Geue promises construction industry orders from state and local authorities
According to Finance Minister Heiko Geue (SPD), the state government is aware of the current difficult situation in the construction industry and wants to counteract this with public contracts. "We are taking the fears of the construction industry in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern very seriously. That is why the state government wants to support the construction industry with up to one billion euros in investment over the next four to five years," explained Geue on Monday in Schwerin. He was responding to an appeal by the state construction association, which had complained of a drop in demand in the face of significant price increases in the construction sector and higher interest rates for building loans and had called for state economic aid.
Geue admitted that there was an urgent need for new construction and renovation of schools in the state. The state and local authorities had therefore decided to make a total of 400 million euros available for this purpose over the next four years, despite the tight budget situation. "When building new schools, we will increasingly focus on serial construction. In this way, school buildings can be completed more quickly and the construction industry can be supported quickly," explained Geue.
In addition, a change in the legal basis should enable local authorities to use their reserves more extensively than before for investments. Financially weak municipalities would receive support from the state. "We are assuming an investment volume of up to 600 million euros here. The investments that can be made are "good news for children, parents and teachers and for the construction industry in our state", said Geue. In the previous year, the public sector accounted for around a third of construction turnover with its contracts in the north-east.
According to the construction association, higher turnover as a result of drastically increased construction prices conceals the increasingly critical situation in the construction industry. When price increases are taken into account, a slight decline is recorded compared to the previous year. A similar picture can be seen for incoming orders in the period from January to August.
"The construction industry in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is in crisis," stated Jörn-Christoph Jansen, Managing Director of the association. A drop of 19.3 percent in building permits compared to the same period last year is a clear sign that it is not just residential construction that is affected.
The state government's decision to allocate 600 million euros for investments in financially weak municipalities will directly benefit the construction associations, as they can utilize these funds for their projects. Furthermore, the change in the legal basis will allow local authorities to utilize their reserves more extensively, thereby providing additional financial support to the construction industry within municipalities.
Source: www.dpa.com
