BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Secretary of State for Finance Werner Gatzer becomes the new chief controller at Deutsche Bahn. The group’s supervisory board elected the 63-year-old lawyer as the new chairman on Wednesday, Deutsche Bahn announced in the afternoon. His term of office runs until March 2025. Gatzer succeeds Michael Odenwald, who resigned from office at the end of July. According to Deutsche Bahn, Gatzer has been State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance since 2005 and has been a member of the company’s control committee since 2020. According to the Ministry of Finance, Gatzer will remain Secretary of State despite his new position.
The head of the railway and transport union (EVG), Klaus-Dieter Hommel, had headed the supervisory board as deputy chairman since Odenwald left. Hommel was dismissed from the committee on Wednesday.
“I am pleased that the supervisory board has followed my suggestion and unanimously elected Werner Gatzer as chairman of the control committee,” said Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) on Wednesday. “Mr. Gatzer will represent the interests of the company and thus also those of the federal government as the owner with full commitment and for the benefit of the citizens.”
Bahn boss Richard Lutz emphasized that future challenges would require “a close alliance between owners, employee representatives and companies”. “Werner Gatzer stands for this common path.”/maa/DP/nas