Statement by the
Chairman of the Board of Executives

Dear Readers,

“Crisis mode” is the word of the year 2023 in Germany. The jury of the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache (German Language Society) justified its choice by saying that the state of emergency had become permanent. And indeed, the list of acute problems has grown longer worldwide. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the energy crisis and the ongoing struggle to combat climate change have been compounded by the issues: inflation and public debt. The Middle East conflict and the resilience of our democracies. A growing crisis in the education system and the declining attractiveness of Germany as a place to do business. All those are developments we also felt at the RAG-Stiftung in 2023.

In this environment, it has once again been shown that the best precaution against volatile markets and economic fluctuations lies in broad diversification. The RAG-Stiftung’s assets are spread across a large number of different regions, markets and asset classes. As a result, we were able to more than offset losses from individual investments with gains elsewhere. Consequently, the RAG-Stiftung posted earnings of almost EUR 400 million – well in excess of the target of EUR 287 million – for the full year 2023.

This success is important on three counts: It helps us to reliably fulfil our core mission of financing the perpetual obligations of the German hard coal mining industry. It creates added value in support for education, science and culture in the former hard coal mining regions. And it is an indicator that the model of a private-law foundation can prove its worth even under the most difficult circumstances.

Even if we would all like to see a rapid return to normality after grappling with multiple challenges and unresolved conflicts, a bit of patience is certainly still needed. In the meantime, the word of the year for our foundation is “crisis-proof.”

In this spirit: stay confident!

Bernd Tönjes
Chairman of the Board of Executives of the RAG-Stiftung