RBB, Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, Masurenallee, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Deutschland *** RBB, Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, Masurenallee, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany

The head of Messe Berlin, which was involved in the RBB crisis, Martin Ecknig, sees no misconduct on his part. He told the “Berliner Morgenpost” (Monday) when asked whether he had made mistakes: “Others have to judge that. I say to myself: No, I haven’t made any mistakes.”

There are allegations of nepotism against the resigned chief trade fair supervisor Wolf-Dieter Wolf and the director of broadcasting Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), Patricia Schlesinger, who was fired without notice. Both rejected the allegations.

Wolf had also been chief supervisor of the public broadcaster ARD in personal union – Schlesinger’s husband and ex-“Spiegel” journalist Gerhard Spörl had received several orders from Messe Berlin. Among other things, he coached the trade fair boss.

Investigations are currently underway at the state-owned trade fair, and the Senate administration is also involved. Ecknig explained Wolf’s role in the awarding of the contract to Spörl: “He made the suggestion that I get to know Mr. Spörl. He was not directly involved in awarding the contract.”

Wolf had withdrawn from the supervisory board in August “to avoid possible damage to Messe Berlin GmbH and also not to burden the ongoing investigations,” as the Senate Department for Economics had announced.

When asked about the lessons that can be drawn from the whole thing, the trade fair boss told the newspaper: “Our systems are robust and have also proven themselves. We have nothing to correct when it comes to tenders.” At the same time, he also said in the interview: “We will certainly learn something from this so that we can deal with similar situations even more consciously in the future.”

The supervisory board of the state-owned trade fair will meet on Thursday. It is expected that there will be at least an interim status of the ongoing investigations.

Meanwhile, Messe Berlin expects further Ifa editions. The electronics fair could remain in Berlin beyond 2023, it said.

The contract with the rights holder GFU will expire after the release next year. “We are in talks about the time beyond that,” said trade fair boss Martin Ecknig in an interview with the “Morgenpost”. They do not comment on the fair. “But I’m still optimistic about the future of the IFA, which will take place under the radio tower for many years to come.”

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According to Ecknig, the talks with the Society for the Promotion of Consumer Electronics (GFU) and the trade fair organizer Clarion also deal with the role of Messe Berlin at the Ifa. “At the Ifa we have the unique situation for us that the trademark rights and the implementation rights are held by the GFU,” explained Ecknig. This is not the case with other Berlin trade fairs such as the Green Week, the ITB travel fair and Innotrans.

This year’s Ifa opens to the public this Friday. “We are not at the pre-corona level,” said Ecknig. There are still some travel restrictions, especially in China.