Economy No need
Lindner finally stops the construction of the Ministry of Finance
Status: 12.07.2023 | Reading time: 2 minutes
All desirable but not necessary projects would have to be reconsidered, says Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP)
Source: pa/dpa/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/Kay Nietfeld
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After months of examination, the 600 to 800 million euro extension of Lindner’s ministry will not be built. The existing office space is sufficient, as many employees now work remotely. The chancellery’s expansion plans remain in place.
The Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) has decided against the planned extension. This is the result of an audit commissioned by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) in the spring, WELT learned from the Ministry of Finance.
The reason for the stop is that the ministry’s need for office space has decreased significantly, as many employees are now working remotely. As a result, a “concentration of the BMF in Berlin in particular on the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus” can be realized,” it said. So far, the ministry’s 2,100 employees in Berlin are spread across seven locations, five of which are rented.
The new building in the immediate vicinity of the ministry’s headquarters should cost between 600 and 800 million euros and should not be built until 2025 at the earliest. The planning was commissioned four years ago by the then Minister of Finance and current Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). The design envisaged an energy efficient building with lots of wood.
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Finance Minister Lindner had made the examination public in March and, in addition to changed, more flexible working models, also referred to the tense budgetary situation. All desirable but not necessary projects would have to be reconsidered, said Lindner at the time.
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The waiver of new construction does not mean that the so-called Postblock area opposite the historic headquarters on Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin will remain empty. The competent federal agency for real estate tasks (Bima) will now revise the previous plans.
Instead of the expansion of the Ministry of Finance, a building complex is to be built there that can be used by all federal departments, including as an alternative quarters when the actual offices are renovated.
Chancellery is built unchanged
The construction of apartments should also be part of the new plans. However, this would mean that the development plan would have to be changed, which could delay things considerably. The revised plans should be available by the end of the year.
In the month-long budget dispute within the traffic light government, Lindner had also questioned the extension of the Chancellery. The construction preparations are already underway there. They shouldn’t be stopped. “The need for a new building remains unchanged,” said a government spokeswoman on request.
The estimated total construction costs are currently 637 million euros. In addition, the government is already forecasting additional costs of EUR 140 million for risks such as rising construction prices.
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