After only one and a half years at Deutsche Bahn, the Chief Financial Officer Alexander Doll is about to leave. The manager has signed a dissolution contract for information from group circles. The supervisory board must approve the step in a special meeting on Monday, it was said.
It is reported that Doll's severance pay amounts to a seven-figure amount. Who takes over the post, was initially unclear. The Deutsche Bahn referred to the Supervisory Board meeting and did not comment on the information at first.
Doll was first appointed to the Board of Directors in April 2018 and has been responsible for the finances there since January this year. He also heads the department of loss-making freight traffic. This post will be taken over by the former head of Berlin's public transport company Sigrid Nikutta.
For a departure from Doll had because of problems in Arriva sales and Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) behind the scenes made strong. In addition, it was said from the group, Doll also lost the confidence of the railway supervisory board chairman and a large majority of his colleagues on the management board.
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In his role as Chief Financial Officer Doll should promote the sale of the British rail subsidiary Arriva - but had no success. The project was stopped for the time being at the Supervisory Board meeting last week. There is still no buyer.
Meanwhile, the budget committee of the Bundestag approved additional billions for the railway. He agreed in his final deliberations on a new benefit and financing agreement between the federal government and the federal-owned group. The agreement has a term of ten years. The draft provides federal funds in the form of an "infrastructure contribution" totaling 51.4 billion euros - much more than before.
Bundesrechnungshof criticizes lack of control
Because of the criticism of the Federal Court of Auditors of the agreement, the Committee on Budgets also decided on additional controls - to check whether the railway complies with the agreed goals. If this does not happen, funds could be blocked. The Ministry of Transport should submit a report on this every two years from the end of 2021 onwards.
Moreover, the Federal Court of Auditors "directly" to participate, says the decision of the Budget Committee. The financial control had criticized, the federal government must examine more rigor, what makes the train with the billions from the state treasury.
At many points in the 33,000-kilometer rail network, there is a great need for investment because of partly maroon bridges and facilities. Many rail lines are getting old. The financing agreement between the federal government and the railways, which has now been signed, is intended to help preserve the rail network.
