, The co-chief executive of European aerospace giant EADS, Thomas Enders, said he was against state holdings in the company as Germany's economics minister refuted claims that the German state bank KfW would buy a stake.
“The prevailing hysteria over EADS and Airbus in Germany at the moment is completely out of place. We have real problems, but neither has a Franco-German war broken out nor are EADS or Airbus on the verge of bankruptcy. There is no reason for Germany to enter as a shareholder,” Enders said in an interview with the Austrian daily Die Presse.
“I do not see state involvement as a good thing, even what we already have,” said the German boss, who is co-CEO of the European Aeronautics Defense and Space Company with France's Louis Gallois.
The French state currently owns 15 percent of EADS, while Spain controls 5.48 percent via the state holding company Sepi, and the Russian state-owned bank Vneshtorgbank bought 5.02 percent of the group in September.
“Of course the company has strategic importance (but) Britain and the USA show that states can make their interests count without direct involvement,” he added.
Glos speaks out against reports
German Economy Minister Michael Glos also spoke out against his government's reported plans to buy a stake in the EADS group, which includes the troubled aircraft maker Airbus, in an interview released on Saturday.
“Participation by the (German state-owned) public bank KfW would make it hard to straighten out” the EADS group, which includes the troubled aircraft maker Airbus, Glos said.
He was responding to a report in the Financial Times that KfW and the German government were preparing a contract for the bank to buy a stake in EADS.
The stake would consist of a 7.5 percent holding, valued at 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion), which the German-US car maker DaimlerChrysler is expected to sell, the newspaper said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that no decision had been made on a potential EADS buy-out, though she had “not ruled anything out.”
Glos called on DaimlerChrysler to honor its “responsibilities” in the sell-off, which he said constituted an “industrial commitment”.
DaimlerChrysler committed to EADS
Regarding the car-maker's role, Enders said “DaimlerChrysler has made it clear it wants to remain a long-term shareholder. With Lagardere and DaimlerChrysler, industrial owners thus have the decision-making power.”
Enders admitted the company had “a blatant problem” with the A380 superjumbo which has had serious production delays, but added he was “confident that we can deliver the first plane in 2007.”
The German executive was in Vienna on Friday for the Annual Convention of the Aerospace and Defense Industries Association of Europe. Nine of the continent's main aerospace manufacturers pledged at the convention to develop technologies to reduce carbon emissions and air-traffic-related noise as part of the “Clean Sky” program.
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