European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 04, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse The new Germany divest or shut Down Sale of in Eastern Germany about 5,000people will be out of work with the closure of Pentagon the firm in Dresden that produced Prak Tica cameras. By Larry Thorson Quot associated press worlds largest corporation has inherited a a a a most of what once was the communist German democratic Republic with instructions to sell it off. Or close it Down. _ 7 Detlev Rohwedder the chairman is running the Sale of ,. The Century a converting the state companies of former East Germany to private Enterprise a and says he wants to do it with consideration for the people who might be Hurt. He is from the Quot Federal Republic of Germany but a native of Thuringia one of Germany s five plates. Quot i think it s great to be asked by my government to be part of the Effort Quot Rohwedder said after agreeing in Early. November to take a full four year term As chairman of. 7 tre a a a a. A a a. The incorporated Agency whose name Means Trust was established by the East German government last Spring when it still was trying to preserve state enterprises m. Westerners moved into the management later and West Quot Quot German Rohwedder became chairman in August. Treu hand a mandate is to sell As much As possible to private owners and deliver the proceeds to the National Treasury. It is empowered to operations or Divide Large ones and sell or close the parts separately a it has ordered All the forme East German enterprises to submit to balance sheets Lor analysis Rohwedder a 58-year-qld lawyer had Long experience in the West German government and was credited with the Rescue Quot from near bankruptcy of the Hooch steel company. His Trust corporation is responsible or.4 5 million to 6 million employees and owns 60 percent Oura Sterm a Germany a forests 35 percent of the arable land factories Quot housing and other real . A. It will take until next Spring to count the employees and estimate what the assets Are Worth Rohwedder said of mid november the Trust said it had taken in i 5 billion Marks $1 billion from the Sale of stale companies. A although the Economy was considered m bad shape its output in 1989 was estimated at the equivalent of 290 billion West German Marks $187 billion real estate will be especially to sell. Some of it 1 was seized from people living in West Germany or jews who fled the nazis Many of whom have filed claims for. Restitution that May be in the courts for years a 1 Wolf Schoede spokesman for tre hand said it was Quot the largest corporation in the world and it has no precedent and there will be no commentators say Chancellor Helmut Kohl could not have found a person with better qualifications than. Row Addor to run it but tre hand has Token a lot of criticism in its Short life. A. _ in its nov 12 Issue the weekly Magazine Spiegel declared that Rohwedder was unapproachable and had Quot quickly shown the door Quot to Heinz Ruhnau head of the National airline Lufthansa who wanted to buy the East German airline inter lug. A / a foreign companies say Reuland is almost impossible to Contact its procedures afe not Clear and it favors German investors. A a a. I Tom Sommer Lastlo vice president in Germany of the u s -. Based consulting firm Arthur d. Utile said he had contracts a with 12 East German companies that wanted to form ventures with foreign firms. A. Quot we have tried very hard to talk to tre hand and convince them of solutions we have found,1�?T Sommerlatte said. A Quot sometimes they did t even receive us we could t got an . A. Evhen the Point was raised during a meeting with foreign. Journalists Rohwedder sighed and said Quot they Robab y a a were the 2,087th Call we had. That Day. We have a Small number of people hero too few to accommodate the a a a. A a tre hand s. Stall doubled in october to about-500 and will Grov to 1.200-t,500 by the Middle of 1.991, Rohwedder said. It has offices in 15 cities of Eastern Germany and Headquarters on the Alexandor Piatz the Center of East Berlin a a a a. Its attitude is to favor entrepreneur Sand tester Quot Competition the chairman said. That he added was Why he backed away from Lufthansa a attempt to lock up almost All Domestic German air traffic by buying inter unpleasant Side of the Job is to close companies. Quot whose products won sell in Western markets. Rohwedder. A said he had heard criticism that tre hand was too slow in factories and exp aimed his approach this Way. A a _ Quot we unemployment , and it would take a Long time to get Back to work we have to work with love for the . A. A a he denied fave Ringerman applicants Over foreigners a a Quot German economic policy is to be open to the outside. World Quot he said. Quot it stiffens Competition makes people work harder and benefits the acknowledged that germans have the inside. Track because Many West German companies had Good business East Germany about 90 percent of the first 200 deals were with German firms. Quot the game is played in Germany so its Only natural the. Germans play the greatest role Quot he said. A a a v foreign hotel chains were interested in building in. Many places he said but that brought up the awkward a problem of land ownership Quot we done to know if we own this Corner in East Berlin or a jewish family Quot that fled for its life in 1938a. In Dresden 130 Miles South of Berlin a Long Street of. Grimy factories contains two examples of tre hand s work. Pon Tacon a company that made Prak Tica cameras a without regard Tor costs to show that East Germany could build an internationally accepted products closing arid \ about 5,000 people will be out of work. A i . However Are a thriving business. Philip Morris bought the Dresden factories of the old East German. A Terai to company and is turning out 50 million cigarettes a Day. A a a Ait has guaranteed the jobs of All 945 workers through _. 1992, increased production 30 percent and raised wages. $100 a month to a average $1,050, still less than half what 1 com Par by pays its workers in Western Germany j Page 16 the stars and stripes Friday january 4, 1991 _
