Shipbuilder Meyer Werft Expecting 'Good News' from German Chancellor Visit
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Meyer Werft on Thursday, the luxury shipbuilder said, raising hopes that it could secure support from the government as it seeks to fill a 2.7 billion euro ($3.00 billion) hole in its finances.
"We expect the chancellor to bring good news with him," Thomas Gelder of the IG Metall union told Reuters.
"It's a very positive sign for the workforce and the region, and also a sign of appreciation that Mr Scholz is coming," he added.
The state premier and the economy minister of Lower Saxony, home of the shipbuilder in Papenburg where the over 200-year-old company is based, will also attend for a works council meeting, Meyer Werft said in a statement on Wednesday.
A press conference is planned after the meeting with Scholz, first reported by the Handelsblatt business daily.
Meyer Werft, one of the world's biggest cruise ship builders, needs 2.3 billion euros in working capital and 400 million euros needed in equity to cover past losses and restructuring costs, according to its restructuring chief.
The German economy ministry said on July 3 that the government was looking into possible state support for Meyer Werft, which also plans hundreds of job cuts as part of its survival plan.
($1 = 0.8987 euros)
(Reuters - Reporting by Klaus Lauer in Berlin, Writing by Rachel More, Editing by Kirsti Knolle)