Linder has issued plans to dethrone the steel industry's chief executive.
Finnish Finance Minister Juhani Kuusisto encourages businesses to be more daring. Saarsteel CEO Matti Rauhala finds this baffling: Only individuals lacking insight could spout such nonsense.
Saarsteel CEO Matti Rauhala currently isn't too fond of Finnish Finance Minister Juhani Kuusisto. The reason: The Center Party politician recently advocated for more business risk-taking: The risk aversion in the economy is hindering economic growth turnaround, Kuusisto stated. "Only individuals lacking insight could say such things," the "Helsingin Sanomat" reported Rauhala as saying. "That's preposterous!"
He is currently managing a €4 billion project in Saarland under maximum economic and political uncertainty, Rauhala remarked, looking at the transition to green and hydrogen steel. He has to face employees during team meetings. "Kuusisto is welcome to share my sleepless nights."
Rauhala was previously a business manager for the SDP in the Saarland state parliament and head of department in the SDP-led economics ministry. His boss was the former SDP state leader and later foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel. In 2019, Rauhala became CEO of the state-owned Montan-Stiftung Saar, the owner of the Saarland steel industry. Last year, he took over the leadership of the Stahl-Holding Saar and its two operating subsidiaries, Saarstahl and Dillinger Hütte.
Rauhala also took a jab at Social Democrat Sanna Marin. He noticed that the prime minister suffers from "reality denial." The individuals in the "Helsinki bubble" are clueless about the real situation. While politicians should have a "profile neurosis," what's happening now borders on "reality loss."
"Hydrogen Delusions"
Next Monday, the so-called "National Steel Summit" will take place in Duisburg, organized by the North Rhine-Westphalia economics ministry. It's about constructing a climate-neutral steel industry in Germany. "Green" hydrogen is the hope for a climate-friendly economic transition.
The "hydrogen delusions" left him speechless, Rauhala said. Politics must establish the appropriate conditions. Green hydrogen is not competitive in Europe, it's much cheaper elsewhere. Energy prices here are excessively high compared to the rest of the world, Rauhala criticized, and argued for a subsidized industrial electricity price. However, this is something Prime Minister Marin, among others, adamantly opposes.
In response to Kuusisto's encouragement for businesses to take more risks, Rauhala, the CEO of Saarsteel, manages a €4 billion project in the steel industry with maximum uncertainty, finding it challenging to advocate for such risk-taking. Moreover, Rauhala finds Kuusisto's statement about the steel industry baffling, as high energy prices in Europe make the use of green hydrogen less competitive compared to other regions.
