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The head of Thyssenkrupp’s steel division has announced his departure as internal tensions over the future of Germany’s largest producer of the metal have broken out in public during a takeover attempt by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský.
Bernhard Osburg, the chief executive of Thyssenkrupp Steel, will leave the subsidiary along with Sigmar Gabriel, chair of its supervisory board, as well as five other directors.
Gabriel accused Thyssenkrupp CEO Miguel Lopez of an “unprecedented [public] campaign” against the executives of the company’s steel division, which he called “a serious breach of trust”, in a statement on Thursday night.
Former Siemens executive Lopez, who took the helm of the struggling German industrial conglomerate in 2023, earlier this year announced that Křetínský’s EP Group had bought 20 per cent of the steel unit, with talks of it taking a total of 50 per cent.
The accompanying discussions over restructuring, involving lay-offs, production cuts and the costs of the overhaul, caused deep clashes between Lopez and the steel unit’s management as well as with worker representatives.
The division employs 27,000 people, and the number of job cuts is currently under negotiation.
In his highly unusual public letter, Gabriel said he could no longer act “responsibly” in his position as supervisory board chair due to a lack of “standards of professionalism” and “open discussion”. Two other executives at the steel unit and three supervisory board members are also leaving.
Gabriel noted: “I . . . appeal to all those involved to be aware of their responsibility for 27,000 employees, and to look for ways to de-escalate the conflict.”
In Germany, supervisory boards oversee the work of the executive board and appoint its members.
Knut Giesler, the regional leader of union IG Metall, on Thursday night accused Thyssenkrupp’s management of having “led this company into unprecedented chaos”.
Thyssenkrupp, once a symbol of German industrial might, has suffered for years, especially as its steel business has continued to struggle with lower demand from European carmakers and higher energy costs.
Former Thyssenkrupp chief executive Martina Merz resigned unexpectedly last year, after criticism over the delays to a long-promised restructuring and sale of the group’s steel unit.
Thyssenkrupp and EP Group declined to comment. Lopez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.