Investment review process at insolvent Hahn Airport
Economy/Committee – 08.02.2023 (hib 100/2023)
Berlin: (hib/EMU) The current investment review process for the insolvent Hahn Airport was a topic in the Economic Committee. Parliamentary State Secretary Franziska Brantner (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) answered questions from members of parliament on the subject at the meeting on Wednesday after the media reported on the confirmation of the examination procedure by Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen).
Brantner confirmed Habeck’s statement before the committee that it was currently being examined whether Hahn Airport was part of the critical infrastructure. In this case, the sale to a foreign prospect could be prohibited. Most recently, there was such a test procedure and ban on the participation of the Chinese investor Cosco in the port of Hamburg.
According to Brantner, Russian investor Viktor Charitonin, who is interested in buying the car and already owns the Nürburgring, is not on the EU sanctions list. However, since his holding company is a non-EU company, an examination is required, said the State Secretary. The case is different if the German Richter real estate group, which is also interested in the purchase, were to take over the airport, then there would be no need for a review.
The Federal Ministry of Economics has commissioned the Federal Ministry of the Interior to check whether Hahn Airport is part of the critical infrastructure, reported Brantner. “Airports are not yet considered critical infrastructure per se,” said Brantner. But that should change with the introduction of the “Kritis umbrella law”. This should determine which facilities will generally belong to the critical infrastructure (Kritis) in the future. Then such test procedures would also run faster, according to Brantner.