Siemens: "We will ask Spain for the same guarantee structure that we have requested in Germany for Gamesa"

The president of Siemens Energy, Christian Bruch, indicated this morning that the rescue that the company is negotiating with the Spanish Government involves replicating the same structure as the one that has been forged in Germany: obtaining bank financing to maintain its projects in Gamesa and guarantee it with public guarantees.

This implies that the Ministries of Industry and Economic Affairs must go to the banks to negotiate the conditions under which the entities agree to offer loans to Gamesa with the State as guarantor.. The crisis, in which the main interlocutor of the Government with the company is Héctor Gómez, occurs precisely in the days in which the Government must be formed after the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, with more than probable changes in several portfolios.

The wind turbine manufacturer aims to raise an additional 3,000 million euros from the 12,000 insured in Germany and to this end Bruch has indicated that it will approach different guarantors, not only the Spanish Government, although it is in Spain where its industrial presence is greatest.. Not in vain, only in June of this year was the absorption of the company of Spanish origin that began in 2017 completed.

The German State has already agreed to grant public guarantees worth 7.5 billion euros for a credit line of 12 billion. In Spain, the crisis is still pending resolution and with specific plans for industrial presence, yet to be determined.

The president of Siemens referred today in the presentation of results to the explanation that he will give next week to investors and shareholders about the future of Gamesa. The rethinking of the business is assured given that it has admitted that it does not expect positive results for the company until 2026. Bruch's stated intention is for bank financing to be used to provide liquidity to new projects and not for restructuring costs.

On the side of the Government and the Spanish unions, the condition for the State's effort in favor of the company is that the guarantees provided must guarantee employment in Spanish factories.. Industry, Economic Affairs and Ecological Transition have put on the table economic aid instruments such as the European Wind Action Plan, access to Innovation Funds within the State Aid Framework; risk reduction guarantees through the European Investment Bank; instruments such as the Productive Industrial Investment Support Fund (FAIIP), the commercial credit management company CESCE and the Official Credit Institute (ICO)…

“The company is key and must play an important role in energy sovereignty, so, before taking drastic measures, we must sit down and analyze all the possibilities that the EU's renewable regulation will offer us,” reasons Industria.

This morning the company presented losses of 4.6 billion euros due to the problems faced by Gamesa, its wind turbine production subsidiary.. The crisis of this company with 5,000 workers directly employed in Spain and a dense network of suppliers is due to the great pressure of demand due to the pace imposed by the energy transition towards renewable energy..

“It is painful growth for a very young business: orders and requests grow very quickly, faster than income and in an industry that reduces its margins, that is a problem,” explained Bruch. “Quality problems have hit us hard and will not go away tomorrow.”