The steel construction company Reuther STC GmbH from Fürstenwalde, Brandenburg is bankrupt once more. On June 1, 2022, insolvency proceedings were opened – for the second time. As the state broadcaster, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), reported, Reuther had already been “as good as bankrupt before the pandemic,” since, in 2019, a 7-million-euro order from Senvion for over 15 towers for wind turbines had been dissolved because of its insolvency. “We then went to court and filed for bankruptcy,” recalled sales manager Christian Klingelstein. With support from the region, the company was able to save itself by using its know-how additionally for the construction of hydrogen containers from now on. So 165 of the previously imperiled jobs were saved.

What broke the company came as a result of the war in Ukraine. The 150-year-old traditional company in East Brandenburg used to purchase steel from the works in Asow, Russia. This steel is now missing. They had been looking for a buyer for the company but had not found one, it was said, and that’s why 160 employees and managers received their terminations of contract in the beginning of June.