The RBB and the mystery of the 31 million euro loan

In the affair of questionable consulting contracts and the suspicion of nepotism, the pressure on the RBB leadership is growing.

The RBB and the mystery of the 31 million euro loan

In the affair of questionable consulting contracts and the suspicion of nepotism, the pressure on the RBB leadership is growing. On Tuesday, the director should explain the processes in a special session of the Brandenburg state parliament. But according to WELT information, Patricia Schlesinger surprisingly canceled on Monday afternoon, in writing and without detailed reasons.

Shortly thereafter, the next surprise, almost a hammer for insiders: RBB spokesman Justus Demmer announced that the broadcaster was putting all plans for the mega-project digital media house on hold. The statement said: "Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg is temporarily suspending all its activities (...)." Only hours before, WELT had informed the press office with precarious details about the financing of a million-euro loan initiated by the RBB with a private bank to finance the confronted with new construction.

The director's justification: "In view of the allegations that are being made against me personally and the broadcaster, we have committed ourselves to full clarification. For us, this includes not continuing any processes whose proper start is currently being publicly questioned.” The abrupt halt to planning also affects borrowing. According to the RBB, this will “not be pursued further”.

For weeks, Schlesinger and RBB board chairman Wolf-Dieter Wolf have been accused of not making a clear enough distinction between private and commercial interests and their positions at the public broadcaster. Consultants associated with Wolf are said to have received lucrative engagements in the real estate project. Schlesinger's husband, on the other hand, paid six-figure fees for services at the Berlin trade fair, which Wolf promoted as head of the supervisory board. Wolf denies such connections, and the director also massively defends against any suspicion.

But in the meantime, new documents have emerged. As can be seen from a RBB decision draft available to WELT and signed by Schlesinger, dated July 8th, the public broadcaster planned – at least until this Monday – to take out a loan of 31 million euros – in order to deal with the “tense liquidity situation of RBB relieve”, as it is stated in the justification.

The confidential submission by the ARD chairmen was addressed to the members of the board of directors, who are to give the go-ahead for the new debt of the contribution-financed ARD institution (annual budget for 2022 around 567 million euros) to a private bank in the so-called circular procedure by July 20. This is intended to secure investments for the planned digital media house.

According to the draft resolution 38/2022, according to the internal title, the director points out that "to a not inconsiderable extent, she made advance payments for the construction project with her own financial resources". The millions in the bank are intended to counter-finance the "expenditures already incurred or to be incurred over the period from 2019 to mid-2023". It's been off the table since Monday.

If the committee had decided to take out the loan by next Wednesday (July 27), as requested by Schlesinger, this would have had serious consequences for the contributors. The contract drafts, which were ready to be signed, provided for a term of 30 years, so the broadcaster calculated an interest rate of up to 3.25 percent and financing costs of up to one million euros per year.

The obviously enormously high capital requirement is surprising to observers in any case - especially against the background that it is obviously about preparation costs that are incurred, although the digital media house is still a dream of the future and so far no stone has been built. Even the final decision on the project is still pending. The enormous start-up costs will have to be borne by the broadcaster, i.e. the contributors, even if the innovative media construction is never realized.

What is particularly tricky for Schlesinger and her head of the board of directors, Wolf-Dieter Wolf, is the fact that the controversial consultancy contracts are related to the artistic director's flagship project. Real estate entrepreneur Wolf denies being close to the consultants before they were hired by the RBB, but revelations by the business portal "Business Insider" raise doubts. WELT also has indications that Wolf has known the influential advisor Martin L. since 2013.

After public pressure, Wolf announced on Friday that he would be temporarily suspended from office until the investigation was completed. The confidential RBB draft resolution available to WELT, however, gives an idea of ​​how great the influence of the project consultants is on the deal.

The letter from the director to the board of directors states that the amount of the “required volume of borrowed capital” is based on a “plan for the outflow of funds” submitted by an external GmbH for project management. As a result, RBB also largely outsourced the negotiations for the 31 million loan: in addition to the broadcaster's chief financial officer, three external consultants were entrusted with it - Martin L. was one of them.

While the Digital Media House was controversial from the outset because of possible high costs for broadcaster employees and was criticized by opponents as the director's "digital palace" or "prestige building", the costs grew steadily. From initially a good 60 million euros in 2020 to more than 90 million in 2021 and now reportedly up to 150 million.

In view of the galloping cost development for the overall project, many observers wonder what role the independent consultants from the real estate industry really played and also how much contributor money ends up in their accounts. The broadcaster did not answer corresponding inquiries from WELT. Instead, it only says: "The RBB is confident that it can clear up the allegations."

The members of the Brandenburg state parliament, who wanted to hear Schlesinger, held their special session on the RBB case on Tuesday in the absence of those responsible for the station. Criticism of the absence of the ARD boss came from all groups. The director gave up the chance to "regain lost trust" and that the affair was "a process that must be taken very seriously". Schlesinger had previously stated in a letter that she would not make any further public statements out of "respect" for the "ongoing compliance procedure" and "legal reviews", but would only answer questions in writing.

It is currently unclear how the digital media house will continue and how the previous, already horrendous start-up costs will be financed. The Commission for Determining Financial Needs (KEF), a kind of Federal Audit Office for public broadcasting, has been skeptical of the RBB's major project for years.

In the interim report on the cost situation of the ARD broadcasters from February 2022, the supervisors complained about the lack of transparency. The panel, it said, had "doubts about the profitability and necessity of the measure and considers further explanations to be indispensable".