Mario Ohoven has helped shape economic policy in Germany for more than two decades.
Now the middle-class president has died in a traffic accident.
Berlin
- The
President of the Federal Association of Medium-Sized Enterprises
(BVMW),
Mario Ohoven
, died at the age of 74.
As the BVMW announced on Sunday in Berlin, Ohoven was
killed
in a
traffic
accident
at the weekend
.
The investment advisor, born in Neuss (North Rhine-Westphalia) in 1946, has been President of the Association of SMEs since 1998.
In two decades, Ohoven had formed the BVMW into the
leading association of medium-sized companies in Germany
with 340 branches and 60 of its own foreign offices.
The trained banker was the face and voice of the association.
In 2005 the lobbyist had sold his company Investor- und Treuhand-Beteiligungsgesellschaft.
Ohoven dies in a traffic accident - investment advisor was the voice of the middle class for more than two decades
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU)
emphasized that Ohoven had achieved great things for medium-sized businesses.
“I really appreciated him.
Our thoughts are with his family and his employees, “wrote the CDU politician in the short message service Twitter.
The news of the sudden accidental death of the middle class president Mario Ohoven shakes me very much.
He has achieved great things for medium-sized businesses.
I really appreciated him.
Our thoughts are with his family and co-workers.
RIP
- Peter Altmaier (@peteraltmaier) November 1, 2020
In 1999
Ohoven received
the "Europe Prize" from the European Economic Institute (EWI).
In October 2001 he was awarded the “Oscar of German SMEs” and was also honored with the German SME award “Custodian of medium-sized entrepreneurship”.
For his
life's work
, Ohoven was honored in 2019 with the "Mittelstand der Medien" award.
Since 2003 Ohoven has been chairman of the board of trustees of the research center for medium-sized business at the University of Marburg.
Mario Ohoven torn from his life in a traffic accident: SME boss leaves behind his wife and two children
Ohoven has been President of the BVMW, based in Berlin, since 1998 and, since 2002, he has also been President of the European umbrella organization for national SME associations CEA-PME in Brussels.
He leaves behind his
wife Ute-Henriette Ohoven
, who is a UNESCO special envoy, and
two children
.
Ohoven was a prominent voice in the economic policy discourse until the end.
In an interview with Merkur.de * at the end of October, he warned of a second lockdown in the corona pandemic.
(
dpa / fn
) *
Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network
.