thyssenkrupp AG (TKA) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

For example, lack of containers and that meant that some articles had to be bought from local suppliers. There were delays in arriving results, which couldn't be compensated, but that did only affect a small part of our purchases. Commodities, we suffered substantial -- sometimes substantial delays, but we were able to guarantee all of our supply chains overall. Also, I'd like to also say hello to all shareholders.

Mr. [ Schmidt ] asked how you are ensuring that your staff are properly protected against corona, except for those home office workers?

And as you've heard from us that our priority was to protect the business, but above all, our staff. That also applies to all of those persons who can't work in the post -- in home office. As part of our risk analysis,of each of our workstations, we checked all hygiene aspects and introduced appropriate measures depending upon and including, for example, technical actions were taking place, separation, plexiglass walls. All organizational measures were introduced. For example, extending flexible times, delayed shift times, rotating shift models, or we've actually taken also hygienic cleaning of all equipment and surfaces. Suitable equipment was made available, and we also purchased and have used 31 -- 33 million hygienic facemasks. We identified risk groups, and who -- and all persons were allowed to undertake home office working who would not otherwise have been able to do so, and also communications were properly established with all staff. And we have been in contact with all staff members as appropriate during the course of the pandemic so far.

The third block has to do with questions relating to the Elevator transaction. Mr. Keysberg is going to talk about that.

We've received many questions about the use of cash from the Elevator transaction. Many of you have asked how will the liquidity be used for repaying debts or for investment purposes? Let me say that, as we've heard from myself and from Ms. Merz, we have been able to improve our financial situation, both to do with equity capital as well as -- and also with respect to the net financial indebtedness. And so we no longer have a net debt, but a net credit line. In that, we are able -- have been able to introduce appropriate restructuring measures in order to improve our competitiveness. And we intend to continue doing that consequently and with all necessary rapidity. And the modernization of our plants and strengthening strategic growth areas has also already been mentioned. We are improving the competitiveness and future proofness of thyssenkrupp. As far as its overall situation, this -- we need to ensure that we are highly flexible in terms of our natural aspect in the future. We will be paying back all short-term debts on time and punctually. There will be reduced our -- other aspects of our financial situation have been normalized, thanks to the sales. Also as part of the transaction, some of the book profit has been -- you asked whether that was going to be paid out as a special dividend? Because of the overall net debt, we will not be paying any dividends or special dividends to shareholders. We know that shareholders are not pleased about that. And other questions refer to whether we will be financing outstanding financial aspects? And which costs that would entail? And when those payouts are to take place? And let me say the following. In February 2020, at the time of the Elevator transaction, we said that we'd be out-financing some of our financial obligations for pensions. That is -- it was, at that time, an exceptional strategy. But as part of the pandemic strategy, we intend to keep the maximum level of financial flexibility. So we will not -- we have refrained, and we'll delay those -- such actions.

Thank you, Mr. Keysberg for all that. Let me move onto our fourth block, which has to do with portfolio strategy and about the new compensation system for the Board and the Supervisory Board. And let me pass -- let me answer those in detail myself. A question from DK Investment asked, would you only say there's no contribution between that, which the employees expect and the payments on -- for the Board members. Please give details. It was asked the special bonuses and how they can be justified based on the fact that shareholders will again have received no dividends for the past fiscal year and that many employees are worried about their jobs. How does that fit together? And another question. We -- was that we would have thought it was good that the -- we expect that the Board leads the company into safe still waters. And other comment was made by [ Martin Büchler ] was that why hasn't the silver -- or the Board delayed the special bonus based on the fact until the other business sectors could be sold without loss and/or whether the special bonus could have been made in terms of shares? And when -- who the benefit would have been as the share price improves so the benefits also improve? And the Executive Board, irrespective of the strategic decisions, made, which we asked about the last AGM, they should be praised for concluding the Elevator sale despite the pandemic that -- but as far as the special bonus, that is very much in question, bearing in mind the job loss of many employees. And whether or not the sale of the company's -- with silver -- in terms of the Elevator, whether that was a good approach? We remain -- only know that in many years' time, possibly. And maybe that sees -- compares what are the arguments against the special bonuses, and especially, reflecting the proposed compensation system? Let me give a summary answer to all of these comments and questions. Martina Merz, Oliver Burkhard and Dr. Keysberg have said for the fiscal year 2019 and 2020, they did receive a special bonus. That was a unanimous decision of the Supervisory Board. And that has been criticized in the press. It is absolutely right that the business development of thyssenkrupp was not satisfactory and that the company did not achieve its financial goals. But the achievement of the -- we did achieve other aspects. The second bonus depends on the individual achievements and outcomes of the Board members and -- but the fact that for -- achievement of financial goals is also a multiplier. But if -- but during the past year and in the year before that, any -- this -- the non-achievement of financial goals would result in no -- 0 bonus for those Board members. But reflecting the -- there's also -- the compensation must also reflect the individual efforts and outcomes of the members. Also, in order to reflect the individual performance results, the previous compensation method did include a special means by which thyssenkrupp could provide special bonuses for Executive Board members if it felt that it was justifiable. And it was on this basis that the Supervisory Board, after extensive discussions, unanimously decided to compensate individual efforts and results of Board members with a special bonus and one-off payments. The current -- the new compensation system excludes that option because it is no longer necessary. There was a gap in the old system, and that gap has now been removed in the new compensation system because it was an additive, not a multiplicative system. Because in the new system, non-achievement of financial goals would not automatically result in 0 bonus, especially below the Executive Board level, that is also the case and has been the case in the past. So the future regulations were put in mind with respect to the payment of the special bonuses. And -- but based on the situation -- but on the unusually successful completion of the Elevator transaction and the work of the Executive Board members, based on new system, the Executive Board members would receive payment of EUR 204,000. And that is why we decided on the special payment of EUR 200,000 in accordance with the new resolution regulation. The Supervisory Board came to an unanimous decision and continues to be of the opinion that this was the correct action to take. As far as the bonus -- payment of bonus and if the company is brought into a more -- into a calmer, into calmer waters and/or this reflected delays of payments over longer periods, this payment is a direct reflection of achievement of nonfinancial goals during the current fiscal year. As a part -- and based on the individual articles of the contracts, this does not represent an extraordinary payment. And the oldest system would have -- the previous system didn't allow such payments. The new and the old compensation also includes the aspect of long-term incentive. In the last fiscal year, in January 2020, for Mr. Burkhard, only he was a member -- was 20.2% of the salary or 80% below the target value in 2021 January, and please refer to the annual report. In one year, it was 70 percentage points appropriately. And the new compensation does not allow any such assessments. Why didn't -- why did shareholders benefit from the -- these aspects? The system was based on the resolutions passed at the AGM last year. And because there was no -- the -- paying special bonuses in terms of shares is not allowed according to the regulations. And the -- or the payment -- or the purchase of shares with the bonus, that was also not possible based on the valid regulations. And that nonpayment of the bonus or -- a question referred to -- let me say that in answer to those questions, the regular bonus was not possible because of the targets not reached. The special bonus amounts to 30% of the regular bonus or which -- this would be a 70% loss based for that bonus. But the Executive Board did between May and July in 2020, during which many of the staff employees were furloughed, the Board members did waive such payments. And appropriate rules were applied in the context of the pandemic. We were also asked why -- based on the pathetic work of thyssenkrupp members, why haven't bonuses and payments being slashed? Obviously, the person who made that question considers -- assesses the work of the Executive Board members differently to the Supervisory Board. The compensation system, as presented under agenda point 7, is based on short-term incentives and the long-term incentive aspect. The payment from the SDI was waived completely for the term year, the report year. And there's only 30% of the amount specified. After the payment of the special bonus, the -- it represents a reduction of 3 -- by 3 quarters of the variable bonus, and a major portion of the payment is based on the specified goals. This shows that there were gaps in the old compensations. And these gaps have been addressed in the new compensations as in accordance with agenda point 7. And for example, the law with -- those provide for various other options for the payment of bonuses, but these do not apply. The level of Supervisory Board compensation is specified in the articles of the thyssenkrupp, the fixed salaries and additional amounts and also for meeting -- attendance of meetings, et cetera. In 2020, there was an independent advisory committee, reviewed payments, and that pointed out that the current level, which was last raised in 2014 was at the lower level of that normal within the market for quoted companies in Germany. But based on the economic situation in -- with a much work, we decided to refrain from specifying or proposing an adoption. But if you look at -- refer to the agenda point 8, you will see that proposal -- that provides a proposal for the compensation of Supervisory Board members as has already been referred to on several occasions. But based on the successful Elevator transaction and achievements made in 2020 -- but I can accept comments about that, but it's not because of -- the future of the company is -- does not -- one single decision made by the Supervisory Board or incorrect decision, or however, one just wants to describe it, does not justify slashing payments for Supervisory Board members. What were the overall levels of compensation for our Board members? And what were they -- would they have been if the new compensation system had already been in -- had already been valid? The 2019, 2020 payments were -- are available to -- for your reference, are on the -- in the annual report. They are there in all detail. Let me apologize for all the complexity of these answers. It's not possible to answer those questions in any other way. Based on the corporate governance's code of 2019, '20, based on those figures, it was EUR 5.7 million for the entire Board. Based on the HD on the German code and based on the German corporate governance's code, the HBI places the emphasis on long-term incentives, whereas the -- another aspect refers to the details of the previous fiscal year. And -- but the compensation based on another method would -- which would require non-payment, no payments based for pension aspects and that -- and in contrast to the German and the corporate governance, the payments for withdrawing members would also have to be included. I'd say, there are many aspects, which apply to the compensation. And if the new compensation system were applied, the figures, the actual compensation payments made do depend primarily on the targets to achieve based on the Supervisory Board objectives. The variable payments, in case wherein Burkhard would have been with EUR 4,000 more based on the new compensation system than with respect to the payment actually made based on the old system. In terms of Ms. Merz, this couldn't -- doesn't -- simply doesn't apply because of her deployment. With respect to questions of former members of the Executive Board of various million euro, you wanted to know how that divides between active members and past members? And whether these -- you ask whether or not these payments are not extremely high because they refer to a time in the past when the company was more successful. Other questions were made about to -- first of all, let me -- the EUR 24 million paid applies to 50 -- to 15 members and applies to former members and their dependents. And the active payments for '19/'20 were EUR 6.4 million based on HGV, and the payments made to former members represent 3.8x that being paid to current members. About the question for excessive provisions for members. The -- those payments are based on provisions made and on by -- and on parameters made based on the balance sheet accounting methods. And the increases made in recent years is based on an interest rate of 0.7%. Therefore, the -- obviously, the orders that does consider and review such payments. And let me refer to a question referring to the time of the -- for the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board, how much time has been discussing this aspect? Why is the system so complicated? In the description, there is more details provided on this in the invitation than any other aspect. And the -- and it is based on the compensations as implied. The Supervisory Board dealt with it with one point of this agenda, and that was in the personnel committee. And according to the statement of a further company, 360 hours were contracted in order to assess this system of remuneration. And the guideline for the compensation out of 2, there was a new section now, 87, where it deals with the remuneration of members of the Board in great detail. And for that, we have the German corporate government -- governance guideline from 2019. And all of that leads to more transparency for the shareholders. So in other words, the description that we explained to you has to cover all aspects. And that includes the fact that I have to be talking here in great detail about this point. And this also is very similar to companies of a similar structure and size in Germany. So who is the independent expert? And what were the costs that we had to pay? Well, when it comes to this, we asked HKP based in Frankfurt. These are advisers. And this was what was discussed under item #7. So it was about EUR 100,000 more or less that we have to pay to this company. And then there were questions regarding the sustainability goals of the company. Mr. [ Bonzmen ], who is responsible for Union Invest for the sustainability, he asked this question. In the term -- in terms of environment, what are the points that you have to include in your sustainability report? Well, as we explained these, Board selects the long-term components out of a catalog. We look at the sustainability goals, which go beyond the 4-year performance period of time. Of course, we look at relevance, and of course, the maturity and the availability of the sustainability strategy, which is being developed at thyssenkrupp. For the current year, 2020, 2021, the ATI part, the sustainability goals were chosen from the field of employees and society. So we're looking at a reduction of the accident rate to 2.5 out of 1 million and an increase of having more women in leadership positions. We're now at 16%. Further sustainability goals, climate, energy, environment will be reflected in our climate action program. The KPIs would be dealing with our communicated climate goals. The reduction of CO2 emissions, for example. This is what we will focus on for sure. There's another question in a similar direction. It's different in its tonality decisions. This is the question of individual decisions of Board members. Can that also have impact on exports of armament? Or is the arms export something that is not part of it? The shareholder's right. I think that energy efficiency and energy supply should be included. But I think that arm's exports, I think, are part of the competence of group, thyssenkrupp. Well, we think the sustainability goals are being set for each financial year. And any business with customers in arms are not a section in itself, not a criteria in itself. Therefore, there is no contradiction here. But in all business, with sales of arms, and of course, in a very clear dialogue, where the government have to be ruled by the adherence to human rights criteria. Another question is, what happens if, in the new system, you will reach all the goals to 100%. And how much will that be exactly? Well, the target remuneration 2019, 2020 will be unchanged. As you can read on Page 136 of our business report. For the -- Ms. Merz, it will be EUR 4.9 million. For the other members, EUR 2.43 million. The fixed payment for the CEO is EUR 3.4 million. And for the others, EUR 700 million. And one shareholder wants to have explained, what is it that she has to earn 40 times more than the Chancellor of Germany? And the answer is, well, the payment of the Chancellor of Germany depends on the way you look at it. And if she's also a Member of Parliament, it's at EUR 300,000 or EUR 420,000. And for Mrs. Merz, we are at EUR 4.59 million. So it's not 1 to 40 times more, it would be 11x more. Well, of the members of the Board was checked by an independent expert and after the Elevator business has been divested. And therefore, the proportion at thyssenkrupp was between the 60s or the 70s point on the rating of all members of tax. And therefore, we are in the medium range of all those companies. And when it comes to remuneration for Board members and employees, well, the company is in a very difficult situation, and it has to sell parts of the company. What is the -- what impression are you giving of you having an even new and improved remuneration system? Let me answer. Well, of course, we know that the decisions that we make here have an impact on the employees. And for many employees, this is quite a burden to bear. But the new remuneration system, of course, is based on the principle of transparency and sustainability. And it is only based on really reaching the aim. So the individual performance of each member does not have to be evaluated. So by not including individual sustainability goals, we keep to our responsibility in terms of sustainability. The amount of remuneration is not changed by the new system. The amount of remuneration is not changed by the new system. I think everybody sees this in a positive light. In the governance roadshow, I discuss this with many, many investors, and the feedback from the investors was rather positive. Now there is a question regarding the remuneration system for the supervisory board. Well, there is no new payment system here. So we use the existing rules and regulations, and they are in keeping with the German Governance Kodex. And considering the situation of the company, they are appropriate. It is relatively low if you look at the -- comparing it to other members of the market. And apart from that, there were questions regarding management, which I will also answer. We were asked to give a statement to that decision -- to comment made in WDR. If I have responsibility, I have to face it. You cannot run a company like this. This means that the company will go belly up. Well, that was the quote from that TV program. This, of course, is directed at the foundation and not at the company, we can't speak for the foundation at this point of time. But I can tell you, as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, the investors of thyssenkrupp are working in a very responsible fashion for the company and for the benefit of the company. There is another question, could Mrs. Fulbert as a new member of the board, could you explain how it could learn from Vibro-Acoustics induced book? And isn't there a conflict if she is at Vibro-Acoustics and thyssenkrupp at the same time? I can answer that question because we checked, of course, I presented her very briefly. Well, we're very happy to have Ms. Fulbert on board. She is an expert in her field. Since she started in October, she has been a great support for us and her level of competency when it comes to finding leaner structures, she's helping us on the board. And her job at Vibro-Acoustics does not manifest any conflict with the work here. And of course, she is sworn to confidentiality in our meetings as well as in the meetings of Vibro-Acoustics. We don't see that there's any conflict. As to me, there were questions too. Mr. Schmidt, DWS asked us in the course of the following 12 months, are you going to resign from any of the jobs that you have? Well, I was voted to be a member up until the end of '23, and I enjoy having this job. And as you see, I'm very committed to [Audio gap]. We are happy that you have the changed the sectors that give us a [indiscernible] board. And we also support the election of Mrs. Fulbert. Thank you very much for that. As to the over boarding, since 2021, apart from being at thyssenkrupp and and [indiscernible] the Hagen , also the President of the German Association of Industries, so we see that he is holding more than he's supposed to. How can you explain that you actually have enough time to work for thyssenkrupp? But first of all, I'm going to say that the amount -- the companies [indiscernible] and [indiscernible], these are not publicly traded. They have one owner. Therefore, when it comes to time, they cannot be compared to thyssenkrupp. And both companies are much, much smaller than thyssenkrupp. And therefore, from what I see the number of jobs are much below the recommendations of corporate code plus 2020, I have stopped working for [indiscernible] and BBS Automation. And believe me, I make sure that I have enough time to carry out my duties. As I said earlier, I -- we have many, many meetings, and it takes up a little time, and I have to make sure that I have that time, of course. Something else? Mr. Schmidt from DWS is asking a question. So what's the amount that can be retained. That is, of course a sign of good governance. And we do not agree that this deductible should be done away with on the contrary. So the question is, will you keep the deductible in your group and also report it on transparent fashion. We have a D&O insurance, which does not have a deductible at this point of time. Therefore, this is in keeping with the recommendations of the German Governance Code. And therefore, we have changed it. So this declaration that we have to make for the new system of remuneration. It is our aim, and we follow those recommendations of the German Governance Code. A question to the Supervisory Board. The future Supervisory Board work is going to be different. How can you -- or how can the future work make sure that blind loyalty and franchise clubs and understanding of franchise at thyssenkrupp. This apparently is a quote from [indiscernible] from his conference back in 2012. Well, the -- as we said on Page 13, the future work of the Supervisory Board in keeping with the recommendations have been discussed. And all identified fields have been, of course, supported and backed by a number of actions that aim towards a good work of the Supervisory Board. And those measures are being discussed and then implemented, and we do that in 2 phases. The first phase is up until the implementation of the important decisions -- business decisions and also extraordinary decisions of the Supervisory Board. And the second phase is the time after that. So the times then when thyssenkrupp is expect to being a very normal company again. So the understanding of -- described in 2012 was referring to the management structure or corporate culture back then, but not the way that the Supervisory Board was working and cannot refer to the work of the Supervisory Board of now because none of us were present back then in 2012. So as it is shown, the current work of the Supervisory Board is marked by a great discussion culture and a very transparent and open communication. Of course, we ask, how do we fare compared to other supervisory boards, and we received a very encouraging reply. At the very end of this huge block. Thank you for your patience. I shall not miss out on quoting Mr. Schmidt from DWS. We thank all employees for their work in the past business year for the success of the company. And we ask you to please forward this gratitude, and I can tell you, Mr. Schmidt. Yes. We do that with pleasure. So this is the end of Block 4, and now we move on to Block #5. Portfolio strategy. Thank you, Mr. Rottweil. We have various questions on the role of the company in the international competition. For example, the question, the role we play at international level. In the next 5 to 10 years, which role will we play? So a few facts upfront. At the moment, the thyssenkrupp is achieving 45% of its turnover internationally. Our key regional markets are on top of Europe, North America and China. And in these regions, we seek to improve our market position, obviously that applies, in particular, to automotive and/or industry components as Brazil and also outside of China also for our material services business. The important thing here is that our international growth still continues. And so we seek to improve our position in terms of green tech, electrolysis for wind power. The bearings for electrolysis and wind power. And in -- especially in countries where there is plenty of wind. And we see our sales there taking place mainly outside of Germany. Other question was referred to plant, whether the sale of the Cement business. Your actual question was, what is the situation in terms of such sales and whether we expect positive news there soon. And I have already given details of that in my speech because we do, of course, intend to -- within terms of our mining sales that we intend to get good results. But I cannot say any more about that than I've already said in my speech. Another subject in this relation is the situation of Steel Europe. A question from Mr. Tula was in the press that we've heard there was an alternative to sale was that one could have an IPO. And I think it is good that this option is still being discussed. About what is your position on this? And is that a serious option, which you consider viable? Well, Mr. [indiscernible], you also asked your from DECA Investments, which approach we intend for steel. You ask that the simple sale would have very complete questions associated with it. And whether the -- you really intend to have investments in steel and whether you can refrain from accepting the advances of Mr. Gupta? And what have you -- are your intentions here. Mr. Schmidt from DWS. you also asked what are the -- what is the outlook with respect to the sale of the steel sector to Liberty Steel? And I made various comments on that in my long speech. So just let me give you a brief summary of my response. Our overall goal is to keep steel future-proof. And that means in the past year, we have our sales strategy of last year, which has been described in press. Our strategy is called Steel 2030, and that is the basis of our actions. The Liberty Steel offer is currently being reviewed. And we're also working very hard on other options to have future-proof structure for steel within our own efforts and/or based on other sale options. The discussions with the federal governments and local governments for subsidies and support for as part of the green transformation process, these talks are continuing. Dr. [indiscernible] is a Head of Sustainability at UNI Investment. Mr. [indiscernible], you ask what is the future vision for thyssenkrupp? And which core competences you are intending to focus on. Mr. [indiscernible] you also asked what will remain of thyssenkrupp group, if steel was sold, and what are our strategic goals? Mr. Schmidt from DWS, you asked where is the core action for thyssenkrupp AG? So let me give you a summary answer to those questions. The core of our strategy is to transform thyssenkrupp into an internationally active group of companies, mainly independent and competitive business with a lean HQ. We stand for in the future for engineering, for technology and for service. And we -- those are roots. And that's where we intend to remain under review. We intend to achieve sustainable profitability and have sustainable cash flow. These are the benchmarks by which we will be measured and which will enable us to pay out reliable dividends in the future. And then we can offer future jobs -- safe jobs in the future and safe places of employment. At the same time, our core competence is so based on innovative products, our technological know-how and our industrial expertise, we will make an important contribution to having a good future for everyone and a world which is sustainable in the future. Dr. [indiscernible], you also asked the scope of thyssenkrupp activities in hydrogen technology and the level of investments, and how that is to be financed or where the funding is to come from? Mr. [indiscernible], you asked about similar issues, when we'll be prepared to be a strong partner in the hydrogen sector in order to have the funds available rapidly. So the reaction capacity, you mentioned of 1 gigawatt will not be sufficient. Competition is not asleep. And how do we intend to use the massive chances and the mass deal with the massive investments. You have asked very interesting questions. And we are very pleased that you have such a major interest in these issues. Last year, at the same time, we made decisions. We did start an internal project looking into exactly these questions. And address such issues. This project look, is an analysis of, on the one hand, the market growth potential and various business models and also logically, looking to the question of where the hydrogen business is something we can do alone or should develop it with external partners and what kind of level such partnership should be. These are not trivial questions, obviously. The market is very much subject to dynamic development, and that is why we need to have a thorough look at necessary investments. And obviously, we will give you all information about such investments in the hydrogen when such decisions are made. Mr. [indiscernible], you also asked about the potential we expect from demand for green hydrogen in the next few years for green hydrogen. The studies we have available show that the hydrogen market will be very dynamic, growing in its growth. And electrolysis will have a market volume in 2030 of more than EUR 20 billion. The general speed will depend on many separate factors, for example, funding available, state funding, regulatory conditions, and for example, the productivity and cost advances made for this energy source. As this is -- as demand ramps up for green hydrogen, factors are -- these are factors, which cannot be influenced alone by thyssenkrupp. In terms of the technology, we are in a good position. And we have commercial and technological viable options available. We are preparing for meeting increasing demands. It will depend on using the full potential of our company, exploiting that potential to the fullest amount and either with partners or co-investors or internally. I can say there's a constant issue amongst some discussions at the executive board level. Here in the region, we have a very good basis for making the best use of our advantages. And we're also asked what is the restructuring of the company. How does that reflect in the future, medium-term and long term? And whether there is a schedule you're working on. Yes, we do have a road map and the strategy for transformation is clear. We have developed a plan and the presentation of that plan was in -- was made in May 2020. And during that presentation, we said that we -- it will take a number of years before we see the results in terms of our figures. And that was before. That was a while, obviously, the pandemic has hit us and is issue, but we still have a very challenging target, and we intend to keep to that target. And as I've also detailed, over the next few months, many key decisions will be made, for example in terms of multitracks and also for steel. Mr.[indiscernible], you also asked about -- in terms of multitrack because the cash flow is very much burdened by that. And please refer to my speech. I have provided details of that. In terms of multitrack, majority of the structuring -- we have structured M&A activities planned there. And we -- I've given you details as opposed to sites, but we are also discussing with potential buyers and partners. And we assume that during the course of this fiscal year, we will have made great progress. Parallel to that, we are also working in all multitrack businesses on improving financial performance. The segment will, in the course of this fiscal year, make a material contribution to improving thyssenkrupp's financial situation. And let me now hand over to Oliver Burkhard.

There's a question from Mr. [indiscernible]. You talked about marine systems, which burdens -- which hurdles need to be overcome to get -- have that -- have these defensive -- these defense activities, hand it over to another source? Let me assure you, we are still looking at the dual-track very much at thyssenkrupp. We can either alone or develop it with partners and whichever is the best option. And when such a conversation makes sense, when it does make sense then thyssenkrupp will support that action. So thank you for that. This moves on to Block 6. This is financial. So let me hand over to Mr. Keysberg.

Mr. Tulan, you asked the level of pension provisions, whether they are fully covered or not? thyssenkrupp, on the September 30, 2019, their pension obligation of EUR 10.6 billion, and there was a coverage there of EUR 2.5 billion. And of that EUR 8 billion applied to Germany and EUR 0.2 billion for planned assets. so the uncovered domestic obligations are around EUR 5 million -- EUR 5 billion. And another question you asked, how you intend to solve the pension obligation problem? And what are our payments to pensioners and the German pension plans. And how are they covered by the cash flow of the company? These are provisions -- pensions covered by provisions. The strategy on this, this is a long-term aspect and helps stabilize the company's long-term financial situation. Another aspect is that in February 20, 2020 during the elevator transaction, we had -- we intended to finance our obligation -- financial pension obligations, but we decided, as discussed, to delay that in order to keep our financial options open, and we cannot make any concrete details of that available now. Mr. [indiscernible], you asked specifically about the capital costs. Let me -- don't you think it's contradictory that for the management for the steel, you have -- you assume the maximum capital ratio, whereas for the balance sheet assessment, you use the no [indiscernible] rated average cost of capital of 7.6% or 6.9%. In the other operative areas, you assume higher capital costs. Don't you agree that it is placebo that the capital cost in the steel sector should be higher than other sectors, in particular, sale for the elevator business and -- which we can see in the results of that sale because steel is a cyclic business. And as is justified in the figures. I would ask you to give us the differences for the beta factor, for example, the land risk premium and outside capital, their capital structure and indebtedness. I would also ask you to give us details of the peer groups and the balance sheet, capital costs and the beta factors for companies in terms of debt. And the rack at thyssenkrupp is the minimum interest right for performance benchmark -- as benchmark for investment projects for -- to have continuity in these considerations, we use smooth adjusted figures and half or -- and rounded up to half or full percentage points. They differ because of different risks of the different businesses. And the specific risks of the business and the steel is higher than for other business sectors, then, for example, material services. The impairment tests used per cash generated unit, the CGUs are in contrast. They actually use a standard algorithm. And the decisive aspect here for capital cost is the data derived from the parameters you also mentioned for the beta parameter, for example. So some areas have a relatively high level of indebtedness, which have the result of reducing the overall capital costs. Based on the beta factor parameters and land, risk and outside capital ratios, our capital structure and indebtedness ratio. The cash generation units and the cash distribution services, which is the biggest CGU of the material services on September 30, 2020, had the following great supply indebted beta factor of 1.9% and 1.8% for the material services. The land risk , 0.05%; and distribution services 0.38%. Outside capital costs before tax, 3.37% for distribution, 4.23%. Capital structure, indebted ratio for Steel Europe 53.39% and 35%. For the peer groups and the beta factor, peer group, Steel Europe, including [indiscernible] AG XSB, first [indiscernible], GP, data steel at 0.6% and 1.0%. The indebted beta factors as 0.03% and 0.49% for the peer group distribution services at [indiscernible], Metal B Group, Airconnect scope metals and Royal Ascot holding. And the UN indebted rates are 0.7% and 0.94% and the -- between 0.91 and 1.78%. Another question from Mr. [indiscernible]. Did you -- have you thought about the long-term growth rates differ? For example, because price increases are also different also because of competition being different. For example, if you compare steel or marine, please explain how you come to your estimates of the general rate of 0 point -- how you come to your figures for growth? Do you refer to estimates for long-term inflation rates? Or how do you do it? Yes, we have thought about the points you make that the long-term growth rates are different. And this applies to all cash-generating units, which is based on an adjusted algorithm, which is adjusted for HCG who placed, for example, inflation in the individual books. This arrives at different growth rates per CGU. For the purpose of the impairment test, these have a cap. The cap was risen to 1.2% and is based in accordance with the auditors agreement based on the long-term inflation rate. In the past, the inflammation rate is concerned, we get that from HIS Market. The question about the HQ here in Essen. What about the book value adjustment for your HQ in Essen? The book value is based -- is now EUR 214 million, and the justification is in the course of the value test, the operative book values for corporate and corporate assets, which include the HQ, have to be proportionally adjusted to all of the CGUs. So various CGUs had under coverage. And so the value is actually less than the book value according to corporate assets. And because of this under cut, the corporate assets had to be reduced. This is now Block 7, which is called segments. Let me hand over to Ms. Merz.

Thank you. And you asked about hydrogen, which is playing a larger and larger role for our activities. And also to do with steel production, you assume -- you've seen that will be positive for chemical plant construction but -- well, the question you ask is, can you please explain which potential you see in hydrogen for alkali you see also in steel production and in plant building. Well, as to hydrogen, I think, already -- I've spoken to the subject, and I think it is quite clear that we see a major potential there. Well, to have a CO2 neutral street production is something that we do in stages. We want to go to a hydrogen-based production with the CO2 production -- reduction, of course. At the same time, we want to build a risk reduction, CO2 reduction plant in order to replace a regular furnace. And bit by bit, all furnaces will be replaced or regular furnaces where we replaced by CO2 reduced furnaces. That's, of course, an investment sum of about EUR 1 billion. But of course, to purchase climate neutral hydrogen. This will increase the price. But climate neutral steel will probably more expensive than conventionally manufactured steel. And no steel manufacturer can pay for that itself. Therefore, we need the political sphere to create a system of incentives to make sure that green steel can be manufactured. So the critical shareholders had a number of questions to our international business relations. Are there any concrete exclusions when it comes to the use of fossil energies, if so, which ones are they? And if not, why not? Well, to look at potential project participation, of course, always takes into account questions of sustainability. Our criteria include, among others, include management recycling, waste management recycling and other aspects of the nature. That is always included. Apart from that, we need an individual and careful examination of each project. So there is no blanket exclusion system that we use, but we evaluate each individual proposal. Second question was, what are the current or planned coal projects, coal mines and power plants are being supplied by thyssenkrupp? Where do we plan to participate? And the question is, currently, we -- thyssenkrupp, we are involved in a number of smaller projects, double-digit investments, double-digit million investment, where it comes to the exhibition of coal. So we provide products for mining. And these are conveyance systems or loading platforms. But also these operation plans for carbon plants. But of course, we are in adherence with the Paris Accords. And thus the reduction of the use of coal for energy. We are convinced that coal cannot be done without overnight. Therefore, we want to use coal as ecologically as possible, please refer to my input when I talked about mining and that we are thinking of actually selling that part of our business. And you're also talking about cement works in Western Sahara. We got the contract back in 2016, near El-Aaiún, the capital of the West Saharan Republic. And the question is, have you completed the job? And since when is it in operation? And the answer is to thyssenkrupp received the order -- was awarded the order for the cement works. But it was finished in 2019 and commissioning. Another question was, are there -- are you planning on having any other projects in West Sahara? And if so, which ones? And the answer is thyssenkrupp currently does not have any projects in Western Sahara and none are being planned. And Mr. [indiscernible] keeps asking, are you aware of the fact that West Sahara is, in fact, being occupied by Morocco? Yes, we at thyssenkrupp are aware of the difficult political situation in Northern Africa. And of course, we follow these developments. We hope, of course, that diplomatic efforts and economic development will help to ease the situation. And the United Nations has declared West Sahara as an occupied area. And any contracts that you'd sign with Moroccan government are not admissible. How did you get the approval of the people of West Sahara? Well, in this project, it was the delivery of components for a cement works for a private customer. We delivered a packaging unit, and it is in private property. Whatever that person or that company then negotiated with the Moroccan government is out of our sphere of influence. Apparently it is according -- there are infections to the Geneva convention in West Sahara. Can you really make sure that none of your components can be used for human rights abuses? And we say, we do not see any connection there. There is no linkage. From what we know, the cement works as local customers and is an impulse for the local business community. But again, this is all in the hands of a private company. Do you consider this to be in accordance with international law? Our answer is, we do not assume that we have broken any laws. For deliveries into West Sahara back then. And even now, there are no official embargoes. There are no restrictions for EU countries. Next question? The recognized Frente Polisario has declared the area as a war zone in April of 2020. And how do you see your commitment there, knowing that this is a war zone now? As we said, we finished our job there in 2019. There is no risk for thyssenkrupp. Further question? As to your projects in Western Sahara and Morocco, did you carry out an audit? And if so, what were the findings of that audit, especially when it comes to the adherence to human rights standards? thyssenkrupp carried out audits with OCP. That's our client. And there were no indications that human rights violations were committed. Thank you very much, Mr. [indiscernible]. Yes. And we get questions regarding restructuring in individual sites. They say that Olpe are going to close. How is it that the experiences can be carried to the other plants? When was the last time that anybody from the board ever visited the plant? Well, Olpe is not profitable. And that's why -- this means the surveillance are carried out by other plants. We can only keep these contracts by having them carried out at other plants. They go to Debrecen, Mexico and China. Debrecen for some time now is running at capacity level? And there are colleagues from Olpe helping out there. The colleagues in Mexico are very, very experienced, and they can do that job. There was a social acceptable arrangement reached with the workers at Olpe. Board members, the last time was on the 13th of January, were present. Next one will be in April. But it was not the board of the entire group. The last time it was in February 2019. And then also as to CO2 emissions. And the rules and regulations emitted by the European Union. How do you see the prospects for steel in Europe? Can we ever be profitable in Europe again in steel? Yes. As we already pointed out, various times, it is quite a challenge to change the production modes. We are changing the technology. We want to go from coal to hydrogen. Europe has very ambitious aims, but also beyond the borders of Europe, this is a big issue now. So not only in Europe, but anywhere in the world, the steel industry will have challenges. But it is also an opportunity to be the first in green technology. But of course, for that, we have to find market green light market for Europe and establish a market within the right regulatory conditions. And then there was a question. What are the plans for the steel group, which at the moment is not profitable. Steel, at the moment, has a clear future strategy. And because of the pandemic, we need more measures than the ones that we had already adopted, performance and increase of productivity, cost efficiency and targeted investment, the portfolio and the transformation for neutral starting position and the digitization is part of that. 2030 is not connected to who is the owner, no matter who is going to be running steel will need that. I think we are on the right way, and we're setting the pace. Another question as to Steel Europe. In the past business year, did you develop any new steels? And if so, which ones? And what was the aim? So where do we have a USP? And do we have new production technologies? And if so, which ones were the right -- the most important ones? Yes, new steels were developed, multi fiber steels and those that we need for e-mobility. So -- and that, of course, is part of that strategy for 2030 that I just described. For a neutral starting position and the digitization is part of that. 2030 is not connected to who is the owner, no matter who is going to be running steel will need that. I think we are on the right way, and we're setting the pace. Another question as to Steel Europe. In the past business year, did you develop any new steels? And if so, which ones? And what was the aim? So where do we have a USP? And do we have new production technologies? And if so, which ones were the right -- the most important ones? Yes, new steels were developed, multi-fiber steels and those that we need for e-mobility. So -- and that, of course, is part of that strategy for 2030 that I just described, especially electromobility and steel bending. And when we were talking about flat steels. We have found special means of manufacturing steel with a low-carbon input that has been also discussed in the medium. And warm reshaping is the keyword in this new technology. So furnace one for the efficiency, we call it sequencing impulse procedure with induced waves. It's either -- it's carbon that is being injected to optimize the use of carbon and reduce it, of course. [indiscernible] asked: The sustainability regulations makes it difficult for you. What is the strategy when it comes to the CO2 reduction and how much is this going to cost the steel division? Is there any chance for growth for new products? Well, at this point of time, I'd like to give you concrete terms. We want the avoidance of CO2 by using hydrogen. And when we use carbon, we use the Carbon2Chem procedure, in other words, a reduction of the use of carbon. So the one at the new furnace 9 in Duisburg, those tests have been started in 2019. But in the long run, we need a new technology that does away with carbon completely. But we're not there yet. So we want an iron ore reduction. And at the end of the day, it will be completely carbon-free. And the first new melters will be operational in 2022 in the Carbon2Chem technology that we spoke, so we changed it to basic chemicals. So we were able to form ammonium by carbon and ammonia gas has been performed, and we have been receiving subsidies from the government for this new technology. So climate transformation is a great opportunity for steel in Europe. There are requests for CO2-reduced products, and we think that we can be leading in this green technology, but we need framework conditions, the establishment of markets for such products, plus, of course, the support of the government.

Thank you very much, Klaus. Now we're talking about the business unit in marine -- how many submarines 212A, 214 are being built at the moment? How many more submarines? And how many more contracts are in the pipeline?

Well, the answer is, at the moment, 5 to 12 boats or higher are being manufactured, and we have a contract with Fincantieri in Italy for material components for 2 more boats for 2012 for the Italian Navy. The next one is also for boat class. How many of the boating class are being built at the moment, and for how many more submarines? Do you have any contracts signed? The answer is, there is one [indiscernible] is being built right now. We don't have any further orders in that class. And then how many of the Frigates of F121 are being built, and for how many more do we have contracts? At the moment? Only 2 Frigates of 121 for the German Navy. And number three, Sachsen-Anhalt; number four, Rheinland-Pfalz will be done in October of '21. No further contracts from the German Navy and also no options for the export. Next question, according to the media, Atlas Electronik, with Airbus, developed a [indiscernible], system, the ship tracking system. SIGNALIS is the name of the system. So what is the part of thyssenkrupp or Atlas in this in terms of money? Well, the answer is SIGNALIS was a joint venture between Atlas and -- joint venture. The vessel traffic system and Airbus use the the MS, maritime safety part. But all of that was sold to Airbus in 2016 because it was not profitable for us. And we wanted to consolidate portfolios, and therefore, we sold it now. As to the exports of armament, well, in the German parliament, on the 29th of January, 3 parliamentary groups wanted to have an embargo for shipments to Turkey. The TKMS should not be delivered to Turkey. Why do you think that you can still sell it to Turkey, even though the Turkish government is very aggressive? Please do not say that it's up to the German government. No. The answer is this: We've signed a contract with Turkey more than 10 years ago. And we, of course, fulfill our contractual obligations. And of course, this is always in keeping with the guidelines established by the German government, the German Minister of Defense was just talking to her counterpart in Turkey. Of course, we always are guided by the rules of the German government. Now a couple of questions at the same time. Now that the Eastern Mediterranean, there was some oil -- gas was found and there is a risk that there may be an escalation of the conflict between Turkey and Greece. And the question is, to what extent do you think you can still sell arms to Turkey, when you have such a situation, plus the human rights have not been respected in Turkey. And then there were sales of the submarine to Egypt. Well, in a committee of the parliament. He said that Germany is actually selling arms to the conflict in Yemen. We need an embargo that is very clear. So the question now is to what extent do you consider sending arms -- submarines to Egypt -- to a country that is involved in an armed conflict? And how do you consider the reputational risk that may arise from such activity? And now, a last question here. With the 2 corvettes in Itajai, the former shipyard Itajai. With that, Brazil wants to get a better navy. Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, is being taken to court internationally. With his sons, he's talking about the use of military force against this neighbor of Venezuela. Do you think that -- and obviously, the answer is that the government provides the legal framework for such work. That is right upfront before we consider any such deals. And we are -- that is a practice -- that is always a consideration for such activities. Morocco, does that receive, or are there any deliveries planned in Morocco? There are no marine systems. Are they planned, or are they taking place? Are any other arms activities planned with Brazil? The contract for the construction for frigates were signed on the 5th of March 2020. In the 4th of September, it was -- became enforced. Other options do not exist. And let me hand it back to [ Mr. Usman ].

Thank you for that. Let's move on to Block 8, which is sustainability and energy transformation. Dr. [indiscernible], you asked when will you officially implement the -- of the client-related financial disclosures. And when will you implement that and follow the reporting guidelines, what is your schedule on that? And the answer is the recommendations of the TCFE are obviously an important orientation for tk for its client-related porting. For the implementation of the recommendations, thyssenkrupp, the end of calendar 2020, it published a complementary report format. The reference table is available from our website for externals. The climate-related reporting for tk, also for those recommendations, is in further development on an ongoing basis. [indiscernible], you also asked about climate issues. For example, thyssenkrupp has 23 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. You're one of the worst culprits in Germany. But what about relating to Scope 3 for those using tk products? There are no -- there's no information list on your current annual report. And this -- the objective for thyssenkrupp for Scope 3 emissions from the use of tk products is by 2030, to have a reduction of 16%, which is not very much. And bearing in mind the need to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees integrate. What are these Scope 3 emissions, which arise through the use of tk products? And what is the rate of Scope 3 emissions during the past fiscal year? The modeling of Scope 3 modeling is based on corporate value chain accounting and reporting for the climate greenhouse gas emissions. The Scope 3 calculations are based on -- will take place after the annual report in accordance with -- and is reported to the organization and are not available for '19, '20. But the -- those figures are available in the carbon disclosure project website. But figures for last year are not there, but for the year before, they are already there. The fraction of Scope 3 emissions on overall emissions, so Scope 2 and 3 together, so 1, 2 and 3 together. The modeling of Scope 3 emissions, so those arising from the use of our products, the share of modeled Scope 3 for our overall carbon footprint is 90%. The main fraction comes from CO2 emissions through the use of our products. For example, the use of steel products in cars and the operation of cement plant made by us for our customers. And this is a simple issue because Scope 3 sometimes only refers to the emissions from the supply chain. But Scope 3 also refers to materials and product in the use by our end customers. The third question is why do you not currently publish any Scope 3 details? I answered that with my answer to question one. And we need to point out, in terms of transparency for climate reporting, we are, depending on the -- we have been -- received accolades from that organization for our climate disclosure data. And that was last the case in September of 22 -- 2020. These climate targets of 1.5 degrees Celsius based on the Paris agreement. The ambition at thyssenkrupp is to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 30%, and also Scope 3 emissions by 16% by 2030. By 2050, we want to be climate-neutral. These reductions will help contribute towards the goals of the Paris agreement to keep the average global warming below 2 degrees. The -- our tk objectives help towards achieving the goals and are validated by the science-based targets. The first question you make is, which concrete measures are planned in order to achieve this goal -- the goal for Scope 3 emissions? As I said, the far larger share of emissions is from the use of our products. And that is why our -- we are applying our main actions here. Emissions are reduced by having innovative technological solutions in action at our customers, mainly in having climate green chemicals, green cement, green hydrogen, renewable energies, for example, renewable power. Further development of our CCU technologies, Carbon2Chem, goes beyond the steel industry, for example, for cement clients. And ultimately, our contributions to sustainability in mobility and e-mobility through the use of innovative components such as electric steering systems [indiscernible] wire and also light construction steels. They also help contribute to reduce emissions for e-mobility. And Mr. [ Duffner ], if you can join us in promoting our products, we will be very grateful for that. What -- investments are planned to achieve the goals of Scope 3? Innovation expenses are EUR 800 million per year. The majority of the innovations are focused on producing sustainable products with -- in order to help substantially reduce emissions. Key activities are not only on the development of climate-friendly products, but also, above all, on our contributions in working together with our clients in order to help them achieve climate protection goals. This move -- this helps us move on to Block 9, which is an organization. I have a question here from [ Dr. Thomson ] for sustainability. And the question is, what are we doing in terms of corporate governments and diversity in order to improve that at thyssenkrupp? Corporate governance and diversity are measured at thyssenkrupp. We've been addressing that issue for many years now at thyssenkrupp, and have been undertaking actions to achieve. We want corporate governance in order to improve trust with our partners and staff and in the public field in monitoring our activities. In terms of -- in keeping with legal regulations, we follow the corporate governance Codex, which also, for example, relates to the revised compensation system, as put forward in agenda 0.7. In terms of corporate governance, we have close and trusting relations and activities in the Supervisory Board. And in the work of the Executive Board and the committees all will satisfy all the requirements. And it is the job of the supervisor to have quality and value criteria in order to improve the flow of information between the committees and the main board, and also to ensure that the Supervisory Board and these committees have sufficient information available in order to -- for the debates. I, myself, in my role as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, also ensured there was great dialogue on our government themes in Europe, in Germany, in America, for example, and have an active exchange of information between our company and all bodies relating to corporate governments in terms of -- we seek equality and -- equality of opportunities. And this the quality is also very much a part of our corporate culture. We have introduced flexible time working models. We have introduced childcare options and home office opportunities. All employees should be able to develop with us freely and based on their own potential irrespective of creed or race or sexual orientation. tk introduced a 5-year goal for introducing women to higher management roles. And by -- in 5 years' time, 16% of leadership -- leading management propositions are to be held by women. That is we would then have as many women in leadership management roles as in the workforce overall. And I think we will be able to achieve our goals. We want to -- we don't want -- we want to achieve our fair share in terms of quality between the genders. [ Mr. Usman ], thank you for that. We were how we tend to move from work to our principle if positions cannot be -- are open and our vacant within thyssenkrupp. We seek to ensure that throughout the company. These -- such vacancies are advised. And we intend to -- this is based on, for example, the work for the future law, and which has also been improved as part of our transformation process. The responsible visibility and execution of such aspects has to do with the local and the various business units. And they are also responsible for local interpretation, the regulations for internal changing of vacancies within the thyssenkrupp group as opposed to it some other businesses. We have improved activities in this sense in order to advise companies within the group of any vacancies occurring. We have the placement offers, and these take place within these segments and across segments. We also have transfer companies plus internal solutions cannot be found. We also work, for example, with models with extended transfer. So the short-term period of 12 months has been extended 24 months. And this also is purely used to help employees gain further qualifications for their future employment options. Restructuring measures, what are the plans? And what are the plans for job shedding within Germany? And let me say on that, thyssenkrupp is currently, as we've heard several times -- and it's the biggest transformation process it's ever had within its history. And this is not possible without cutting some jobs. And that is also in response to corona. We have discussed these restructuring measures to a great extent and also provided details of the process. By '23, we will have cut 11,000 jobs across the board, and it was in Germany, about 7,000 will be affected by the end of December, about 4,000 jobs of those 11,000 had been cut and appropriate social and welfare plans were agreed with the local organizations. And a certain fraction of those 4,000 obviously affected Germany. The future -- these such measures are absolutely vital in order to secure the future of thyssenkrupp and the remaining jobs. We seek to find appropriate solutions which are socially and economically acceptable. And we have appropriate agreements in place; balancing of interest, flexible time working and the use of furloughs. And all of the tools available to human resource departments are obviously all applied. We are now moving on to a question relating to -- bearing in mind the global activities of the company that -- and the international characteristics of its shareholders. Would it be better to go over to a European corporate form? I'm sure the executive Board members are aware of the benefits of this corporate form, and other German companies have already taken this move. So that was the question. The answer is, as far as we are concerned, taking thyssenkrupp into a group of companies, as we've would explained, that is the top priority, and that is why we are not currently looking at the possibility you mentioned for to changing thyssenkrupp AG to thyssenkrupp SA, a European registered company. We intend to retain the benefits of the AG. But the SA does not produce only benefits, but also involves costs, et cetera, which can be avoided by not taking that step.

Thank you, Mr. [indiscernible]. This moves on to the last of our segments, but it is a large block. This is miscellaneous. So I will be -- need to help with all my colleagues on the stage. So this is from Mr. Schmitt from DWS. if shareholders have asked questions, can they ask follow-up questions? Let me say that this option for our first, this is not available for our first online AGM. Overall, we are -- and personally for the modernization of the AGM procedures. And -- but I'm sure that in the future, that the follow-up questions can -- will be an option. But at the moment, we need to have a revised legal framework within which that can be done. And that situation is not yet, today, the case. We will -- just as in the past, it is not possible to provide written answers to the questions asked at the AGM. [indiscernible], your turn.

Mr. Schmitt you also wanted to know the scope of business relationship existing between [ [indiscernible] and tk. The scope of those business relationships between [indiscernible] and thyssenkrupp Group is very low. And on top of that, the turnover and payments have been reducing in recent years. Mr. [ Duffner ], you also asked about payments by tk during -- between 2018 and 2020 were made to lobbyists, which party -- which payments are made to political parties and to metal organizations and associations? thyssenkrupp has made no payments to lobbyists in order to influence the political agenda. thyssenkrupp AG is a member of various organizations and associations. And during the report year, paid 830,000 in expenditure for its activities. Which party, political payments have been made? We cannot answer that because we would ask you to simply contact those parties who can provide details of that. In terms of sponsoring, you asked whether thyssenkrupp the system group executive members or supervisory board or managers of subsidiaries are -- have made political payments to political parties during the same time period. Our answer is we are not -- we have no information available on private payments made by organ members to political parties. We do not have such information. Second question was, has thyssenkrupp made any party sponsoring activities in that time period? If any answers were, yes -- if yes, please give us information based on amount, receiving party and date and sponsoring party and type of sponsoring. The answer is that in addition to the basic principle that no sponsorship will be made -- that payments will be we made to political parties, we also do not undertake any party sponsoring. The questions you've made in that relation can, therefore, all be answered with no. And since neither take place, then we can give you no details of such payments. The third question, were there payments made by thyssenkrupp or any of its subsidiaries to political parties in the years 2018 to 2020? Again, our answer is thyssenkrupp has a very clear regulation. We do not sponsor any political parties. This was -- is on the basis of a resolution by the Board, and it has to be respected. So from 2018 to 2020, there have been no donations by thyssenkrupp or any of its companies to a political party. And what is the development of that since 2000, and what has changed? Again, since we do not donate money to any of the parties, that's something that we have been doing for many, many years like that. Some shareholders, especially Mr. [indiscernible], we received the note that there was no printed business report. Well, please bear with us. But from now on, we only have our business reports as a download in the internet. This is due to the fact that most people avoid paper, plus, of course, that helps us also to save money and also to protect our resources. But of course, we're happy that our shareholders read the business report. But nowadays, tablets provide a simple reading. And we see that, especially by these questions, that our shareholders can ask questions and ask many, many questions in -- even though there is no printed business report. It wouldn't be very difficult to print some of the copies. Well, we can say that this is only a fraction of the moneys that the Board members receive. Well, I can only tell you that the costs are only a partial aspect. But last year, these business reports, we've manufactured only for the annual meeting. But we noticed that fewer people wanted to actually have one, and we only sent out 40 copies. What are the costs? Well, EUR 15,800 for print layout. So it's actually EUR 16 a piece plus shipping and handling. Mr. Schmitt also asked how many questions we have. I think it's been answered already. 139 questions from 31 shareholders. Yes. We also received some questions as to data protection. The question is, do you have screening or some kind of supervision of the e-mails of employees? The answer is very clear that thyssenkrupp, we do not carry out any screening. We do not supervise e-mails or control them. In individual cases, we may have a special investigation moments. But of course, we have compliance investigations. But this is always in keeping with the Data Protection Act. And of course, always in coordination with the data protection office of the company. We use different filters. That's why the annexes, the attachments of e-mails are checked for hostile virus attacks and any spam is also deleted automatically. This is only to make sure that the individual structure -- our infrastructure is still working. We do not evaluate e-mails of individuals. And the other question was if at thyssenkrupp, we use -- we collect any information on the health records of our employees? And if so, what kind of data? Again, here at thyssenkrupp, we only use this data within the framework of the Data Protection Act. And only if it comes to employment contracts, pregnancies and so on. That is something that we, of course, then record. And when people apply for a position, we only use the data that are relevant for the job that they wish to apply for. And in this context, any data used? It depends, of course, on the type of job, the individual person is applying for. And at thyssenkrupp to do employment contracts, we only use those data process, those das that are required: address, age and so on. And of course, only after the candidate has consented to the use of these data. And when it comes to data protection at thyssenkrupp AG and the subsidiaries, is there any database on critical journalists, for example, peace activist? And if so, what kind of data do you keep? I can tell you, we don't do any of that. We do not collect data on people like that. All we do have a mailing list of journalists if we want to have a press release so that -- or we want to invite them to certain events. So again, to what extent does thyssenkrupp support children and youth, juveniles? Do you help schools? We are an active member of the society. We're good neighbors. We have our social responsibilities. And we want to help create framework conditions for good society by improving technology and innovations at locations in Germany. And I'm only talking about Germany now. We continuously donate funds to schools or associations, football clubs and so on, [ precious ] day care centers and so on. We have partnerships in corporations at our largest site Duisburg, Develop Your Skills. That's a project children who are in year 7, to give them the chance to look at different types of professions. We have what we call the technology bus that goes to different schools and we help parents to help their kids at home, not only during the pandemic, but also outside of these times. And another question that was asked was if the -- how can you measure the productivity of people who are working in home office? Do you record the screen time, the use of the mouse pad and so on? Well, productivity of our people in the home office can be measured by good results. We don't use any recording devices. We trust our folks. We do not have to control and supervise them. We have contracts done in this period of codetermination with the Works Council, and it's based on trust. So we have the use of any kind of those tools, workplace analytics, for example, is something that we do not use or provide. Quality assurance of tools are only used within the framework of what the law provides for and what the Data Protection Act provides for. Okay. I pass over to Mr. [indiscernible].

Yes, one shareholder asked a number of very specific questions. And I would love to answer these questions. So in reported period, EBIT included Page 39, 40 and 51 and 172 parts of positive effects from currency hedges, 1.8 million and [indiscernible] 1.7 million hedges. These positive effects of the hedges, where are they recorded? In sales, profitability and other income and the profit and loss accounts also uses the category of other income for those hedges. Automotive technology, we have larger expenses for the new evaluations and also for reserves. Page 39, 48, 52 and 172 in the report. How much was it in total for automotive? And how can you explain that? And how many millions was the invest for reserves that needed to be formed? And where are they recorded? And which position, look at Page 202, do we find these funds that were used for the reserves? Okay. I'll give you the answer now. Well, for automotive, we are talking about the difficulty in the supply chain. And also, of course, that we couldn't go to the construction sites, the limitations in travel and contacting customers. So we had to reevaluate the order level. And in total, it was EUR 62.3 million. Percentage of completion, the new evaluations and the loss profit and loss accounts are reflected in the part where it says Contracts with Clients. 50 million can be recorded as additional -- addition allocations. 40 million, especially in the area of advertising guidelines. On Page 39, in plant construction EUR 1 million was the result -- was the profit from sale of a building, EUR 10.5 million. What did you sell? And for what reason? An office building in Mexico City. thyssenkrupp Industrial Solution SA, Mexico City. It would have been necessary to invest GBP 5.6 million -- $5.6 million in order to refurbish that building. We didn't want to do that, so we sold it. And where do we see that position? Yes. Where it says in the profit and loss accounts, sale of assets. So the special effects, Page 50, you can see that we have encumbrances. And with the sale of Elevator, what exactly was the cost that was burdened -- that burdened the sale for us. And [ EUR 8 million ] was the entire amount that was used in order to carry out the Elevator division. EUR 7.1 million is the answer. And the extraordinary depreciations and material services, we're not there. It was only was used in the equity method and to the special expenses in corporate headquarters, it was EUR 102 million. Question number five. What kind of transfers actions are at Switzerland holding -- Netherland Holding BV? Well, they have equity of EUR 9.1 million. What business do they do? And how much of that was then transferred to the parent company? Well, it was a one-off effect in the sale of this business segment. And take out Netherland Holding BV, it's a holding company to administer certain participations. And from the result of the business year, it was EUR 4.5 million. That was then transferred to Thyssenkrupp. In the risk report, 100 on -- 140, Page 140, the indicated risks were a lot higher in the previous year. Why was it high last year? And then this year, only medium? Well, in various groups, as we said, we did corrections and we considered the risk to be lower. So the adjustment were carried out accordingly with value adjustments. And no evaluation is given on Page 114. So what are the risks out of obligations resulting from reserves at pensions? Well, this does not have any effect on the basic control of the company. And since our equity ratio was fairly low in the previous years, we included that in our risk assessment. But now that our equity ratio has increased because of the elevator sale, we don't need to point out that there are any equity risks. That's why we don't have any separate evaluation for pension obligations. The effects for personnel risks, HR risks seem to be fairly low. In the previous year, it was medium. Why did you change the HR risk from medium to low? Well, the lower assessment of HR risks compared to the previous year has a slightly different view of the pandemic than in the past. Before corona, we had a significant loss of people within the group and then reflected that. This is what we call HR risk when somebody wants to leave the company. But during corona, we saw completely different aspects, the problem of the economic situation. And the risk of pandemics is then -- within the category of risks, is not an HR risk, but it's a risk of the future development of the company. So we have the sum of the depreciations and the value adjustment of the continued developments of 1,100 -- EUR 1.2 billion. But if I look at the pages 132 and 138, I see that the value adjustment, I come to the sum of EUR 460 million, I arrive at a different sum. So how can you explain the difference in the value adjustment? So you have here a list of the difference in the value adjustments of those different years. Well, the answer is, in the segment report, we only have the depreciation for assets. In the -- when we're looking at the capital flow, then we have all of the depreciations, including assets. Question number 10. In cash flow, you have a list of the individual EUR 157 million in the previous year is different. So the question is, what can you see behind that particular point in the position here? The answer is that mainly these items are as payment -- active payments and not endorsed as factoring. The 11th question. The result from the equity method of participants was EUR 4 million last year, EUR 6 million, and see also the annual report of '19/'20, other details were not available in the report. What is the level in terms of millions of euros was the result using the equity method and balanced interest from the equity consolidation versus the equity from sales and value reductions? The answer is the proportionate value from negative balancing is around EUR 11 million. And previously, the value was about EUR 7 million. And in '19/'20, the expenditure or value reduction was about EUR 700 million on the equity from the material services. In the previous year, there were no value reductions. And Part B of the question, the results from the sale of -- based on equity balanced participants from the financial results, and they are not result of the results from the materials interests participations. There were no amounts during the report in 2019. There was a EUR 2 million amount from the sale of the Europe GmbH segment from Industrial Solutions, and that was shown within on the appropriate item in the sheet. In the report, Thyssenkrupp says there is a detailed financial result, including an increase in the financial expenditure. What was the level during the report year compared with the previous year? The profits was the -- what were the exchange losses in '19/'20 minus EUR 700 million, previous EUR 266 million and the results from the derivates willing to finance '19/'20, EUR 411 million, previously EUR 342 million. The expenditures from derivates the result is '19/'20 minus EUR 432 million, previous year EUR 362 million. 13th question. On Page 33 of the report, there are details provided for the profit and loss? Other details? So on the question, what is in terms of millions, the results for personal expenditure salaries and social expenses, net pension provisions and promise contributions and free and early withdrawal? And what are the figures relating to the activities? The results, salaries EUR 5,000 million, the previous year EUR 300 million less -- EUR 330 million less. In the previous year, it was EUR 996 million. See net pension provisions EUR 187 million, EUR 168 million. Net pension EUR 19 million during the report year, previous EUR 14 million. And settlements the previous year at EUR 470 million. Expenditure for support EUR 80 million, previous year of EUR 84 million. During the report year, the number of staff on average during the course of the year for extended headcount was 106,000, previous 108,000. The 14th question. This group prefers, on Slide 12, special items. The special items without elevator at EUR 551 million. And for separations for early retirements, Thyssenkrupp spent EUR 540 million for million EUR and see also other pages of the annual report. What is the level in the report expended for separation payments and with respect to continued activities? The answer, to report the expenditure for separations for the special effects during recession EUR 550 million with respect to the continued activities.

Thank you, Mr. Keysberg for that. Those are the last questions and answers. We now -- we have now provided answers to all questions received. I think the last questions show the depth of the questions asked. And we had responded to all questions received on time. So this is the end of the Q&A session. I'd like to thank you all persons involved in the questions and answers and for the questions asked and also for the members for their answers given and the persons who have contributed to the answers during the course of the last few days. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now -- once I have given you results of the votes, we would now come through the end of the voting period. And after -- and it will no longer be possible to use the -- to make votes on the Internet. So anyone who wishes to make a vote still or exchange the vote, they should now become active via the Internet portal and also provide instructions to their proxies, if they so wish to do. The determination of the results will be based on the additive method and in which case, Yes and No votes will be counted. Abstentions will not affect the result, and they will not be counted specifically. The instructed proxies of the company and the postal votes will be evaluated. With respect to agenda Point 1, no vote is to take place. For those requiring a resolution, agendas to 2 to 4 and 6 to 8, a simple majority of votes cast will apply for the amendments in agenda Point 5, there will be a qualified majority required or at least 3 quarters of the company capital required. Ladies and gentlemen, prior to ending the voting. I would like to give you the current -- the votes represented 71% of all votes of capital -- registered capital is represented. And another 7 million votes are -- have been voted for by mail. That is 1.4% of the registered corporate capital, and that means 450 million votes are represented in the AGM. That is 72% of the registered capital. I would also like to inform you that the live transmission of the AGM has 4,000-plus participants. So the -- so I'd like to thank you all for taking part and also to express our thanks for your interest shown in the company. Ladies and gentlemen, we're now moving on to the resolution of agenda points 2 to 8. Based on the current legal situation, it was not possible to make opposing applications. The administration -- the management would say that the proposals made with respect to agendas 2 and 3 have been taken into account, but the management recommends that one goes with the recommends of the management. The proposals made by the Executive and the Supervisory Board are in accordance with the invitation made in the Federal Gazette on 22 December 2020. They will not be read again now. I would now interrupt the AGM for 5 minutes and then close the voting via the Internet investor portal. During this interruption, you have the final opportunity to use the investor portal to exercise your voting rights. After the end of the interruption, this will no longer be possible. So my watch says 14:15, and we are now going to interrupt the AGM for 5 minutes.

The past year was a challenging one. And at the same time, a decisive year for Thyssenkrupp. February, Thyssenkrupp Materials Services breaks ground in Rotenburg for the construction of its new state-of-the-art logistics center. Components for submarines from the 3D printer go into series production. Thyssenkrupp to sell elevator business to consortium of bidders led by Advent International and Cinven. March. Thyssenkrupp Plant technology to build first industrial cement plant with activated clay technology in Cameroon to reduce annual CO2 emissions by 120 tonnes. Thyssenkrupp's theory disagreement with IG Metal on the implementation of its steel strategy. June. Together, E.ON and Thyssenkrupp chemical and process technologies are bringing hydrogen plants to the electricity market. Thyssenkrupp chemical and process technologies is expanding production capacities for water electrolysis on a gigawatt scale. Thyssenkrupp Marine System presents new modular underwater vehicle for civilian use. MUM project to set new standard for unmanned underwater operations. July. Industrial gas giant, Air Product and Thyssenkrupp agree on an exclusive strategic partnership for the production of green hydrogen. Completion of the sale of the elevator business to a consortium of bidders led by Advent international and Cinven. August. Thyssenkrupp Schulte set standards in digital transformation. Digital solutions are continuously developed based on individual customer needs. Blast furnace 2.0. Thyssenkrupp presents innovative concept for green transformation of its 2-spoke steel mill. Jacob Bek, part of Thyssenkrupp Schulte, received a supplier award from John Deere for its excellent performance in the areas of delivery performance, product quality and cost management. September. Thyssenkrupp is building the second bioplastics plant in China. The plant is to produce 30,000 metric tons of PLA per year. The compostable bioplastic is produced from 100% renewable biomass. Thyssenkrupp automotive systems opens new axle assembly plant in Leipzig, Germany. October. The project, Carbon2Chem, receives funding approval for its second phase. The technology is used to recycle CO2 emissions. November. Thyssenkrupp Materials Services and Thyssenkrupp Steel put innovative SIP blast furnace technology into operation. The process increases the efficiency of the furnace and reduces costs. Thyssenkrupp automotive technology develops Presta Sequential SlideCam, an innovation in valve operation. The new system controls the slide cams of several cylinders sequentially using just one actuator. Thyssenkrupp Forged Technology launches new line of undercarriage components aiming at the strong growth potential in the aftermarket for industry components. December. STEAG and Thyssenkrupp are planning a joint feasibility study. It will focus on the construction of the Thyssenkrupp water electrolysis plant at the STEAG site in Duisburg . Nonprofit organization, CDP, honors Thyssenkrupp as a leader in climate protection for the first time in a row. January. Thyssenkrupp Rothe Erde is investing in an additional line for the production of blade bearings in India. These are used mainly in wind turbines. First green hydrogen project becomes reality. Thyssenkrupp installs 88-megawatt water electrolysis plant for Hydro-Québec in Canada. Thyssenkrupp Rothe Erde is expanding its production capacities for seamless rolled rings in China. These are key components in many machines and machine parts. CarValoo, the AI start-up of Thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology, is ramping up its cloud-based service and is successfully acquiring customers in car sharing, car rental and logistics. With self-learning algorithms, CarValoo detects even minor damages in real-time and provides fleet operators with seamless transparency on the condition of their vehicles. Over the past year, we have reached many important milestones and completed numerous projects. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to be done on the way to a high-performing group of companies.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now continuing with the AGM. As stated before the interruption, you can no longer give instructions to your proxies. The proxies shall now add the -- shall now release the votes cast according to instructions to the system. That has now taken place. That means I will now terminate the vote. Those will now be counted and the results will now be determined under notarial supervision. Despite the use of efficient data processing systems, that will take some time. Please be patient. We've had that in the past, obviously. So as soon as I have the results of the vote, I will advise you accordingly. So let me now interrupt the AGM until the results of the votes are available. That will take around about 15 to 20 minutes. So 15 to 20 minutes, you have time off for the next 15 to 20 minutes.

Thyssenkrupp is an international group of companies with largely independent industrial and technology businesses. More than 104,000 employees in 60-countries are working to develop sustainable solutions and technologies for the future. As part of the strategic alignment, the group has divided itself into 6 segments. Thyssenkrupp Materials Services combines 2 strategic areas of activity, global materials trading and customized services. The product portfolio ranges from qualitative materials and raw materials to technical services and developments in the areas of automation, extended supply chain, warehouse and inventory management. In addition, the global logistics network ensures that all desired services, whether just-in-time or just-in-sequence, are integrated into the customers' manufacturing process. The 2 businesses, Bearings and Forged Technologies, are grouped under the name Industrial Components. The Bearings segment, better known as Thyssenkrupp Rothe Edre, is the world market leader in slewing bearings. The company specializes in the production of large-diameter bearings, rolling bearings and seamless rolled rings used in international industries. Thyssenkrupp Forged Technologies is a diversified supplier of components and system solutions for a wide range of different industry and markets. The segment produces crank shafts, connecting rods and front axles. It further manufactures under-carriage components under the Berco brand. Thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology is one of the leading suppliers and engineering partners in the international automotive industry. The product and service portfolio includes high-tech components and systems as well as automation solutions for vehicle manufacturing. Expertise along the entire value chain, cost efficiency and the global production network make Thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology a reliable partner for the technologies of tomorrow. Thyssenkrupp's Steel stands for innovation in the steel business and high-quality products for advanced and demanding applications. As a pioneer in climate transformation, Thyssenkrupp Steel had set itself the goal of producing 3 million metric tons of CO2-neutral steel per year from as early as 2030. By 2050, steel production aims to be completely climate-neutral. The segment, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, is one of the leading global system suppliers for submarines and naval vessels. The portfolio includes logistic services, supply of materials and components and other services from development to maintenance. Under the roof of the Multi Tracks segment, Thyssenkrupp brings together 10 businesses with specialized industry know-how and also contains the elevator reinvestment. Cement Technologies specializes in the design and construction of ready-to-use cement plants. Chemical and process technologies has unique technology expertise and decades of global expertise in chemical plant engineering for planning and construction to comprehensive services. The portfolio includes complete value chains for green hydrogen and sustainable chemicals. Mining Technologies offers a complete portfolio of machinery, systems, equipment and services for the mining, processing, storage and transportation of raw materials worldwide. Acciai Speciali Terni is one of the world's leading manufacturers of stainless steel flat products. Powertrain solution from system engineering has extensive expertise in the technical implementation of complex assembly lines for combustion engines and drive systems, battery solutions of system engineering, plans and designs production lines for the manufacture of lithium iron cells in round pouch or prismatic form, super caps, battery modules and battery systems. Springs & Stabilizers provides maximum ride comfort and safety with its springs and stabilizers. Infrastructure is a leading supplier in civil engineering, port construction, foundation engineering and structural engineering and sees itself as an integrated partner to the construction industry. Heavy Plate produces steel for shipbuilding and large-diameter pipe constructions as well as special steel grades for a wide range of applications. Carbon components develops and produces carbon rims for car and motorcycle manufacturers and supplies end customers in the motorcycle sector. The past year was a challenging one. And at the same time, a decisive year for Thyssenkrupp. February, Thyssenkrupp Materials Services breaks ground in Rotenburg for the construction of its new state-of-the-art logistics center. Components for submarines from the 3D printer go into series production. Thyssenkrupp to sell elevator business to consortium of bidders led by Advent International and Cinven. March. Thyssenkrupp Plant technology to build first industrial cement plant with activated clay technology in Cameroon to reduce annual CO2 emissions by 120 tonnes. Thyssenkrupp's theory disagreement with IG Metal on the implementation of its steel strategy. June. Together, E.ON and Thyssenkrupp chemical and process technologies are bringing hydrogen plants to the electricity market. Thyssenkrupp chemical and process technologies is expanding production capacities for water electrolysis on a gigawatt scale. Thyssenkrupp Marine System presents new modular underwater vehicle for civilian use. MUM project to set new standard for unmanned underwater operations. July. Industrial gas giant, Air Product and Thyssenkrupp agree on an exclusive strategic partnership for the production of green hydrogen. Completion of the sale of the elevator business to a consortium of bidders led by Advent international and Cinven. August. Thyssenkrupp Schulte set standards in digital transformation. Digital solutions are continuously developed based on individual customer needs. Blast furnace 2.0. Thyssenkrupp presents innovative concept for green transformation of its 2-spoke steel mill. Jacob Bek, part of Thyssenkrupp Schulte, received a supplier award from John Deere for its excellent performance in the areas of delivery performance, product quality and cost management. September. Thyssenkrupp is building the second bioplastics plant in China. The plant is to produce 30,000 metric tons of PLA per year. The compostable bioplastic is produced from 100% renewable biomass. Thyssenkrupp automotive systems opens new axle assembly plant in Leipzig, Germany. October. The project, Carbon2Chem, receives funding approval for its second phase. The technology is used to recycle CO2 emissions. November. Thyssenkrupp Materials Services and Thyssenkrupp Steel put innovative SIP blast furnace technology into operation. The process increases the efficiency of the furnace and reduces costs. Thyssenkrupp automotive technology develops Presta Sequential SlideCam, an innovation in valve operation. The new system controls the slide cams of several cylinders sequentially using just one actuator. Thyssenkrupp Forged Technology launches new line of undercarriage components aiming at the strong growth potential in the aftermarket for industry components. December. STEAG and Thyssenkrupp are planning a joint feasibility study. It will focus on the construction of the Thyssenkrupp water electrolysis plant at the STEAG site in Duisburg . Nonprofit organization, CDP, honors Thyssenkrupp as a leader in climate protection for the first time in a row. January. Thyssenkrupp Rothe Erde is investing in an additional line for the production of blade bearings in India. These are used mainly in wind turbines. First green hydrogen project becomes reality. Thyssenkrupp installs 88-megawatt water electrolysis plant for Hydro-Québec in Canada. Thyssenkrupp Rothe Erde is expanding its production capacities for seamless rolled rings in China. These are key components in many machines and machine parts. CarValoo, the AI start-up of Thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology, is ramping up its cloud-based service and is successfully acquiring customers in car sharing, car rental and logistics. With self-learning algorithms, CarValoo detects even minor damages in real-time and provides fleet operators with seamless transparency on the condition of their vehicles. Over the past year, we have reached many important milestones and completed numerous projects. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to be done on the way to a high-performing group of companies. Thyssenkrupp is an international group of companies with largely independent industrial and technology businesses. More than 104,000 employees in 60-countries are working to develop sustainable solutions and technologies for the future. As part of the strategic alignment, the group has divided itself into 6 segments. Thyssenkrupp Materials Services combines 2 strategic areas of activity, global materials trading and customized services. The product portfolio ranges from qualitative materials and raw materials to technical services and developments in the areas of automation, extended supply chain, warehouse and inventory management. In addition, the global logistics network ensures that all desired services, whether just-in-time or just-in-sequence, are integrated into the customers' manufacturing process. The 2 businesses, Bearings and Forged Technologies, are grouped under the name Industrial Components. The Bearings segment, better known as Thyssenkrupp Rothe Edre, is the world market leader in slewing bearings. The company specializes in the production of large-diameter bearings, rolling bearings and seamless rolled rings used in international industries. Thyssenkrupp Forged Technologies is a diversified supplier of components and system solutions for a wide range of different industry and markets. The segment produces crank shafts, connecting rods and front axles. It further manufactures under-carriage components under the Berco brand. Thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology is one of the leading suppliers and engineering partners in the international automotive industry. The product and service portfolio includes high-tech components and systems as well as automation solutions for vehicle manufacturing. Expertise along the entire value chain, cost efficiency and the global production network make Thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology a reliable partner for the technologies of tomorrow. Thyssenkrupp's Steel stands for innovation in the steel business and high-quality products for advanced and demanding applications. As a pioneer in climate transformation, Thyssenkrupp Steel had set itself the goal of producing 3 million metric tons of CO2-neutral steel per year from as early as 2030. By 2050, steel production aims to be completely climate-neutral. The segment, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, is one of the leading global system suppliers for submarines and naval vessels. The portfolio includes logistic services, supply of materials and components and other services from development to maintenance. Under the roof of the Multi Tracks segment, Thyssenkrupp brings together 10 businesses with specialized industry know-how and also contains the elevator reinvestment. Cement Technologies specializes in the design and construction of ready-to-use cement plants. Chemical and process technologies has unique technology expertise and decades of global expertise in chemical plant engineering for planning and construction to comprehensive services. The portfolio includes complete value chains for green hydrogen and sustainable chemicals. Mining Technologies offers a complete portfolio of machinery, systems, equipment and services for the mining, processing, storage and transportation of raw materials worldwide. Acciai Speciali Terni is one of the world's leading manufacturers of stainless steel flat products. Powertrain solution from system engineering has extensive expertise in the technical implementation of complex assembly lines for combustion engines and drive systems, battery solutions of system engineering, plans and designs production lines for the manufacture of lithium iron cells in round pouch or prismatic form, super caps, battery modules and battery systems. Springs & Stabilizers provides maximum ride comfort and safety with its springs and stabilizers. Infrastructure is a leading supplier in civil engineering, port construction, foundation engineering and structural engineering and sees itself as an integrated partner to the construction industry. Heavy Plate produces steel for shipbuilding and large-diameter pipe constructions as well as special steel grades for a wide range of applications. Carbon components develops and produces carbon rims for car and motorcycle manufacturers and supplies end customers in the motorcycle sector.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now continuing with the AGM with the announcement of the voting results on agenda points 2 to 8. The results will also be displayed on the screen. On top of that, they will be made available to the public on the company's website after the AGM. I would also like to point out that the AGM will be closed shortly after the adoption of the resolution. This will also mean no longer possible to file objections to the results of the AGM. I'll now read the results for the voting results for the items on the agenda and also determine the decisions taken. I will now start with agenda item 2, the ratification of the acts of the members of the Executive Board. During the votes for 447,943,355 votes cast. That is 71.96% of the share capital. The proposals for the ratification of the members of the Executive Board for 2019/'20 was passed with 446,308,904 Yes votes and over 1,634,451 No votes, and therefore, 99.64% of the votes were Yes votes and therefore, accepted. That means all members of the Executive Board have been discharged with the appropriate majority. Now Point 3, the ratification of the acts of the members of the Supervisory Board. 446,242,757 valid votes were cast. That represents 71.68% of the share capital. The proposals for discharge of the members of the Supervisory Board for 2019/2020 was passed by 424,889,681 Yes votes versus 21,353,076 No votes. So 95.9% were cast to accept the resolution. That means all members of the Supervisory Board are discharged by the AGM for fiscal year '19/'20. Point 4, on the resolution on the election of auditors for the parent company and consolidated annual financial statements and the auditor's review of interim financial reports, 450,151,303 votes were cast, which represents 72.31% of the share capital. The represent -- the PwC as auditors was agreed with 449,902,782 Yes votes versus 248,521 No votes, and therefore agrees with 99.94% of the votes. So has necessary majority. So PwC is appointed as the auditor for the parent company, consolidated annual financial statements and the auditor's review of interim financial reports for the year '21/'22. Now item Point 5. Resolution on the amendment of Article-9, Sentence-3 of the Articles of Association. In this case, 450,245,696 votes were cast. This represents 72.32% of the share capital. The proposal of the deletion of Sentence-3 of Article 9 of the Articles of Association was -- received 449,987,423 Yes votes, and therefore, was passed with 99.94% of the votes. So it has the required qualified majority. This is now Point 6. Election of a new member of the Supervisory Board. In the vote on agenda Item 6, valid votes were cast. 450,248,876 valid votes cast, which represents 72.33% of the share capital. Dr. Volpert was elected with -- versus 735,433 votes. She said that she would accept the position if the vote goes accordingly, and we here with -- hope she has all success in her future activities. This is now agenda Point 7. Resolution on the approval of the remuneration system for the members of the management Board. In the vote and agenda Point 7, 449,824,645 valid votes were cast, which is 72.26% of the share capital. The proposed furtherance of the compensation system was passed with 434,976,021 Yes votes versus 14,845,624 No votes and therefore -- which represents 96.7% votes in favor and so it's approved. And now the results for agenda Point 8. Resolution on the approval of the remuneration of the members of the Supervisory Board. In this vote, 448,358,570 valid votes were cast, which represents 72.02% of the share capital. The confirmation of the remuneration of supervised members proposed by the management Board was passed by 447,054,674 Yes votes versus 1,303,896 No votes, which represents 99.71% of the votes cast were in favor. Therefore, the proposals of the management on all agenda items have been accepted with the required majorities. The countermotions have, therefore, been dealt with. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now in the closing phase of our AGM. We'd like to thank you all for taking part and the unusual circumstances of this AGM. I would like to thank the Board of Management and all employees who participated in the preparation and implementation of this AGM. The next AGM of the Thyssenkrupp AG is planned to take place on February 4, 2022. And then I hope that the circumstances are different and that it can take place as has usually been the case. I, therefore, declare today's 22nd AGM of the Thyssenkrupp AG as closed. Let me all -- wish you all the best, and please stay safe and stay healthy.