value of 50 does not seem achievable in the foreseeable future this spring,” Genth said. “You have to think about whether this is still the right target when it comes to the pandemic.” If the lockdown continues until Easter, hardly any company outside the grocery trade will survive: “You are currently depriving textile companies of the business base.”

Better protection against infection through the possible obligation to use FFP2 masks, as is currently the case in Bavaria, could help develop appropriate strategies. The general director of the union, for his part, categorically rejects the opening of a store contrary to the applicable regulations, as propagated by some groups of merchants under the slogan “We open”. “I have great respect for the actions taken by the Federal Chancellor and the Prime Minister. We are not the smart ones who know everything better, “he explained:” We distance ourselves from the ‘Abrimos’ initiative because non-commercial forces try to use it politically. ”

However, there are other industry initiatives, such as “Retail Unites,” which clearly shows how the measures affected retailers and thus sparked industry understanding. The initiative aims to use specific examples to make clear what the struggle for local existence means and how merchants are destroying the works of life.