Evonik

Following a serious illness, Dr. Werner Müller passed away on 15th July 2019 in Essen/Germany at the age of 73 years. He leaves behind his wife and two grown-up children.

Until May 2018, the former Federal Minister of Economics was still actively involved in the world of work as the Chairman of the Board of the RAG Foundation, and as Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of Evonik Industries AG and RAG Aktiengesellschaft. His cancer then forced him to reduce his professional activity.

As Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board, he remained closely associated with Evonik until the end. “Werner Müller founded Evonik, led the company and played a decisive role in making the corporation what it is today,” said Christian Kullmann, Chairman of the Board at Evonik. “Without Werner Müller, Evonik would not exist. We will always be grateful to him for his life’s work and bow our heads in great sadness at his passing.”

“We respect Werner Müller for his lifetime achievements. As the founder of the RAG Foundation, he played a decisive role in positively steering the destiny of thousands of miners and the mining regions. We will miss him very much as a great thinker and human being,” said Bernd Tönjes, who succeeded Müller as Chairman of the Board of the RAG Foundation and as Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Evonik. He explained that Müller always kept in view the legitimate interests of all involved.

“Werner Müller led our Supervisory Board very well with cleverness and all his experience,” said Martin Albers, Chairman of the Central Works Council at Evonik. “Even in difficult situations, he continually succeeded in ensuring a good balance between the interests of the shareholders and of the workforce.”

From 1998 to 2002, Müller served as an independent Minister of Economics and Technology in the government of Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. In 2003, he became Chairman of the Board of RAG, as well as of the German Coal Association. “Werner Müller has given invaluable service to German coalmining and miners, who were always personally close to his heart,” said Peter Schrimpf, Chairman of the Board at RAG. “At the head of our Supervisory Board, he provided our company with important impetus and always ensured that the concerns of all involved were duly taken into consideration.”

Barbara Schlüter, Chairwoman of the Central Works Council at RAG, praised Müller’s service: “Werner Müller helped the coalminers to complete the abandonment of coalmining in a socially compatible and dignified manner, for which we are grateful.”

In 2007, in the course of the restructuring of RAG in conjunction with the creation of the RAG Foundation, Müller became the first Chairman of the Board of Evonik Industries AG, which he led until the end of 2008. Four years later, he was appointed Chairman of the RAG Foundation, and at the same time became Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of Evonik and RAG. As Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Evonik, he successfully floated the corporation on the stock exchange in April 2013. Upon his retirement, Werner Müller was voted Honorary Chairman by both boards. At the same time, he was also appointed Honorary Chairman of the Board of the RAG Foundation. (RAG-Stiftung/Evonik/RAG/Si.)

On 24th May 2018, Werner Müller, Chairman of the Board of Executives for RAG-Stiftung in Essen/Germany, will step down from this role and his seats on the supervisory boards of Evonik Industries AG, RAG Aktiengesellschaft and Deutsche Steinkohle AG for health reasons. When the company‘s board of trustees next meet on 9th May 2018, Bernd Tönjes, previously Chairman of the RAG Aktiengesellschaft Board of Executives, will be elected as Müller‘s successor.

On the occasion of its annual review for the press on 2nd June 2015, the Board of Executives of the RAG-Stiftung drew on the most important highlights of the first half of their current term in office, presented the key points of the 2014 financial year and explained the targets for the current year.

Since the current Board of Executives assumed office in December 2012, the RAG-Stiftung has reached significant milestones in terms of developing the foundation’s assets and securing finance to cover the perpetual liabilities of coal mining cessation, as well as setting other important items for the future agenda. “We have been able to increase the foundation’s assets from roughly € 11 billion at the end of 2012 to more than € 16 billion at present,” said Dr. Werner Müller, Chairman of the Board of Executives of the RAG-Stiftung. “This means we have already established an excellent basis with which we can finance these perpetual liabilities in the future.” To do so, the foundation has to raise approximately € 220 million per year, starting in 2019. This is faced with annual revenues of approximately € 350 million, which are likely to increase. “The foundation will not use the public purse to manage annual expenditure once coal mining has ceased,” stressed Müller. “In other words, we do not want to – and will not – burden tax payers with financing the perpetual liabilities.”

At roughly € 11 billion, the 68 % share in Evonik Industries AG made a substantial contribution to the foundation’s current assets. In the meantime, the 30 % share in Vivawest, acquired by the foundation mid-2013 at a purchase price of around € 900 million, contributes to its assets with a value of over € 1.5 billion, based on the stock market trend of comparable businesses.

The 2014 surplus was € 351 million. This amount was added to the accruals for perpetual liabilities, reaching a total of more than € 4 billion for the first time; at the end of 2012 it was just € 2.6 billion. “This success is the result of sound economic activity and investment decisions based on the future,” said Müller. Since the end of 2013 and notably against the background of permanently low interest rates, the foundation has adapted its investment strategy in agreement with the Board of Trustees, promoted diversification of its investments to spread risk further and established appropriate structures to that end.

Thanks to its two investment companies, the foundation currently has a share in seven medium-sized, expanding businesses from different sectors, with a total investment volume of around € 300 million. Financial Director, Dr. Helmut Linssen, explained, “We are a long-term, reliable investor that wants to generate stable income on a lasting basis. And that is because we need that income to finance ‘perpetual’ liabilities.” In addition, the foundation has invested around € 150 million in international private equity and infrastructure funds, thereby investing at a more international level. Linssen said, “The total value of our diversified investments currently lies at roughly € 4 billion, which is a quarter of the foundation’s € 16 billion or so in assets. We want to increase this amount in the future.”

HR Director, Bärbel Bergerhoff-Wodopia, highlighted the increasing significance of education, science and culture in the regions affected by the cessation of coal mining: “The RAG-Stiftung fulfils its social responsibilities by running projects with specific objectives and has raised the ever-greater challenge in accordance with the 2014 finance volume by € 3 million up to € 4.5 million and increased the budget to € 7.5 million for 2015.” Furthermore, Bergerhoff-Wodopia presented the special project, “Glückauf Zukunft!”, which is designed as a series of initiatives running up until the last coal mine is closed at the end of 2018, in order to acknowledge the historic contributions of coal mining and to simultaneously give impetus to the post-coal mining era. The project was started as a community initiative by the foundation, RAG and Evonik, and in collaboration with social partner IG BCE. The single largest project in this regard is a thorough renovation of the Bergbau-Museum in Bochum, for which the foundation has set aside up to € 15 million.
(RAG-Stiftung/Si)