KamenzLitarion registers for bankruptcy

The news on Friday was not surprising: the battery parts manufacturer Litarion in Kamenz is broke. It was a well-known fact that the company, with its current 122 employees, had been in financial difficulties for some time. Already in autumn 2016 - only one and a half years after the takeover - the Canadian parent company Electrovaya had applied for half a year of short-time work for its employees in Kamenz.

When it came to extending the short-time work in February 2017 for another half a year, the works council of Litarion GmbH turned upside down. "I can only give my consent to it, if it is foreseeable that the company will take a positive economic development in the future," recalls works council chief Udo Richter in an interview with MDR SACHSEN. That was not the case.

Thus the Elektrovaya released the workforce in Kamenz without further ado until October 2017 - with full remuneration. From where the mother company took the money for it, Udo Richter does not know. "But we always got our wages until October and also in November and December 2017."

Litarion did not produce much in 2017, says Udo Richter. "We made electrodes and separators for about 40,000 battery cells, which was 14 days of work for everyone." For 2018 there are smaller orders, so the works council boss. But Litarion lacked the money to buy the raw materials for it.

In the official announcement on the website Electrovaya also commented on the reasons that led to bankruptcy. Accordingly, the landlord, the company belonging to the Daimler Group Li-tec, the Litarion GmbH on January 31, 2018 terminated the premises because of unpaid rental payments. Negotiations with the landlord on continuation of the tenancy were unsuccessful.

As another reason, the parent company states that large orders from customers and partners have been delayed. This would have led to financial difficulties at Litarion and Electrovaya, because the maintenance of the plant in Kamenz had continued.

Litarion GmbH manufactures electrodes and separators for battery cells.Image rights: Litarion GmbH

Both reasons confirmed works council chief Udo Richter. But that's not all, he says. Even management mistakes would have played a major role in this. "Elektrovaya never had a director of his own for Litarion who could have made decisions on the spot - we only had one authorized signatory to run the work, but no freedom of choice," says Udo Richter.Everything was over Canada. And there they had no idea of ​​German GmbH law, says the works council chairman.

To fatal Litarion have become the great visions of the Canadian bosses. On their website, they write: "Our goal is to be a global leader in advanced battery solutions." The big words, according to Udo Richter, were unfortunately not followed by any deeds. There have always been interested parties who wanted to invest in Electrovaya. But it did not come to that. Currently, the Canadian company has less than 20 employees.

"For us, the bankruptcy is a relief," says the works council chairman. "The colleagues know that they will get their money for the next three months and Electrovaya is out." Now other serious investors would have the opportunity to come to Litarion in Kamenz to the course. The 122-strong workforce, however, is waiting at home and hopes that it will soon continue with a new owner.

Editor's note: MDR SACHSEN has repeatedly written to the company in Canada asking for an opinion on the situation at Litarion GmbH. An answer is still missing today.