Liebe Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre, meine Shareholders, ladies and gentlemen. As Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I hereby open the Siemens Energy AG 2025, which is being held as a virtual annual stock shareholders' meeting per the German Stock Corporation Act, and I assume chairmanship in accordance with the Articles of Association. On behalf of the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board, I would like to welcome all shareholders and their proxies, as well as all other guests who are following our annual shareholders' meeting on the internet. The venue for today's annual shareholders' meeting is Munich, Otto-Hahn-Ring 6. I'd like to welcome the Executive Board, whose members are all present sitting on the stage with me, with its Chairman, Dr. Christian Bruch, the Supervisory Board with the Deputy Chairman, Robert Kensbock, and Dr. Hubert Lienhard, who are also sitting here on the stage. Mr.
Lienhard will stand in for me as Chair of this assembly should I become unable to continue in my role. All other members of the Supervisory Board are taking part in the meeting via audio and video transmission from a separate adjoining room here in the building or from elsewhere. I'd like to welcome also the proxies appointed by the company, Dr. Anna Jannert-Wöllner, and Dieter Kissling. We also have Notary Jens Kirchner on the stage, who will notarize the annual shareholders' meeting. Shareholders, this year, once again, our annual shareholders' meeting is taking place virtually. With our international shareholders in mind, we will once again allow contributions to be made in English and provide simultaneous interpreting into German.
Furthermore, as was the case last year, we will broadcast the entire Annual Shareholders' Meeting, including the general debate, live on the internet to offer interested parties who may not yet have invested in us the opportunity to get to know our company and the topics that occupied us in the last financial year. Shareholders and their proxies can also follow the Annual Shareholders' Meeting in full on the password-protected internet service, regardless of whether or not they have previously registered for the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. Today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting was convened in due form and time by way of announcement in the German Federal Gazette on the 19th of December 2024. You were notified of the convening notice with the agenda and the management's proposed resolutions with the invitation to the Annual Shareholders' Meeting.
These have been made available on our company website along with other documents legally required and additional information since the Annual Shareholders' Meeting was convened. These can be found on the company website. The address is www.siemens-energy.com/hauptversammlung. Only registered shareholders or their proxies, for example, rights to participation and information rights, can be exercised by the password-protected internet service, such as the right to speak, request information table motions, or raise objections. This can be done on the password-protected internet service, and the access data can be found in the convening notice and your letter of invitation, which you received by post or email. My introductory remarks and the speech by the Chairman of the Executive Board will also be recorded and made available later on the company's website. The other parts of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting will not be recorded. Recording sound and/or image is not permitted.
The company will not prepare stenographic minutes either. We have carefully checked the necessary technical precautions for the live broadcast, the internet service, and the video access of shareholders and their representatives with our commissioned service providers. Should the live broadcast be interrupted unexpectedly, please be patient. If the connection cannot be restored, we will provide you with further information on our internet service and the company website. If you experience your own technical problems, please contact our hotline directly. The contact information can now be seen here and can also be found on our Annual Shareholders' Meeting website. The attendance list will be visible to the shareholders or their proxies registered via the password-protected internet service. The latter will be continuously updated until the end of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. I will announce attendance later in the Annual Shareholders' Meeting.
Shareholders, you or your authorized representatives have the opportunity to speak live at our virtual annual shareholders' meeting and to address your questions on the agenda to the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, provided you have duly registered. As already announced in the convening notice, I hereby stipulate that rights to information are to be exercised exclusively by means of video communication. The law stipulates that speeches and motions must be made by video communication. In order to ensure the smooth running of the annual shareholders' meeting, we will discuss all items on the agenda in a general debate following the report of the Executive Board. We will then vote on agenda items 2 to 10 in one single voting procedure. If you would like to speak at the annual shareholders' meeting today, ask questions, or submit a motion, please register now at our virtual registration table.
To do so, please use the password-protected internet service and click on the Request to Speak or Request button. You can use the Request button or Antrag to send us a request for information in accordance with Section 131(4) of the German Stock Corporation Act. Please enter a telephone number in the corresponding field in the internet service so that we can contact you in the event of technical problems, which will hopefully, of course, not occur. Please also enter keywords for the topics you would like to speak on so that we can take this into account when determining the order of speakers. When the general debate begins, I will call upon the first scheduled speakers and invite them to our virtual waiting room. Our employees will carry out a function test of their video communication capabilities there.
Only then will it be possible to connect the speakers live to the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. I will explain the procedure in more detail later. Recommendations for the electronic video connection and tips for your live performance can be found on our website. Shareholders, in the run-up to the Annual Shareholders' Meeting, you were given the opportunity to send us statements in written form by email. We received a total of two statements from shareholders requiring publication. You can find these on the password-protected internet service for the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. You can exercise your voting rights only at today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting by absentee vote or by appointing a proxy and issuing instructions to the proxies appointed by the company and on today's date only using the internet service or by email. I will come to the voting procedure later in detail.
However, I would like to make a request now. Please exercise your right to vote as early as possible. Bear in mind that there might be a slight delay in transmission on the internet for technical reasons. I will inform you of this in good time and announce the time by which votes must be cast. Registered shareholders or their authorized proxies can object to the resolutions of the annual shareholders' meeting on our internet service. Objections lodged in this way are sent directly to an email inbox managed by the notary himself. The company's proxies do not declare any objections on behalf of the shareholders. Shareholders, insofar as we've now gone over the formalities of the annual shareholders' meeting, I'd now like to give you a report on the fourth year as an independent listed company.
As you have no doubt followed, each of these four years has been very eventful, each in its own way, but no less challenging. The general situation has not become any easier in 2024. On the contrary, next week marks the anniversary of the beginning of the terrible war of aggression against Ukraine. This marks the fourth year of the war, and there is still no hope for a fair solution in sight for Ukraine and for Europe. The conflict in the Middle East remains unresolved. The geoeconomic and geostrategic challenges in and around China are increasing, and the world is eager to see how Trump 2.0 will develop. All of this strongly affects globally active companies such as Siemens Energy and requires a high degree of adaptability on the part of corporate organizations, but of course also their supply chains.
This necessity to do so is reinforced once again by technological upheavals. Ever-advancing digitalization, especially the exponential development of artificial intelligence, is driving the entire world's hunger for energy. I think we can safely say that the age of electrification has finally taken off. Global energy demand is therefore continuing to rise and will continue to do so massively in the coming decades. Siemens Energy has a powerful product range and an excellent service network and can benefit greatly from this transformation. To make it very clear, Siemens Energy is a company with a great future. Nevertheless, we are feeling the effects of the global competition for energy systems, their development, and production. Siemens Energy is in competition with other global and excellently positioned companies. On the procurement side, global competition is leading to shortages of materials and skilled workers.
On the sales side, the pressure to localize is increasing due to rather discreet demands in the Asian region and also due to blatant political slogans, as we are currently seeing on the west of the Atlantic. This is why companies like Siemens Energy need reliable general circumstances and planning security wherever possible in Germany too. Business can deal with many things, but not with regulatory volatility and political caprice. Ultimately, it must be in the best interests of politicians to promote and support companies in their own country to enhance order books and therefore employment. I'll come back to this later on. Siemens Energy will make its contribution in any case for the benefit of its employees, its customers, and of course, its shareholders. Developments in the fiscal year 2024 have shown what is possible despite considerable political adversity.
This brings me right to the heart of Siemens Energy's corporate affairs and my report on the activities of the Supervisory Board in the last fiscal year. I will focus on those points that are of particular importance for today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting. The full report of the Supervisory Board can be found on pages 163 to 168 of the 2024 annual report. The priorities of my speech today are, firstly, the compensation system for members of the Executive Board, which you will find for resolution under item 7 of this agenda, the elections of the Supervisory Board, item 8 of the agenda, and last but not least, the amendment to the Articles of Association with regard to a virtual Annual Shareholders' Meeting under item 10 of the agenda. I know that this is something that has been discussed at length in a public sphere.
The fiscal year 2024 was a good year for Siemens Energy. A good year. With the most comprehensive and high-quality range on offer in the industry, the company is very well equipped for the challenges of today and has excellent long-term prospects. As already mentioned, we are entering into a new age of electrification. Developments in digitalization, microelectronics, and above all, artificial intelligence, or AI, as we like to call it, will massively boost global energy demand. Siemens Energy can benefit greatly from this economically. Developments in the individual divisions are correspondingly positive. That was also the case in 2024. Gas services, grid technologies, and transformation of industry reported an extremely successful, extremely successful fiscal year 2024. Wind power, Siemens Gamesa, the implementation of the multi-year restructuring plan is well underway. The Executive Board expects to break even again in the financial year 2026. Dr.
Bruch will report more in detail on this. The Chairman of the Executive Board, of course. The market, the energy market of our customers, has recognized the potential of Siemens Energy. Confidence in the company's potential and in the ability of its employees to leverage this has grown tremendously. The rapid share price performance over the last year speaks for itself, I believe, ladies and gentlemen. The fact that the company is in such a good position, now in such a good position, that wasn't always the case, as you know, is primarily thanks to CEO Dr. Christian Bruch and his colleagues on the Executive Board. Of course, the almost 100,000 colleagues who give their best every day are responsible for this too. But the CEO, of course, gave the company its direction.
He has prudently and wisely steered Siemens Energy through very difficult times and brought stability to the business despite severe headwinds. The management team has also convincingly communicated the performance and potential of Siemens Energy to customers and employees. The task now is to reliably achieve the ambitious medium-term targets set out by 2028. The foundations for this have been laid. Doing so was certainly a mammoth undertaking. This brings me to the first point of priorities that I would like to address. Compensation of the members of the Executive Board. Generally speaking, guarantees are a standard instrument in the energy sector to secure large customer orders with long project directions. These are referred to as performance guarantees. So these are guarantees that companies will indeed fulfill their orders as agreed. Siemens Energy recorded enormous growth in demand for energy technologies as early as 2023.
Significantly higher growth rates were projected for the following years, 2024, 2025, and 2026. And this, as announced, should be accompanied by up to 10,000 new jobs at Siemens Energy. 10,000 additional new highly qualified jobs. Due to increasing concentration risks and rising interest rates, the private sector banks were no longer able to provide their counter guarantees associated with the order growth potential on their own. The Executive Board therefore decided to negotiate a counter guarantee with the German federal government in 2023 to secure what are known as performance guarantees in order to indeed guarantee growth as well. Such counter guarantees are widespread in Germany as an instrument for securing work sites and jobs and are certainly common in the industry. After initially very constructive negotiations, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection decided to treat the counter guarantee as an aid measure.
That's why we therefore read headlines regarding state aid, for example. This has several consequences in addition to the outward impact. Firstly, Siemens Energy may not distribute any dividends during the period in which counter guarantees secured by the counter guarantee have been issued. In addition, the company cannot grant the Executive Board any variable compensation for this period. The Executive Board will therefore only receive its fixed compensation. This fixed compensation as a total salary is well below average in the market context. It is performance-based. As planned, it only accounts for approximately 35% of the standard market target income. Standard market income, meaning in comparison to DAX companies that are comparable to Siemens Energy in terms of size. In terms of company performance in the 2024 financial year, using this as the basis, including share price performance, this would only be 20%.
This means that the Executive Board had to declare itself willing to receive compensation for only 20% of the performance fulfilled. This, of course, presented the Supervisory Board with a particular challenge. It had to find a solution within adverse contractual conditions that would enable retention of the Executive Board and ensure the continued existence of the company, of course. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to emphasize this once again. Finding a fair solution was essential for the success of the entire company. The process was correspondingly time-consuming and complex. After lengthy and intensive discussions, particularly in the newly formed compensation committee and with the involvement of several leading legal and compensation experts, we on the Supervisory Board have defined a temporary compensation concept that meets exactly these requirements. That it is fair, but of course, that it comprehensively records the contractual obligations and fulfills these.
The details of this compensation system are described in detail in the invitation to the annual shareholders' meeting of Siemens Energy AG, which was published on the 19th of December 2024. Ladies and gentlemen, we are convinced that it is essential for the sustainably successful future of Siemens Energy to ensure stability on the Executive Board. And we are convinced that we have the right team. This expressly applies for the Supervisory Board. We have the right Executive Board and an outstanding team in place overall to keep the company on course for success in the new age of electrification in the interests of customers, employees, and shareholders, and to generate even more value for these stakeholders. The 2024 financial year marks an impressive start to this. The second point that I would like to go into are the elections to the Supervisory Board.
In order to be even better equipped for this future of Siemens Energy, we want to add a new committee to the Supervisory Board to be named Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. These topics are central to every company and hold tremendous operational and strategic potential for Siemens Energy. I am therefore delighted that Dr. Feiyu Xu is standing for election as new member of the Supervisory Board. Dr. Xu is an expert in artificial intelligence, particularly in the intelligent transformation of large industrial companies with the help of AI and the effective use of AI. She will be a member of the aforementioned Digitalization and AI Committee and will take over its management in the medium term. Anja- Isabel Dotzenrath is also standing for election as a new member of the Supervisory Board. Until recently, Ms. Dotzenrath was a board member of a global energy company.
She brings with her many years of experience from a customer perspective. That is very important. Siemens Energy, and I'm sure of this, will benefit greatly from this important perspective on strategic issues. Ms. Xu and Ms. Dotzenrath will now introduce themselves in a video.
Sehr geehrte Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre, sehr verehrte Damen und Herren, ich möchte mich als Kandidatin für die Wahl zum Aufsichtsrat vorstellen. Das ist mir eine besondere Ehre. Mein Name ist Feiyu Xu, und ich bin Expertin in künstlicher Intelligenz, speziell in der intelligenten Transformation der Industrie. Ich bin in China aufgewachsen, kam aber schon 1991 nach Deutschland, im Saarland Computerlinguistik und Informatik zu studieren. Seit 1997 bin ich deutsche Staatsbürgerin, und seit 20 Jahren träume ich schon auf Deutsch. Nach dem Studium bekomme ich die Gelegenheit, am Deutschen Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz an der Vorfront unseres Fachs zu forschen.
Die nächsten Stufen meiner Laufbahn waren Promotion, Habilitation und die Leitung einer Forschungsgruppe. Als die KI-Verfahren endlich auch wirtschaftlich erfolgreiche Anwendungen ermöglichten, zog es mich in die Industrie, weil ich dort an Entwicklung und Einsatz der Anwendungen mitwirken wollte. Das konnte ich zunächst bei Lenovo, dem größten Computerhersteller der Welt. Als Vice President und Head of AI Lab leitete ich die Entwicklung und Umsetzung der KI-Technologie des Konzerns. Danach arbeitete ich für SAP, wo ich als Senior Vice President und Global Head of AI für die Erarbeitung der globalen KI-Strategie von SAP verantwortlich war. Mich interessiert derzeit am meisten, wie die KI auch weitere Hightech-Industrien revolutionieren kann. Es macht mich stolz, dass ich beratend und impulsgebend aus nicht operativen Rollen heraus dabei mitwirken kann. Ich bin Mitglied des Verwaltungsrats von Airbus, dem Luft- und Raumfahrtkonzern.
Ich bin auch im Aufsichtsrat von ZF, dem Automobilzulieferer, und im Verwaltungsrat von Zühlke und Tianhai Qiu, zwei innovativen Schweizer Mittelständlern. Es gefällt mir gar nicht, dass Deutschland und Europa derzeit bei der Entwicklung der mächtigsten neuen KI-Verfahren nicht mit den USA und China mithalten können. Wenn es aber die innovative Anwendung der neuen Methoden in technologieschwachen Industrien geht, hat Deutschland ein ungeheures Potenzial. Deshalb freue ich mich, dass auch Siemens Energy das Potenzial der KI erkannt und in die Planung einbezogen hat. KI und Digitalisierung sind Schlüsseltechnologien für die Energiebranche, da sie die Effizienz der Energieerzeugung und -nutzung erheblich steigern, erneuerbare Energien besser integrieren und Netzstabilität sichern. Ich freue mich darüber, dass Siemens Energy diesen Weg bereits eingeschlagen hat, und ich freue mich darauf, gemeinsam mit Ihnen diesen spannenden Weg zu beschreiten. Vielen Dank für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit.
Sehr geehrte Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre, meine sehr verehrten Damen und Herren, ich freue mich außerordentlich, dass ich mich heute bei Ihnen persönlich vorstellen darf. Mein Name ist Anja Dotzenrath, und ich bewerbe mich bei Ihnen als neuzuwählendes Mitglied des Aufsichtsrats Ihres Unternehmens Siemens Energy. Was hat mich dazu bewogen, und warum halte ich mich für geeignet, Ihre Interessen zu vertreten? Nach meinen Studienabschlüssen in Elektrotechnik und Betriebswirtschaftslehre an der RWTH Aachen bringe ich mehr als 30 Jahre Erfahrung in der Energiebranche mit, in den Bereichen Öl- und Gasexploration, der konventionellen Energieerzeugung, den Energienetzen und den erneuerbaren Energien. Über viele Jahre habe ich große und global agierende Unternehmen gesamtverantwortlich geführt. Von 2011 bis 2019 war ich bei E.ON in verschiedenen Positionen tätig, zuletzt als Vorstandsvorsitzende bei E.ON Climate & Renewables, einer der ehemals drei Divisionen des E.ON-Konzerns.
2019 habe ich die Fusion der erneuerbaren Energiegeschäfte von E.ON und RWE zu RWE Renewables, einem der weltweit größten Unternehmen für erneuerbare Energien und der Nummer zwei weltweit im Bereich Offshore-Wind, als Vorstandsvorsitzende verantwortet. Zuletzt war ich bis Ende 2024 als Mitglied des BP-Vorstands in London tätig. Dort habe ich das globale Gasgeschäft von BP geleitet sowie das Low-Carbon-Energy-Portfolio von BP mit Fokus auf erneuerbare Energien, Wasserstoff und Biokraftstoffe aufgebaut. Zudem war ich zwischen 2018 und 2022 Mitglied des Aufsichtsrats des an der Osloer Börse gelisteten Industriekonzerns Elkem. Meine sehr geehrten Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre, das Gelingen der Energiewende, und das bedeutet für mich eine dekarbonisierte, aber vor allem auch sichere und bezahlbare Energieversorgung, ist zweifelsohne eine der größten Herausforderungen unserer Zeit. Innovationen und neue Technologien, die die Energieeffizienz steigern und den CO2-Ausstoß verringern, sind hierfür absolut erfolgskritisch.
Als begeisterte Ingenieurin bin ich überzeugt, dass Siemens Energy mit seinem Produktportfolio sowie bei der Entwicklung und Skalierung dieser neuen Technologien einen ganz entscheidenden Beitrag leisten kann. Von daher empfinde ich es als ganz großes Privileg, dass mich Joe Kaeser für die Position einer Aufsichtsrätin bei Siemens Energy vorgeschlagen hat. Ich würde mich sehr freuen, wenn Sie mir Ihre Stimme und Ihr Vertrauen geben, Ihr Unternehmen Siemens Energy als Mitglied des Aufsichtsrats unterstützen zu dürfen. Ich bedanke mich sehr herzlich für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit. Ja, schön. Herzlichen Dank.
Wonderful. Thank you so much for the introductions. The Supervisory Board of Siemens Energy AG proposes to today's annual shareholders' meeting that Dr. Xu and Ms. Dotzenrath be elected as new members of the Supervisory Board. These two candidates are to succeed current members Dr. Bortenlänger and Ms. Müller, neither of whom will stand for re-election after the end of this annual shareholders' meeting. Dr. Bortenlänger and Ms. Müller have contributed to the successful work of the Supervisory Board with their constructive and goal-oriented work. I would like to express my sincere thanks to both of them once again for their consistently good work and cooperation. Thank you so much.
That was a really energetic period. Under item eight of the agenda, in addition to the new election of Dr. Xu and Ms. Dotzenrath, we also find six members of the Supervisory Board up for re-election: Sigmar Gabriel, Joe Kaeser, Dr. Hubert Lienhard, Ms. Laurence Mulliez, Matthias Rebellius, and Ms. Geisha Williams. You know the people standing for re-election, so I need not reintroduce them in detail. We will now play videos in which those standing for re-election briefly introduce themselves. Ja, herzlichen Dank. Thank you very much.
The candidates standing for re-election will again be proposed for a term of four years. The respective terms of Ms. Dotzenrath and Dr. Xu are to be three years in order to further pursue our goal of a staggered Supervisory Board. By resolution dated 12 November 2024, the Supervisory Board strengthened the role of the so-called lead independent director. The lead independent director is a member of the Supervisory Board who meets the strict independence criteria of important investors and proxy advisors, very particularly. Special rights include membership of the nomination committees and of the presiding committee. The Supervisor and Chairman of the Compensation Committee. The Supervisory Board thus underlines the importance it attaches to its independence. Dr. Lienhard is to continue in this role following his re-election.
I myself would also ask you for your approval for a further term as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens Energy AG. As you know, independence on the Supervisory Board is a top priority for me. In addition to complying with the formal rules of the German Corporate Governance Code, my understanding of my position is expressly guided by the fact that I always perform my duties on the Supervisory Board independently of my previous functions. My focus lies, and I say this full of conviction, solely on the well-being of the company, Siemens Energy, and you can see this today by the color of my tie that I am a very committed member of Team Purple. I'm convinced that the proposed composition of the Supervisory Board puts it in an excellent position to meet future challenges.
And in saying this, I expressly include the employee representatives who helped us to overcome the difficult years together. Over the past four years, the Supervisory Board with the Executive Board has steered the company through very difficult times, stabilized it, and focused on profitable growth. The excellent development of Siemens Energy in the past fiscal year is an impressive testament that prudence, experience, and focus pay off. I am convinced that the Supervisory Board, with its new members to be re-elected, can successfully guide the company into the future with their extensive expertise, diversity, and experience. I therefore ask you for your support in the election of the proposed candidates. This now brings me to the final point that I would like to go into detail on, namely the mood of the annual shareholders' meetings. We've had many discussions on this and read a lot about it.
Ladies and gentlemen, today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting is once again being held virtually. In fact, we have had good experiences in this format so far and have optimized the processes after problems of a technical nature. We now have a functioning virtual system. I think that I can say that with confidence. During the virtual Annual Shareholders' Meeting 2024, there was a lively exchange with numerous shareholders and shareholder representatives during the general debate, and I'm sure that that will also be the case today. We received a lot of positive feedback from our shareholders regarding the first-time public broadcast of the entire Annual Shareholders' Meeting and the possibility of asking questions in English. We are therefore offering these options again this year. In all of this, the constant safeguarding of shareholder rights is paramount.
We are asking you today to extend the authorization for a virtual annual shareholders' meeting today. In our opinion, this is necessary for reasons of flexibility. I'm sure that you've also heard voices speaking for an annual shareholders' meeting in person, and we take these very seriously. We have never had a Siemens Energy annual shareholders' meeting in person, given that this wasn't possible due to the pandemic. We are therefore planning for 2026 an annual shareholders' meeting in person. This will be Siemens Energy's first in-person annual shareholders' meeting, and it will allow us to make a veritable comparison of the respective options. We have learned much from virtual annual shareholders' meetings. We have technically optimized them, and now we'd like to garner experience with meetings in person so that we can draw comparisons. Ladies and gentlemen, Siemens Energy is on a very good path.
That was not always the case, but now it is. The share price is up by 320% in one year. Well, that speaks for itself. We are, of course, aware that we are building upon a low base point, but this still speaks for itself. Siemens Energy is facing further intensive times, good times, but intensive times. The exorbitant growth creates opportunities and challenges. Restructuring and strategic alignment of the wind business is a major task. The impact of this turning point, this term was coined three years ago, and it's more important than ever. The impact of the turning point in geopolitics on the energy sector is nebulous at the moment. We talk about sustainability, bit by bit. We want to offer credibility. The company is well equipped. The portfolio is efficient. Team Purple proves that the Executive Board can achieve restructuring and growth simultaneously. That's rare. It creates confidence in the future. With this in mind, I wish us all a constructive Annual Shareholders' Meeting, rich in dialogue. Thank you very much for your attention.
Und wir? Wir gehen es gemeinsam an. Der Bedarf an Energie steigt. Das Netz wird komplexer. Noch nie war resiliente und nachhaltige Energieversorgung so wichtig. Mit unseren Technologien, unserer Expertise und unserer Leidenschaft gestalten wir die Energiewelt schon heute neu. Weil es unser Anspruch ist, jeden Tag besser zu werden und uns kontinuierlich weiterzuentwickeln. Tag für Tag, Schritt für Schritt. We Energize Society.
We Energize Society. That is our purpose: helping our customers to transform their energy supply with our broad and innovative portfolio and with our global implementation expertise. We Energize Society. But above all, this stands for the best team in our industry. We call it Team Purple. Our 100,000 colleagues from over 150 nations.
They work every day to ensure a safe and reliable energy supply. On this basis, economies and societies can evolve. I would like to thank you, dear employees, from the bottom of my heart for your daily commitment. It is a real privilege for me to work with this team. Dear shareholders, welcome to our Annual Shareholders' Meeting 2025. I'm pleased to present to you today the results for the fiscal year 2024. Of course, I will also give the outlook for 2025. I will show you how we are successfully positioning Siemens Energy. How do we create value for our shareholders, for you? Firstly, we are operating in an attractive market. The global electricity demand is growing continuously, and with it, the demand for our products and services. Secondly, we have a robust business model.
Our order backlog has grown by a good 46% over the past three years. Around half of this backlog is long-term service business. This means that we can already make a good estimate for the future of our sales. Thirdly, we are excellently positioned. With our broad portfolio, we can serve our customers in all regions of the world, and this from a leading market position. Now, we're at the beginning of a new age, the age in which electricity determines the energy world. Our environment will fundamentally change. It offers great opportunities for our company, and we want to exploit these consistently. That is why three elements are central to our strategy. First, resilience in a transforming world. Second, building the transforming world of energy. And third, transform the way we operate. Transformation is the central theme of our times. Shaping change is my top priority.
This aspiration determines all three strategic priorities, which brings me to the first point. We strengthen our resilience in a transforming world. The world is changing rapidly. We need to seize the opportunities presented by this change and, at the same time, overcome unexpected challenges. Now, there is currently an extremely high level of investment in the energy market, particularly in the electricity market. Global demand for electricity is set to increase by around 50% over the next 15 years. At the same time, existing infrastructure needs to be modernized. Both offer us growth opportunities as a company and along the entire value chain, starting with the renewables and then conventional power generation. It continues on to the grids and all the way up to industrial applications. We are excellently positioned in this growing electricity market. Our business is based on many years of experience and strong technological competence.
The entry barriers into this market are therefore very high. But what makes us a leading company in our industry? Our portfolio covers the entire energy value chain. We are the global market leader in our offshore wind power. This also applies to our grid solutions business and our large gas turbine business. We're a strong number two. We have a wide customer base, and that makes us more resilient to market fluctuations. We generate 42% of our revenue in Europe. We make 30% in America. In Asia, it is 18% and 10% in the rest of the world. Now, more than a third of our revenue comes from our high-margin service business. We are at home in our markets. We're on the ground and as a local partner for our customers. We are a European company in Europe. We're a U.S. company in the U.S.A.
And we're a Chinese company in China. We employ thousands of people in each of these countries, and this makes us less vulnerable to trade conflicts. Our close relationship with our customers pays off in many ways. In 2024, we were able to increase customer satisfaction by five points to 62 compared to the previous year. An excellent value. Now, this figure indicates the extent to which customers recommend our products and services to others. Why is that so important, you may wonder? Well, with large technological infrastructure projects, this technological expertise is of the utmost importance, but it is only one aspect. Ultimately, it is the trust of our customers that counts and mutual appreciation, and this often develops over decades.
Now, when this satisfaction grows, it speaks to the excellency of our work on the work of our employees, because in this turbulent world, it is always our customers who we focus on. In 2024, our order backlog rose to EUR 123 billion, thanks to our positioning and our excellent customer relationships. More than a third of this, so EUR 50.2 billion, was added to our order books in the past year alone, and we were able to further increase the profitability of our order backlog. In short, this contributes to our resilience. Our good regional distribution and our broad customer base form a reliable baseline for future revenue. For us, resilience also means further improving our supplier base and supply chains. Our supplier base is now much broader than in the previous year.
We have significantly reduced the number of high-risk suppliers, particularly those with a significant impact on our business by more than 50%, namely. We've also made progress with capacity risks. Capacity risks arise when suppliers are unable to deliver sufficient quantities. Now, last year, we reduced these risks by 20%. We have also been able to attract more suppliers from our European home markets. Now, all of this makes us less dependent on individual partners. It reduces costs, and it strengthens the resilience of Siemens Energy. The past fiscal year has been remarkable for us in every way. It was the year after the immense loss of EUR 4.6 billion in 2023. Financial resilience was therefore at the heart of all of our efforts, and I'm delighted that this work is also reflected in the figures. We had incoming orders of more than EUR 50 billion.
Our revenue rose by 12.8% on a comparable basis to EUR 34.5 billion. Earnings before special items amounted to EUR 345 million, and the profit margin before special items was 1%, and therefore was at the upper end of the forecast range of -1% to +1%. Finally, free cash flow before taxes rose to EUR 1.859 billion. This is more than twice as high as in the previous year. All in all, very solid figures, as you can see. Improved operating performance in the individual businesses contributed to this. Divestment also contributed to this. We further sharpened our portfolio. Among other things, we sold the Trench Group, meaning the grid components business. We also sold our shareholdings in Windar in Spain and Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen in Germany. In addition, we sold an 18% stake in Siemens Limited India.
In total, special items from disposals amounted to almost EUR 2.179 billion. This amounted to the positive result, or sorry, this contributed to the positive result in 2024, I should say. Now, the rating agency S&P raised the outlook for Siemens Energy from negative to neutral to stable in December 2024. The improved financial performance will also help us to redeem the counter-guarantees from the federal government. We want to achieve this as quickly as possible because that is the prerequisite for Siemens Energy being able to pay a dividend again. In a rapidly changing world, Siemens Energy is more resilient than many other industrial companies. This remains a central element of our strategy. This enables us to successfully utilize the opportunities in our market environment and create value for you, our shareholders. So much on how we can strengthen our resilience.
Let's move on to the second topic, which is, of course, the question as to how we build the transforming world of energy. This requires one thing: implementing our expertise and our products and projects worldwide. Now, I'll explain why this is a competitive advantage using a few examples, and for this, I have invited my colleague. We, of course, also have a transformation which can feed electricity into the grid. With 900 megawatts, we can efficiently and securely transport electricity. In this graph, you can see how wind turbines, offshore wind turbines, can create electricity, clean energy, how this is all converted to electricity, and how this is then fed into the onshore grid, and for this, I've invited my colleague, Jenny Freitag. She's the lead engineer in our grid business. Hello, Ms. Freitag. Good to see you. It's great to be here.
Now, you and your colleague have built these converter platforms in Cadiz, Spain, together with partners and customers. What is that? Well, basically, we take wind power that we create, and that has to come onto the land. The DolWin kappa, for example, transmits 900 megawatts. My daughter asked me, "What is 900 megawatts?" And I always say, "Well, that's enough energy to supply one million households with electricity." It's a huge number. Absolutely, but it's also a huge construction. Now, take a look. This platform next to you is actually much, much bigger. It is 56 meters that it rises out of the sea. That's an 18-story building. Now, I live in Hamburg. We don't have that many 18-story buildings. So if you walk by it, it's truly massive. And it weighs around 11,000 tons. That's about 11,000 cars. You can't really imagine it.
To make sure it is stable out in the sea, it has to also be anchored. For that, we have steel piles, and they are driven 60 meters deep into the seabed. So again, another 18-story building down into the ocean floor. Now, help us understand, why do we need such a huge construction? Well, that's a good question. Now, the current that we generate, which is alternating current, we can't really bring it onto the mainland. That's why we have to convert it into direct current, which is what makes sense in order to bring lossless power into the grid. But there, we have to transform it back to alternating current so we can feed it into the grid. We have lots of technologies that we have from our plants in Nuremberg or even in Berlin.
We really need to make sure that all of our components are at play and work properly. Excellent. Thank you so much. It's fantastic to see what our engineers can do for the customers, for the environment. So thank you so much for all the work that you and your team are doing. Thank you so much for being here today. But ladies and gentlemen, this is just one example of our implementation strength. What would such a record-breaking platform be without a record-breaking wind turbine? Today, many of them are equipped with our 14-megawatt turbine. As the world market leader, however, we are one step ahead in terms of technology. So what will the next generation of turbines look like? We're currently building the prototype of this turbine at the National Test Center in Denmark. It has 135-meter-long rotor blades, which is significantly longer than a soccer pitch.
Now, we are, of course, convinced that we will be able to significantly increase the number of wind power in the international market until the end of the decade. Now, we believe that until 2030, the market for offshore wind turbines is going to grow by 27% until 2030, and we are already the global market leader here in our existing portfolio. Now, at the same time, we are stabilizing our business with onshore wind turbines, and we are improving our service business. In short, we are continuing to work on returning our wind business to profitability in 2026. Now, the energy world is changing completely, and we are actively shaping this change. In 2025, we will invest around 2 billion EUR in our existing locations and in new capacities. In doing so, we are promoting the growth of our core business, and I'm showing you three examples.
Behind me, you can see pictures of our sites in Nuremberg, sites in Austria, and Charlotte in the United States. And I'll give you a few details in terms of how we further transform our business and which investments we are making specifically. Now, for our grid business in Nuremberg, we are actually building a new factory. We are producing or creating 200 new jobs and are investing around about 90 million EUR. On site, we are producing DC to AC currents. In Weiz, we're also creating tons of jobs and are investing around about 40 million EUR. This is for our wind transformers. And then, last but not least, Charlotte. In order to meet the demand for transformers in the USA, we are actually investing $150 million in our Charlotte, North Carolina site. There, we're creating almost 600 new jobs.
In total, we want to create 6,000 new jobs in our grid business alone by 2028. But portfolio and factories are not enough in the energy business. The basis for our success is the people in the company. The people make the difference. And that's why we are really focusing on the training of our staff. Junior people are also a huge pillar of our success. And I just would like to show you what industrial training at Siemens Energy looks like.
Ich finde, es geht sehr viel um diesen Klima-Teamgeist, aber gleichzeitig auch die individuellen Leistungen. Das ist halt mehr auf die Person bezogen. Der erste Tag, ja, also wir sind jetzt bei Dudu. Kenne ich ja nicht so von der Schule. Man fühlt sich hier auf jeden Fall verstanden, auch von den Ausbildern. Man kommuniziert auf Augenhöhe. Als normaler Mitarbeiter, nicht als Azubi der Kaffeeholer.
Dass man einfach akzeptiert wird, so wie man ist. Es wird auf jeden Fall sehr viel Wert auf unsere Generation gelegt. Und das Beste ist, wir arbeiten hier an Projekten, die wirklich Sinn machen. Die Atmosphäre fühlt sich sehr aufgeschlossen, angenehm und abwechslungsreich. Freundlich. Von Anfang der Ausbildung bis zum Ende sind wir ein Team. Wir als Team haben uns First Proposeds genannt. Wir sind die Maschinenbauer, die Maschis, wie wir uns nennen. Circuit Breakers. Die Energy Kanickel. Was mich überrascht hat, ist, dass wir digital komplett ausgestattet wurden. Wir haben direkt zu Anfang alle einen Laptop bestellt bekommen und ein iPad. Zum Beispiel am Anfang haben wir VR-Schweißgeräte gehabt und dann konnte man digital schon mal ein Gefühl dafür entwickeln. 3D-Druck haben. Moderner geht es, glaube ich, nicht. Das ist voll krass. Was für tolle Menschen. Unsere Zukunft.
Look at those fabulous people. Our future. Now, of course, Christoph Kunze is the best person to tell us more about this. He's head of training. Hello, Mr. Kunze. It's good to see you. What did you do? Well, this is too much sports at my old age. Yeah, we're talking about young people, right? And how we get them to Siemens Energy. Now, we have many new positions that we need to fill. We have many new trainees. How are we making Siemens Energy attractive to these young people? I think attractiveness in Siemens Energy training is a big point, a fixed point on our agenda, and this all started around about three-to-four years ago when my trainers came to me and told me that I taught like always, I trained like always, but the young people didn't really respond to that.
That was the kickoff point for us to say that in training and education, we have to really double-check and realign our strategic thrust. We then, of course, started consistently focusing our marketing and recruiting on Gen Z and Gen Alpha and talked to the young people where they are at. For example, in the areas of social media with influencer campaigns, digital marketing, and attractive target group-specific messaging. Afterwards, of course, we also reworked our training concept. The training concept, for example, describes that from the very first to the very last day of training, what we do with the people in every single step and how we deal with the people, the methodology, the training, the teaching is included in all of this. But even more important is the very interesting, very lucrative market environment that we as Siemens Energy are operating in.
Energy, the energy transition, is, of course, one of the big buzzwords, and this is exactly what the young people think is very cool. Fantastic. I also think that energy is super cool every day. How have our trainee numbers changed? They've developed super well to the positive, of course. The number of trainees in Germany alone has more than doubled in the last few years, and we're currently recruiting more than 550 young people in Germany for the start of training in September 2025 for Team Purple. Huge growth. But we're absolutely well prepared because in the past few years, the company has consistently invested in training, and that's why we have a really good jump-off point to tackle this challenge. Now, we've been talking about change in the world of energy quite a bit. How does our content have to change?
One of the measures in our new strategic alignment is that we have massively reduced our portfolio. We've halved it, actually. Because of this focus, we now have the strength to bring new topics into the training, like, for example, resilience. This is a very important topic to me because I want to make sure that the young people can start their job in a healthy way, can be healthy in their work. I think that it's very positive that we can set the foundation for this. Also, technological topics like data analytics or AI are very important to us, especially when it comes to AI. We're counting on showing the young people what does data mean in today's world of business. How important is the understanding of algorithms, but also what opportunities do the algorithms provide, but also what are the risks and dangers?
Now, you and me both have left the training quite a while ago, unfortunately, but we're talking about generations, right? The boomer generation doesn't understand Gen Z. Was this a big topic when you were aligning your training? Absolutely. This was massive. And I think I can absolutely say that this was one of the biggest challenges that we had to tackle. We took our entire training team and trained it with a generational researcher in order to make sure that our customers, our trainees, were better understood. And all of this insight was, of course, then fed back into the training concept. Now, this training concept we took back in 2024 and brought it online around Germany. We rolled it out across the country, and two things happened that I would like to present to you.
I'm a huge fan of Gen Z now because I saw in our training centers how the young people in the first few months, the first few weeks, how they developed, how they're enjoying this training, how they can really blossom, and how this generation really wants to work. I'm speaking of Gen Z, which oftentimes is presented differently in the media. The second insight is that I'm particularly proud of our Siemens Energy training team because the colleagues really went the extra mile. They were brave. They tackled the change with open arms. They embraced it. I think something beautiful was created, a really beautiful example of how cross-generational collaboration could look like for us, for Team Purple. Excellent. Thank you so very much, Mr. Kunze.
This is a particular joy to see, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the ongoing success stories in our training. Thank you very much, Mr. Kunze, and get well soon. Now, Siemens Energy needs a lot of talent to manage complex projects. Talent we attract through our training, amongst other things. There are cornerstones of our success. This is the key, and this is also how we benefit from our rapidly changing energy world. Talent, our excellent portfolio, and local value creation is what sets us apart, but back to our strategic pyramid or triangle. I spoke about building or rebuilding the energy world. Now, let's move on to the third and last part of our strategy. We are different in how we operate. Now, dear shareholders, how can we improve every single day? How can we become more effective every single day?
Let me start with a topic that is at the top of my priority list: the safety of our employees, ensuring that they can return to their families and friends safe and sound after a long day at work. This is our top priority. The overall accident rate for employees and contractors fell last year. That was, of course, a step in the right direction, but we still have a way to go. Our goal is zero accidents at Siemens Energy. There are no compromises here. Only those who successfully implement safety can lead a business into a positive future. Now, for me, a positive future means that each of our businesses must have a leading market position. Each of our businesses must generate a double-digit profit margin in the medium term. We have the right portfolio for this and the right people too.
Now, we need to get better every day at how we do things, and clear responsibilities and decision-making structures help. Processes based on data and digitalization help, and a corporate culture in which cost awareness plays an even more central role. We're talking about clear and fast decisions, and we took the first step two years ago. We drastically reduced the number of hierarchical levels in our company. This allowed us to react more flexibly and quickly to changes in the market. Now, a phase of strong growth lies ahead of us. This is the right time to further optimize our processes. By making decisions closer to the customer, we can reduce internal bureaucracy. This will enable us to make even better use of the market growth opportunities.
Now, talking about data and digitalization, in the recent years, we have continuously invested in a better IT infrastructure and in digital approaches. This not only improves our internal processes, but instead also creates added value for our customers. For example, through the use of artificial intelligence. We, for example, use AI for the design of our gas turbines. This improves the design and maintenance quality. With the help of AI, we increase the lifetime of the turbine blades by 20%. AI software developed by us also optimizes the combustion process in the turbine. This reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by 10%. We also use AI for remote diagnosis. This allows us to detect technical faults at an early stage. This, of course, also helps avoid repairs, costly repairs after a breakdown. Now, of course, we're not only transforming internal processes.
It's also about how we can more effectively and more closely work together with external partners, for example, in R&D. Here, we bring together different skills and competencies in mixed teams. We have, for example, implemented a pilot project in Saudi Arabia with Saudi Aramco, the world's largest energy company. It's about CO2 capture. We develop this technology together with our customers at our innovation center in the U.S. We separate the CO2 from the atmosphere and can store it. The next step, of course, is to plan a large-scale plant, and this example shows that innovations work best in close partnership with bundled expertise and shared financial risk. Continuously becoming more profitable also means focusing even more on cost awareness. Especially looking at every single euro that we spend at Siemens Energy is paid for by our customers or our shareholders.
And that is why we have to handle this money very carefully. Our focus on clear and quick decisions helps us to reduce internal bureaucracy. Procedures that do not create any customer benefit. Now, that is a path that we have permanently anchored in our corporate culture. We here at Siemens Energy are continuing to build on our strengths. Because our customers are the first to benefit from a fast, focused, and decisive organization, and ultimately also you, our shareholders. Now, this brings me to the end, ladies and gentlemen. Let me once again review the past financial year. Overall, we look back positively on 2024. But it is no more than a step in the right direction. In view of the market situation described above, you, our owners, expect more from us in the medium term. And we want to fulfill your expectations.
I am personally committed to this as President and CEO of Siemens Energy. That is why I and we all have set ourselves ambitious goals for the coming years. We are determined to build on the positive development in 2024 with a clear focus on the three strategic priorities outlined above. The development of our share price shows we've regained trust. My sincere thanks go to you, our shareholders, for this. The share price in fiscal 2024 rose by 272%. In early October 2023, it stood at EUR 12.13. A year later, it was almost EUR 33. However, this morning, it was at EUR 61.50. These are positive values, but this also shows that our investors expect a lot from us, from our future performance, and we want to deliver on that.
For 2025, we expect comparable revenue growth of 8%-10% and a profit margin before special items of 3%-5%. For 2028, we anticipate high single-digit to almost double-digit revenue growth and a margin of 10%-12%. The figures for the Q1 of 2025 confirm this forecast. Now, you saw it last week. We are on the right track. The important thing now is to continue along this path consistently. Dear Shareholders, there is a lot to do. I expect top performance from all our businesses. Now, this means that every business must achieve double-digit margins in the medium term. Otherwise, Siemens Energy is not the right owner. So let me emphasize again what I said at the beginning. Three things make me confident about the future. First, we're operating in an attractive market.
We benefit from growing demand for electricity around the globe and the need to renew infrastructure. Second, we have a robust business model. This is demonstrated by our growing order backlog, and this means security for future revenue. And thirdly, we are excellently positioned. Our broad portfolio and our leading technology make us resilient to market fluctuations. Now, with this in mind, we will continue to work consistently on continuously increasing the value of Siemens Energy. Thank you for your trust, also on behalf of the entire Executive Board and all our employees. Thank you very much for participating virtually today. This shows your trust and support yet again. I look forward to welcoming you to a physical annual shareholders' meeting in 2026. We will then look back on another successful fiscal year 2025 because I'm convinced that 2025 will take us further forward. True to our purpose, we energize society. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you so much, Christian. I think it's become very impressively clear with Team Purple. 2024 was excellent, and I therefore like to extend my thanks to you on behalf of the Supervisory Board for your dedication, your focus, your commitment, for your responsibility to give your best in the most difficult circumstances. I think that that has been expressed very well. Shareholders, our back office team that prepared the Annual Shareholders' Meeting and whom I would like to already thank at this stage has now given me a note as if once we've reached page 58, we're done. I'm delighted because we already have a great number of speakers who have registered for the discussion.
But before we do enter into the general debate, I must give you some formal information regarding the Annual Shareholders' Meeting to make sure that we comply with all regulatory formal requirements. At the Annual Shareholders' Meeting today, you can exercise your voting rights. You can speak live, ask questions about the agenda, and that you're able to submit motions if applicable. This requires electronic access to our Annual Shareholders' Meeting, for which you must log into our password-protected internet service. You can find information on how to access our internet service in the notice and in the invitation letter that you received by post or email. Voting rights may only be exercised by absentee vote or by issuing a proxy and issuing instructions to the proxies appointed by the company. This also applies if third parties are authorized.
Exercising voter rights and amending or revoking instructions, proxies, or absentee votes already issued is only possible today using the internet service or by email to the email address specified in the notice and only until the time I specify after the end of the general debate. You can tell that this has become important, so I will tell you of the exact time in good time after the general debate. Please note that declarations by letter are no longer possible today. With this in mind, I would like to point out that there may be delays in the live stream on the internet of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting for technical reasons. Please, should you not have already done so, therefore submit your declarations in good time. Timely receipt from the company is decisive.
In the event that you have authorized or wish to authorize another third party, so not the proxies appointed by their company, please note that the proxy still has sufficient time to exercise the voting right in good time. If you shareholders and shareholder representatives would like to take part in the general debate with live contributions and ask questions or submit motions, you must, as I have already mentioned, register in the password-protected internet service under the corresponding request to speak or motion buttons. I will then call the names of those who have spoken or announced a motion or who wish to speak. A button will then be displayed on the internet service for those called to click on immediately to enter the virtual waiting room. This is a video conference system in which you can then be live video connected and speak to the Annual Shareholders' Meeting.
While you are in the virtual waiting room, of course, you can still continue to use all the other functions of the internet service. As the capacity in this virtual waiting room is limited for technical reasons, I will divide the speakers into several blocks. I will therefore call on those scheduled for the respective next block of speakers. Please note that the transmission of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting in the live stream is slightly delayed relative to the transmission in the virtual waiting room. I will therefore take a short break after calling on those in the next block of speakers to enter the virtual waiting room. This is to ensure that they do not miss any of the content of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting when they switch to the virtual waiting room.
Even after this short break, it is still possible to switch to the virtual waiting room for the speakers whose names have been called, but you will have to accept the time delay that this may entail. We therefore recommend that you switch to the virtual waiting room as soon as possible after your name is called. After entering the virtual waiting room, you will be contacted by a member of staff who will check the functional capability of your video communication, i.e., the transmission of sound and image with you. Functioning video communication is a prerequisite for me to be able to give you the floor. It may take a moment for the employee to contact you and check your functions. This is due to capacity. So please do be patient. You will be heard.
You can continue to follow the Annual Shareholders' Meeting, of course, in the virtual waiting room until I call you to speak. As soon as I give you the floor, you will be connected to us and able to address the Annual Shareholders' Meeting live with video communication, so please be ready to be called by me at any time in the virtual waiting room. So those are the most important organizational points, so this means we're more or less ready for the general debate, but I would ask Dr. Bruch to present his report on the development of the share capital and the acquisition and use of the company's treasury shares. Please, Christian.
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, as announced by Mr. Kaeser, I would like to give you a brief overview of the development of our share capital and the acquisition and use of treasury shares up to today's AGM. The company's share capital did not change in the past fiscal year. As of today, it amounts to EUR 799,309,712. Conversions under the subordinated mandatory convertible bond issued on September 6, 2022, have not yet taken place. Details on the mandatory convertible bond can be found in our annual report on page 87. On the development of our own shares, on January 8, 2024, we launched another share buyback program, which was completed on February 14, 2024, which I, of course, already reported on at last year's annual shareholders meeting. Now, under this program, shares in the company with a value of around EUR 130 million, excluding incidental acquisition costs, were repurchased.
The buyback was carried out for the sole purpose of enabling shares to be issued to employees and members of the company's Executive Board, as well as employees and members of the executive bodies of companies affiliated with the company as part of share-based compensation and employee share schemes. After completion of the above-mentioned buyback program, Siemens Energy did not buy back any more of its treasury shares. Now, overall, the number of Siemens Energy shares as of October 1, 2024, excluding subscription rights, is, of course, regarding that have been sold to employees and board members of Siemens Energy AG, can be seen right here on the screen. This is predominantly shares that are being used to fulfill so-called stock awards, meaning commitments to shares without personal investment.
We have also transferred a small number of Siemens Energy shares to long-serving employees in Germany for company anniversaries free of charge. Further information on our share buybacks and the use of treasury shares can be found on our investor relations website under the keyword share buyback or Aktienrückkauf in German and in the respective annexes to our annual financial statement and our consolidated financial statement. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd now like to announce attendance represented at today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting at 10:58 A.M., so approximately half an hour ago of the share capital of the company in the value of EUR 799,309,712 divided into 799,309,712 shares, 477,262,870 shares with as many votes by way of proxy and instruction for proxies appointed by the company. This corresponds to 59.71% of the registered share capital.
In addition, we also had postal votes in the number of 1,644,024 shares. Furthermore, registered shareholders or their representatives were following online with 48,137 shares on the internet service. These, until this point in time, had neither submitted postal votes nor had they authorized the proxies appointed by the company. Together, this equates to 478,955,031 shares with as many votes and therefore 59.92% of the registered share capital. The attendance list can be viewed. It can be viewed both by those following online on the internet service, but of course, it is also available here on site. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, this brings us now to the general debate in which, as explained, you can now participate via live video link with your contributions and questions. Please do so. That's always the exciting part of the day. It's live dialogue.
In the general debate, all agenda items known to you from the notice will be discussed together. As in the previous year, we are offering our international shareholders the opportunity to speak in English at today's annual shareholders meeting. In this case, an interpreter will be available to simultaneously translate the English contributions into German. That is necessary because the German language does remain the legally binding language at our annual shareholders meeting. Therefore, only the German translation of an English spoken contribution is authoritative. You can access the live stream in German on the internet service by selecting the appropriate language or alternatively on the German company website at www.siemens-energy.com/hauptversammlung. If you need help, please do make use of it. If you're unable to reach the site, please contact our shareholder hotline using the telephone number shown on the screen now.
That should be enough to note down the phone number. During the general debate, we will collect questions. Subsequently, the Executive Board and I, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, will answer the questions in consultation with the Executive Board. After the discussion, we will proceed to the vote. Dr. Bruch and Ms. Ferraro will answer the questions on behalf of the Executive Board. Ms. Maria Ferraro will answer questions in her native English. I think she could also do it in Italian as well, but given that she's an English native speaker, this will be the language she will use. Her answers will be translated into German, and I repeat, the German language version is the legally binding version. As usual, questions relating to the responsibility of the Supervisory Board are generally answered by myself as Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
Ladies and gentlemen, we already have more than 17 registered contributions. I would be delighted if we would receive more. This is the point of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. However, as the chair of the meeting, we do need to keep on track in terms of time. Therefore, to ensure that this is achieved, we will have to stagger the contributions to ensure that the right answers are given to the right questions. For those who are already registered, I would ask you only to take 10 minutes for questions and contributions. Of course, if we did need any more time, we would go well into the afternoon. I assume, therefore, in this context, and I would ask for your understanding that now your time to ask questions and make contributions is limited to 10 minutes. I would ask you, please, to bear this time limit in mind.
It's not because of us. It's also, of course, for other attendees who would like to ask questions and make comments. It is a question of fairness. After your contribution, of course, you can register for the speaking list again as long as there is enough time. Please, to ensure that you have an eye on your speaking and question time, this will be displayed on your screen two minutes before the 10 minutes are up. So after eight minutes, the display will turn orange firstly, and after 10 minutes have lapsed, the display will turn red so that you know that your time has run out. So please do bear in mind that for fairness, this is so that others also have time to speak.
I must reserve the right to formally limit the speaking time to make sure that we come to the end of the list of speakers if this should become necessary for the timely conduct of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. This then brings us to the discussion, to the first speaker block. They are ready. I would like to call upon the following persons to begin their preparations for their live contributions by moving to the virtual waiting room. Mr. Ingo Speich from Deka, Daniela Bergdolt from the German Association for Private Investors, Arne Rautenberg from Union Investment, Tobias Klaholz from DWS, Paul Petzelberger from the Protection Association for German Investors, SDK, Thomas Ahme from Wir für Siemens, Werner Fembacher for the staff shareholders of Siemens AG. I'm delighted that our colleagues are participating. And then last but not least, Mr. Ulrich Giebel. Those are the speakers for the first block. We will now take a brief break, and I would suggest that we continue in five minutes. As far as I can see, that would make it 11:46 A.M. This will give you the opportunity to prepare for your live contribution.
So , ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, we are now continuing the Annual Shareholders' Meeting as announced. I will now call on one speaker at a time by name, and I will give them the floor. The staff in the virtual waiting room will then address the next person and ask them to be ready for their subsequent live appearance until I call them by name next. And I would like to. We already have four that are waiting, and the fourth person is onboarding, so make sure that you are ready to take the floor when I call you. The first speaker I would like to call is Mr. Ingo Speich from Deka Investment. Mr. Speich, over to you.
Thank you, Mr. Kaeser. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Ingo Speich. I represent Deka Investment, one of the largest fund companies in Germany and a subsidiary of DekaBank. That belongs to Sparkasse. From the perspective of the capital market, the past 12 months at Siemens Energy were success stories: 357% increase in the share price, which is remarkable and unusual for a DAX 40 share. Well, certainly the decline of the share price in 2023 plays a role, but also you, Dr. Bruch, you made an essential contribution to this, that Siemens Energy has risen like phoenix from the ashes. So you were lucky, and you were very skillful both. You have ambitious medium-term targets, and you are delivering continuous strong quarterly figures.
You've overcome the crisis, and further growth is now waiting for you. Management performance of the past 12 months was impressive. And also, the spin-off of Siemens, separation of Siemens, is now quite successful and quite effective. Siemens Energy thrives on its independence. Supervisory Board and Executive Board are really making good use of this freedom, and it was good of the Supervisory Board to stick to the Executive Board continuity, help the company to get back on a successful track. With the rapid increase in the share price, expectations have risen exorbitantly, and now the decisions have to be taken that ensure further growth. And if you really have to implement your strategy very successfully, don't get too close to the sun, Dr. Bruch, otherwise you end up like Icarus. We are long-term investors.
We want a steady development, and the risk of volatile share prices with high expectations of shareholders is very high. So be prudent in whatever you do. CapEx or the investment volume should also be built up in a controlled fashion. If you overdo it, there's a danger that in just a few years from now, we return to the old sickness of Siemens: valuation adjustments and a massive need for restructuring. This must not happen. Particularly, the grids division is prone to such risks. The expected growth for the next few years in revenue is more than 20%, and it's driven by the worldwide strong increase in demand for electricity. Everywhere, new electricity lines and wind farms and power plants are required to cover the high demand for electricity of artificial intelligence and data centers.
Because of the long lead times of projects, I'm sure you have high visibility for the next few years. The orders of EUR 33 billion that have come in are really quite impressive. Use this tailwind and only build up capacities you need in the next few years that you can actually use for the next few years and not just for short-term rise in demand. We are appealing to your foresightedness, Mr. Farsightedness, Mr. Bruch. Be careful. Things might return to normal sooner than expected. Can you imagine that you can cope with a high increase in demand? And how high is the risk of setbacks and cancellations? Let's not talk about the only black spot on the white vest of your subsidiary, Gamesa.
You operated on this patient for a long time to stabilize the patient, but obviously, you seem to have been successful at the end of the day. Major valuation adjustments have been made, and you gained time. Now, what we want to see for Gamesa is a clear strategy. We're not going to get an update on it. The onshore business is and remains the biggest problem child. Unfortunately, you still cannot offer competitive products. The question about the market readiness of the 5.X turbine is still unanswered. What do you think? How long will the development time be? And what are the costs? In the onshore business, do you see any future for it at all? Wouldn't it be better to separate from this business? Your Chinese competitors are now really forcing or pushing into the wind area. How do you cope with increasing competitive pressure?
How are you going to handle it? Offshore, at first glance, looks quite good, but we don't have sufficient transparency. Did everything really work as well as described? You really need to improve your communication on this. In the share price evaluation, the restructuring case of Gamesa is now being well compensated for strong growth in other areas. We need more, we need better communication on wind to build the trust again. And why are you still maintaining Gamesa in your company portfolio? Let me now take a look at the difficult times of your recent history as a company, which has overcome gratefully, gratifyingly. Support from the government. Certainly, your survival has never been threatened, but you lost a lot of trust in the capital market. And now management is struggling with the personal consequences, namely that variable compensation can no longer be paid.
As you just said, now maintaining your Executive Board was definitely the right step. And now you have to make sure that in spite of the low compensation, you can keep your Executive Board. And this is why we support the Supervisory Board. We agree to the compensation program, knowing that salaries will be very high in the near future. But for us shareholders, this must also pay off. Do not forget us. The Executive Board in the current phase has to waive the salary. We have to waive our dividend. And this is why we are claiming higher distributions in the following years to us, the shareholders. Which dividend policy are you planning once you've paid back the money to the state? The further development of the company is very important for long-term investors such as us because know-how was also lost because of investments.
How important is it to build up competence in transmission? As a next step in your company strategy, could you imagine acquisitions? Or will the fact that Siemens India had to be bought first, will it clog up your M&A pipeline? And the new American administration's course, does it have any impact on your long-term orientation? Ladies and gentlemen, climate change is really quite proceeding rapidly, puts a lot of responsibility on companies. Lots of processes will fundamentally change. The long-term transformation of the business model, of course, has high economic relevance. And at the moment, with American companies, we see that they are suspending or reducing their sustainability targets. So what's your take on that? How do you handle sustainability topics? And how do you handle the anti-sustainability movement? Are you actually joining the US movement or is sustainability still an important business model for you?
And with sustainable content, how can you generate content for our shareholders? Over the past few years, Siemens Energy has made a lot of progress on sustainability. Please be innovative in your climate strategy and put it on the agenda for your next annual shareholders meeting. The leap from the transition plan in the CSRD reporting to a consultative motion in an AGM is not a major one. With such a long-term elementary target, shareholders should have a right to say and should be able to vote. And with this, you would also have a certain support for the implementation of your climate strategy. What are your concrete targets? Are you planning to put Say on Climate on the agenda for future AGMs? Now, let's also talk about our voting behavior. We vote against Dr. Lienhard's re-election.
It would have been nice if he had had a succession planning, which does not include the full mandate, and the chance of a generational change was missed, and for the other Supervisory Board members, we agree and we pay tribute to the performance in the demanding time, and for that, I am in favor of a virtual AGM with the announcement of the first in-person meeting of Siemens Energy next year, we think our claim has been met. Otherwise, we agree to the items on the agenda. We, Deka Investment, we wish a lot of success to the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board. We are welcoming. We are happy to come back to the in-person meeting next year. Thank you, Mr. Speich, and thank you very much for your words of praise.
I know that we have to work hard for you to praise us, and it feels really good if many of the questions that you asked are very similar to the questions the supervisory board was asking during the year. Thank you for your contribution. Now, let's move on to the next speaker. Again, somebody who has been accompanying us critically for a very long time, but also with very constructive questions. Ms. Bergdolt, over to you.
German. Ladies and gentlemen, you already introduced me. I'm Daniela Bergdolt. I'm Vice President of DSW, the German umbrella or protective association for shareholders, and I'm representing the votes transferred to us. Right, 2024 was a very good year for Siemens Energy. You are profitable.
You are benefiting from the transformation of the energy industry and the high demand for energy, and this optimism was very directly reflected in the development of your share price. We heard different figures, but the share price increased by at least 300%. And this, of course, shows that there's a lot of hope that people have as far as your share price is concerned, and people really expect you to perform, and you must really deliver now because in the future, you must not lose the shareholders' trust once again. So now you have to deliver. We have great hopes in you, and all of your divisions are really doing quite well apart from Gamesa. Gamesa continues to be a problem child. They must become profitable. You are saying in the year 2026 this is going to happen, and maybe you can be a bit more specific.
Tell us why you have the hope that in 2026 you can be profitable again with Gamesa. Now, are the internal mistakes and defects in the company? Have they been remedied? And do you think that the weakness of the market will also be eliminated? The sale of the 4.X turbine has started again. How is this turbine accepted by the market, and when will 5.X come? You installed a quality task force, which has now been disbanded or dissolved. Does it mean that all quality defects have been recognized, have been analyzed, and solved? I believe that the solution has not been found yet, not the ultimate solution. I'm sure that there's still quite a work that needs to be done. For how many or for how long will there still be burdens because of quality deficiencies? When can you say you've really remedied everything?
You, well, gave us an inspiring speech for offshore turbines. We saw nice pictures of offshore turbines, but we didn't see any onshore turbines. What does it mean? Does it mean that you yourself are in a process where you are starting to let go of onshore? You want to leave this area? I'm asking the same question. Could there be the possibility of a sale? Now, your business is booming, and this is why last year you needed to ask for guarantees from the German government to be able to fulfill your order backlog or execute your orders. This was really quite painful when I read all those reports, when I heard these reports where they said that Siemens Energy had to be saved, which sounded as though actually you were already on the brink of insolvency.
There were quite a lot of misunderstandings here when we heard that you had to be saved, but the federal government, as the one to save you, well, is an institution that expects really compensation for this kind of support. You have to pay for this support. I'd like to know what is the amount of fees? How much do you have to pay to the German government on an annual basis for this? Your order backlog is on a record high, but are all of these orders valid? Are you accepting everything into your order book without or even things where you cannot hope to really implement? Can you please be a bit more specific about your policy here? The US dollar is gaining strength. What is the US dollar exchange rate you're expecting for the years 2025 and 2026?
What will the impact be of the rise of the dollar on your revenue and your profit? Geopolitical factors also play a major role, also for Siemens Energy. You have worldwide operations, but the risk factor that results from a protectionist course of the U.S. President Trump, the deal maker as the president, with a lot of influence on the US economy is a scenario that instills fear in a lot of people. Of course, you have to calculate it. I would like to know from you what scenarios are you applying to the United States? What kind of impact do you expect if, for instance, there will be tariffs or a ban of wind turbines, for instance? For 2026, you are forecasting an increase of 8%-10% on revenue and a margin of 3.5% or 2%-5%, 3%-5%.
Now, is this a forecast you can actually maintain? Because the Q1 was quite good, but extrapolating figures like this, and you said it yourself, is dangerous. And here we are coming back to the great hopes that people obviously have when your share price goes up, but you have to stabilize this trust. You really have to deliver on those figures, and maybe you can be a little bit more specific on that. And now I'm talking about something that didn't really work very well: today's virtual meeting or the date for it. Now, Infineon on the same day has its own annual shareholders meeting. So why do you have both of these meetings, two DAX companies in Munich? Why do you have your virtual annual shareholders meeting on the same day, you and Infineon? Please explain this to me.
How could that possibly have happened, this collision of dates? And I really encourage you to plan this a little bit better next year. And somehow this already brings me to the agenda or the scenarios. Now, the Supervisory Board and the re-election, we are going to support it. We will vote in favor for the two ladies, the new members to be elected to the Supervisory Board. I have a comment. Even now, you already have four further positions or mandates, and not minor ones, but really very important mandates on supervisory boards. And it seems to me that you already have a lot of work on those mandates. I do hope that you still have enough time for Siemens Energy because we need this. We need your full commitment.
And then I'd like to come back to the bank guarantees or the guarantees that were only issued on condition that you're not going to pay a dividend. Okay, so that has an impact on us, the shareholders. And I can only repeat what was said before. Now, next year or once you've paid back those guarantees, we would also like to again see a dividend, which also includes or compensates for the fact that we had to waive the dividend this time. But the Executive Board doesn't get any bonuses, well, as you just said. And this brings me to agenda item seven and eight. In the compensation system, compensation report that we are to vote on, you are proposing that the Executive Board should get a salary, which is in line with the market practices. You're going to pay bonuses once the guarantee no longer exists.
It's definitely a good and correct plan because the Executive Board has done a great job. I really agree. So now what is happening is you are punished for something that is not justified. It's not justified to punish you for this, and you should certainly get bonuses later on. But now comes the but. From the way it's worded, we do not know how much money is going to be paid to the Executive Board. So you didn't mention any cap, no caps for the future compensation of the Executive Board. And this is why we are going to vote against this compensation system. In addition, you are authorizing yourselves for further virtual Annual Shareholders' Meetings in the next two years.
We are going to vote in favor of this because you expressly committed yourself in written form that next year you're going to conduct an in-person physical meeting, Annual Shareholders' Meeting, and you confirmed it. So we are in favor of this. So to conclude once again, thank you very much for the great job you've done here. Now, these words of gratitude go to all members of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board, and in particular, each and every employee of the company, because without the employees, without the workforce, we would not be where we are today. And for the future, I wish you success, the very best. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Ms. Bergdolt.
Thank you very much, Ms. Bergdolt. I'm sure that we can use that. We can certainly say this. I will answer your questions as to why we did not, or should I say why we actually have the same day as Infineon. Simply because we didn't talk to each other. I hope that we'll be able to plan things better in the future. So the next person we have is Arne Rautenberg from Union Investment.
Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Arne Rautenberg. I am a funds manager at Union Investment. As a fund investment company, we are Volks- und Raiffeisenbank shareholder at Siemens Energy and represent 5.9 million investors' interests. Times have never been as difficult as in recent years. The share price went down to EUR 6.50, and we can still feel that pain. Yet then, a sensational comeback, like a phoenix from the ashes. Within 15 minutes, the share price increased up to EUR 60.
It was like a roller coaster ride, and one that has never been experienced in this way at Siemens Energy. Mr. Bruch, you have survived your baptism of fire, even if not all operational problems have been solved. What are your thoughts on balancing growth, investments, and any resulting overcapacity? How much do you intend to expand capacity in the gas turbine business? How flexibly can you react to the current weakness in demand in the wind turbine business? How will the demand in the wind turbine business develop over the next few years? What lessons have you learned from the quality problems at Siemens Gamesa, especially in product development? When will Siemens Gamesa be profitable? How will the election of Donald Trump to U.S. president affect Siemens business, Siemens Energy business in the USA, China, and in Europe?
Ladies and gentlemen, as a sustainable investor, we consider ecological and governance-based governance codes, ESG. Without decisive action to reduce Scope 1, 2 , and 3 emissions, climate change will not stop. While Siemens has finally increased its aims for scope one and two, Siemens Energy has not done the same. Mr. Bruch, when can we expect Siemens Energy to complete climate targets for Scope 3 beyond 2030? After good progress, the investments at Siemens Energy that increased significantly, how will you get Siemens Energy back on track in terms of reducing emissions, even if there are further shifts in demand for gas-fired power plants and wind turbines? The temporarily proposed compensation system is something that we will exceptionally agree to, even if this practice is unconventional. The executive board has worked well, which is reflected in the share price.
In the times of the use of our guarantees from the federal government, fair payment has to be guaranteed. The suggested system must be transparent in terms of the absolute values. How high is the retention component and the early exit component? Now, coming to the agenda, ladies and gentlemen, we ratify the actions of the executive and supervisory boards, and we will agree and vote for the administrative elements. This applies to 8.8 and the election of Ms. Xu to the supervisory board. We cannot agree with this. Further candidates is something that we would agree to. We are particularly delighted that Mr. Kaeser and Mr. Bruch are now a solid team, and we will agree and vote for their re-election. And finally, we would like to thank Ms. Bortenlänger and Ms. Müller, who will be leaving the supervisory board today. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you very much, Mr. Rautenberg, for your support in these turbulent times. This is not always easy, so thank you so much once again. And of course, we'll come to the answer to these questions later on. I'd now like to call upon Tobias Klaholz from DWS. Mr. Klaholz
Members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, shareholders, my name is Tobias Klaholz. I am a fund manager for DWS Investment GmbH, one of the largest fund companies which represents the interests of its members. The previous fiscal year was very exceptional for Siemens Energy and its shareholders. After a disastrous year 2023, a fulminant 2024 took place. The operative profit increased by more than 3 billion EUR to 345 million EUR after a loss of 2.8 billion EUR the previous year. Sorry, billion EUR the previous year.
This exceeded its own expectations, a 320% increase in share price. As a long-term investor, however, we have longer-term expectations than 12 months. Therefore, 30% in the previous year due to Gamesa is something we still have in mind. We would therefore like to stress our expectation that the negative surprises, such as those with Siemens Gamesa, should be a thing of the past. Before I go into the individual divisions, I would like to thank all employees of Siemens Energy, the Executive Board, and the Supervisory Board for their work last year. A comeback of this type after such an exceptional year 2023 deserves recognition. In particular, their gas and power, gas services, grid technologies, and transformation of industry show a continued stark dynamic from the previous year. Positive development was able to finally be focused on after it was cast into shadow by the Siemens Gamesa events.
We believe the reason for this were the significant margin increases in grid technologies and transformation of industries. These improvements with profitability also show the positive impact of cost structures. With strong order, incoming orders, we believe that the coming years will be very positive. Siemens Energy has a market-leading position in energy technology. We see a multi-year investment cycle that should be very enjoyable. Operative profit of more than EUR 2.3 billion in gas services, grid technologies, and transformation of industry was also then weighed up against the losses made by Siemens Gamesa. The loss of EUR 1.8 million for the wind power company was actually less than the expected loss of EUR 2 billion. And we recognize what has been done, and we expect that there will be no more disappointments as there were not after these losses.
Siemens Gamesa's mid-term goals in terms of profitability in November 2024 were introduced and presented. These are not in line with the product risks of this industry branch. Both these growth and margin amounts were well below the expectations for the entire group. To sum up, as regards business expectations, we have the following questions. What expectations do you have on the provisions made for the quality problems in onshore and the difficulties in offshore? Which factors might actually risk your expectations in 2026 for Siemens Gamesa, and how probable do you think their occurrence is? What would speak against focusing on the more healthy divisions, grid transformation, and the others that I mentioned earlier? What would speak against carving this out? In which circumstances would ending the federal counter-guarantees take place? What is the case with the closest competitors in the U.S.? I will now go into our voting.
Given the improvements at Siemens Gamesa and the excellent developments for gas and power, we will vote to ratify the actions of the Executive Board in the previous year. Now, I'd like to talk about the compensation of the Executive Board. We understand that it is necessary to adapt the compensation system given the limitations provided for by the federal government. We understand the end of the variable compensation and the guidelines, and we therefore understand that further incentives are required for the members of the Executive Board. This is in line with the expectations and interests of their shareholders. A one-time compensation, therefore, is in line with the interests of the shareholders. We expect that the payments are prerequisite for this, that the Siemens Gamesa problems are resolved. We would therefore agree with this one-time compensation for the Executive Board.
Now, the elections to the Supervisory Board, we agree with all but one. Due to overboarding, we cannot agree to the re-election of Ms. Mulliez. She is also in Voltalia SA and Global EQ Limited. She is also head of the audit committee at Siemens Energy. These roles are therefore weighted doubly, meaning that Ms. Mulliez has six roles already, six mandates. Our guidelines do not allow more than five, meaning that we are unable to support her re-election. Should Ms. Mulliez within the next 12 months step down from any mandates, then we would welcome this. On the other hand, we welcome the election of Ms. Xu to the Supervisory Board. With her expertise in AI, we believe that she would be an excellent addition to the Supervisory Board.
Given that she has Amber, Iris AI Consulting GmbH, we would no longer see her as an executive, and we therefore believe that her re-election is in line with our guidelines. This brings me to the end of my presentation. The completed fiscal year was extraordinary. No one would have expected such a comeback from Siemens Energy shares. Without the excellent work of all employees of Siemens Energy, this would not have been possible, and I would therefore like to thank all of you. I would also like to wish all of you the best of luck for the coming year. The signs are positive. All that needs to be resolved is to resolve the problems of Siemens Gamesa, and this is an important task for the Executive Board.
Members of the Supervisory Board, Executive Board, I wish all of you the best of luck for the coming challenges, and I wish all shareholders positive performance of their share price. Thank you very much for answering my questions and for your attention.
Thank you very much, Mr. Klahotz, also for the very precise analytics. I think those are definitely the central topics. Thank you very much also for your support in the compensation system. I believe this was rather challenging for everybody involved, but it is very good if also the shareholders realize how special this topic is, if they value it, and I can promise you we will do our very best. Thank you very much. Next, I would like to call upon Mr. Paul Petzelberger from the SDK.
Thank you very much for calling upon me, Mr. Chairman. My name is Mr. Paul Petzelberger. I am here to speak on behalf of all shareholders who have given their proxies to SDK. I am here representing Daniel Bauer, our chairman. He would have loved to participate in today's meeting, but unfortunately he had to attend the Infineon AGM, which is why he couldn't be here. But he sends his very best regards. What a development in the Siemens Energy share in 2024, right? And it seems the only way is up. If we're looking at the stock price in 2025, Mr. Kaeser, you've mentioned it, Mr. Speich, you've also mentioned it. Of course, we also had the other extreme in 2022 and 2023, this incredible drop below seven euros. But what we've seen in 2024 and right now definitely far overcompensates this, even if we assume the IPO spinoff price, we're now almost two to three times as high.
So just thank you very much to the Executive Board, Supervisory Board, all the employees for having enabled this. Thank you very much also for the excellent work in the past financial year. So possibly this could be the moment when the trade fair grounds in Munich would be on fire, just standing ovations across the board. But Mr. Kaeser, why is this not the case? Agenda item 10, you are giving several different sets of criteria based on which you make the choice of the AGM format. Now, please, based on this criteria, explain to us why for 2025 you decided on this format for the AGM. We as SDK clearly position ourselves for a hybrid AGM format, and technically speaking, without a doubt, it is possible and feasible. But it seems like especially DAX companies don't want this.
Now, in this virtual lockdown format, do you like to, would you like to remain in this, or would you like to innovate and develop a new format or block this off? So we're saying do it hybrid or back to the roots, go fully onsite, go fully in person, where we don't just hear the speakers, but also can have an immediate exchange with fellow shareholders, just two rows down the line, but nothing like today. So do it hybrid or do it in person. So we clearly position ourselves against agenda item number 10, and it's also not quite consistent to say, oh, because next year we're doing an onsite AGM, we're now approving an amendment of the Articles of Association. So I would like to advertise the counter-motion of Wir für Siemens. This is a brave counter-motion. It allows you flexibility, but exclusively based on exogenous factors.
That is the exact correct way to go that we as SDK are advertising for, and also the opinion that you have on the counter-motion. I would be very interested in it because it gives you flexibility, but clearly also translates the will of the shareholders, as we've heard from a plethora of people across the market. So now I've gotten a bit emotional, I have to say, but let's focus more on the operational business. Mr. Bruch, from your speech, the service business, around about a third, this is a fantastic ratio, I have to say. The order backlog also gives visibility of the 50%. But the question is, when can we, with these 50%, when can we get there? And what is the long-term outlook? You know, of course, business is developing and we have the right momentum, but as of today, where could we be in 2035?
What's the margin in the service business as of today? And speaking of Siemens Energy, of course, it is very tricky because we have different company activities. So again, breaking this down to the individual segments within the company, what's the share of the service business in the individual segment of the company? And when could we be at 50%? Where could we be in 2035? Let's just not talk about the margin for competitive reasons, but then on a group level, of course, you can tell us the competition doesn't really know how to work with that, but we have a very important KPI. Now, the beginning may have been very critical, but that's why I would like to adjust this outside of the AGM format. Mr. Kaeser, for four years now, we've been seeing you in action in the sphere of the supervisory board as the chairperson of large DAX companies, and our perception as SDK is very clearly that Kaeser, that you, that your job represents excellent corporate governance structures, better than expected.
You truly live it. We can tell, we can also see it with several agenda items, so I would like to just say thank you very much, even though I don't have the right tie to transfer this message, but still right here to you, to the entire supervisory board. Thank you for the good work. Thank you for the corporate governance. Now, with Donald Trump , we were wondering about Joe Kravinich here today, Dr. Xu. These are candidates that every single DAX company would love to have.
Every single DAX company would love to have these candidates in their supervisory board. So of course, we also give a thumbs up and are happy to approve this. Thank you very much to the supervisory board. Now, an unpleasant or uncomfortable topic that is now coming up within the compensation system, I think this has already been mentioned by the previous speakers, is of course these guarantees that we saw, these counter-guarantees. This, of course, has also led to the negative press, right? This incredible amount of uncertainties. Is this something that you legally had double-checked? So these assessments of these Avals as potential helps or supports or subsidies, did you use external law firms to assess this? And of course, this has also been a question, but I would like to pose the question as well. How is the payback plan as of today
What measures does this payback plan include? Which measures can we take in order to get out from under that earlier based on the portfolio? Are there any additional feasible portfolio measures? Because of course, this was very successful in the last one to two years. Are there any plans in your back pocket? Are you already executing on some plans? And of course, also capital increase. U.S. American investors are basically lining up in order to buy huge shareholdings here at Siemens Energy. Have you done the math? A capital increase at this very high cost level could probably be done, but if we could get out earlier, we would have a huge amount of cost savings, which we could then pay out as an extraordinary dividend. Now, did you do the math? If yes, what was the result?
What is your take on this particular suggestion? Now, the world isn't perfect, even the share price, even if the share price is giving you the idea. And as Siemens Gamesa, the remediation plan is still in the full execution phase. Which measures do you still have to take? Which measures are still outstanding? You've mentioned quite a few different things. So what is still outstanding to get the break even in 2026? Which measures are outstanding in order to tap into the full synergy potential of 300 million EUR per year? Where are we in that particular process at the moment? And then again, the break even shouldn't be the end of the journey. Mr. Bruch, if I may quote you on this, and again, just to see, just to say that it's great to see you for another five years on board.
In your speech, you said that in the midterm, every single business has to develop double-digit margins. Otherwise, Siemens Energy is not the correct home for that particular business. Now, the question is, will Siemens Gamesa have double-digit margins in the midterm? And how do you define midterm? Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Mr. Petzelberger. This was a great feedback. I think the feedback didn't only come from the bottom of your heart, but also really covered a lot on the content. I'm really looking forward to answering these questions. Thank you very much. And nothing but the best to your colleague who's currently enjoying his time at Infineon. Now, the Olympic Hall in Munich, standing ovations, the house on fire. Well, I think that's an interesting image. We might get it next year.
I don't know if we can do another 300% next year, but maybe a little bit less would also be, you know, good. So I can just say that it's our own fault if we don't want to see the standing ovations. But again, we'll take it on board for next year. Next up is Mr. Thomas Ahme, Wir für Siemens. Mr. Ahme, over to you.
Right. Fellow shareholders, fellow employees, fellow members of Siemens, Mr. Bruch, Mr. Kaeser, members of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board. I am Thomas Ahme, and I am representing Wir für Siemens. We congratulate all the associates, employees, and the management for a successful 2024. The economic situation in 2024 continued to be challenging. The damning Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is still ongoing. The increasing energy costs are still a cause for concern.
It is still good to see that we see an increase in demand for all products and services of Siemens Energy. This, of course, led to an increase in orders and order backlogs and continues to do so. Now, into the company's strategy. We believe that Siemens Energy's broad-based approach with its excellent and excellently operated business areas is a huge factor for operational stability. Across many different fields, the company has established a leading market position and is currently further expanding that. Even the stock price is a respective indicator for just this because we can see that the future is positively valued. Siemens Energy's business is not a short-cycle business, but we can see that most projects have a duration of five to 10 years for this. Of course, we need a long-term horizon and planning.
Wir für Siemens can understand this, and we do, of course, stand for a sustainable business with sustainable actions. All traditional Siemens Energy business fields are and continue to be very positive. Wir für Siemens are very happy about the positive results and the good market development. This, I believe, is also good news to all the employees and all the employee shareholders. The great order situation with an increase in incoming orders across the different business divisions can only be managed and handled because in difficult order phases, the co-determination between the different corporate players was absolutely valued and respected. Important competencies and resources were kept in Germany even over difficult times. This is now something that we can simply rely on very well. Introducing defined centers of competence in Germany is something that we expressly welcome.
However, it is also important to take further consistent steps in order to tackle the order backlog with the right quality in the right time frame. It is also important to find the right experts to train them, to qualify them. Furthermore, SGRE is an important factor. We need to continue down this path in order to tackle these challenges and check them off. Moving on to the U.S., the change in government in the United States does not worry management too much pertaining to the business and the economy. Siemens Energy's businesses there are all long-term. We are also present in the United States. What we have seen as positive is that in the United States, there are not a lot of wind onshore or offshore projects, so we have enough time to observe the situation and react accordingly. We also have planned investments in U.S.
plants, which should definitely hedge the U.S. business. Still, Wir für Siemens would love to have a qualified take on the U.S. business. How will Siemens Energy react in the short, mid, and long term to the Trump government? What effects do you expect for the European and German sites and their utilization? Is Siemens Energy going to follow Mark Zuckerberg's example and develop a new manly combative spirit? Does the board still stand behind its sustainability strategy? Is Siemens Energy going to follow the example of other tech companies when it comes to culture? What is going to come of the DEI programs at Siemens Energy? And what does it mean for the employees? Siemens Gamesa has already been spoken about many times today. What is the current situation when it comes to tackling the quality issues?
Are all the issues with the 4.X and the 5.X off the list? And do you have the respective solutions? The 4.X is now on sale again. In which markets and countries is the 4.X in use? In which countries are you gaining new orders? And which don't you just yet? What's the situation with the 5.X? When are you expecting the sales to be approved again? In which markets or what markets are the focus point for the 5.X? Can all orders be fulfilled, or have you lost some capacity due to the stop? Which new models and which performance classes are you going to have in the future? What are you planning? Until when are you going to release new models? The question on the break-even, even we've already heard several times today, will you be able to achieve this?
How far are you when it comes to the integration of SGRE to Siemens Energy? When is this integration supposed to be completed? Are all SGRE subsidiaries in Germany going to be folded into Siemens Energy? What's the timeline? Onto grid technology. Incoming orders exploded and went through the roof. Were you unable to gauge this ahead of time? Are the current resources and the qualified engineering staff in manufacturing, as well as in maintenance, enough in order to tackle these orders? What about the expansion of manufacturing capacities in Germany and Europe? Are the training centers enough to meet these increased orders in order to qualify all necessary employees? Service. Which technological risks do you have with the current positive order situation? Are there technical limits? Do the machines live up to the expectations of our customers and our promises? Which insights are you gaining from service?
The test package Duke is that currently going without issues? What insights are you gaining from that? How happy are the customers with Siemens Energy in this regard? Which role is Siemens Energy playing in the nuclear business? Do we have enough capacities? Which future do F and HL machines have in this regard? TI? What is the situation of the four segments? SES, what is the situation of the joint venture with Air Liquide? Are we selling sites? Is Air Liquide still behind the joint venture? How about the ramp-up of production? Green hydrogen? Did we miscalculate? What is the current market expectation for the future? EAD? How is the maritime business going? What is the order situation? Also in ship manufacturing, we're seeing larger demands for CO2 neutrality. Does Siemens Energy have the right solutions?
Investment in steam turbines and generators, STG, what is business like in this segment? Can the plants help each other during times of utilization fluctuations? Are you exchanging know-how between the plants and employees? Compression, in this segment, are we on the right track technically and technologically? What does the future look like for this segment? Format of the AGM? Dr. Bruch, you announced that at the next AGM, we're going to be seeing each other again in person. We expressly welcome this. Still, we are sticking with our counter motion and are happy about what the previous speaker said. And we believe that in-person, on-site AGMs should be the standard, and only in express extraordinary situations should we carry out a virtual AGM. Now, Wir für Siemens, Dr. Bruch, see that Siemens Energy's future prospects are very positive.
You and your team are, of course, doing the right homework and have set the right tracks for our way into the future. Working at Siemens Energy means that we have expert knowledge and committed employees at Siemens Energy. This is definitely the right jump-off point and a true competitive advantage for an ongoing positive development at Siemens Energy. We wish you, the company, and all employees nothing but the best. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you, Mr. Ahme, for this very committed presentation and the many good questions. I look forward to the answers to these questions. Now, this shows you that Wir für Siemens, the Wir für Siemens colleagues are really passionate about our company, and they are really dedicated to three great companies. Now, we will continue with Siemens employee shareholders, Belegschaftsaktionäre, Mr. Fembacher .
Thank you, Mr. Kaeser. Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, the Association of Employee Shareholders at Siemens AG, and I'm speaking on behalf of them, has since 1994 been committed to promoting sustainability and long-term matters concerning the employees. Ever since the spin-off, we have also been in charge of the colleagues at Siemens Energy. You can find more information on us on our homepage, unsereaktien.de. That's our homepage. I am Werner Fembacher. I am a retired Siemens employee, and I'm chairman of the Belegschaftsaktionäre Association, the Employee Shareholders Association. Now, the spin-off from Siemens AG was a logical step. It was a logical consequence of the Siemens financial framework because the energy segments did not meet the margin expectations. We, the employee shareholders, we, because of this focus on the margin, we criticized the Siemens financial framework.
Your system with the performance indicators or picks, it's trying to find a balance between the factors of growth and profitability and liquidity. At the time, we didn't know your so-called picks, and if we had known them, of course, we would have made a suggestion. In any case, they allowed two-digit margins. But let's not talk about the topic. I'm going to close my remarks on this topic here. We know that the margins that are expected or forecast require a lot of work by a very committed team. With the exception of the segment of Siemens Gamesa for 2028, you were forecasting a two-digit margin range. It's up to 15%. In the past fiscal year, EUR 1.33 billion, that was the result, the profit that you achieved in the past year. The cash flow, EUR 1.85 billion. And with this, you exceeded expectations.
For this, we would like to thank our colleagues, and we would like to thank the management for this outstanding performance. Now, the Siemens name. Now, for many people, and particularly for us employee shareholders, Siemens still is a name that has a great reputation. And Mr. Kaeser, in his function as CEO of Siemens, used it in order to generate a profit for the balance sheet. And for one and a half centuries, this was not necessary. But for Siemens Energy, it means that we have to pay a fee. I mean, we have to pay a fee for using the Siemens name. We didn't have to market for Siemens before, but now we have to pay a fee. So we think that success does not depend on the name of your company, but it depends on technical competence.
This is why we are asking, in 2024, how much did you pay? What was the license fee you had to pay for using the Siemens name? This license agreement also includes an exit clause for Siemens AG. Could Siemens Energy also terminate this contract prematurely? This is a cost item, the license to the name. Do you intend to save the money for paying this license? Mr. Bruch said this morning, "We energize society." This stands above all for the best team in our industry. This sentence really reflects the right attitude or mindset. The desired energy transition needs competence and skills and makes a distinction between what is desired and what is useful. This means you're not driven by what happens in the industry. You shape the future course of the industry. You set the pace.
One good example for setting the pace is the production line for electrolyzers in Berlin. It does not work to full capacity. Not the full capacity is used. Even if a high utilization of capacity is desired, it's still correct to continue to operate it because in only this way can you enjoy the benefits of a learning curve. You optimize your production competence, and when you get questions from politicians or investors, you can give them convincing answers, but whenever demand emerges, you can cover it, so it's nice if you can afford to be so patient. We are happy to see that in many areas, Siemens Energy is world-class. It's a worldwide leader in many technology areas, but we would like to get some technical explanations of which we believe that they might be generally interesting and which we believe play a role for assessing our company.
Sulfur hexafluoride is used in the electrical industry. At the same time, it is a highly effective climate gas. Now, what is the current status for a portfolio without SF6? What's the current status? What would be the challenges if your portfolio did not use SF6 anymore? And are there any kind of interim steps, progress steps you've achieved that you might report to us? Another topic. At the moment, there are lots of discussions about the fact that the wind blades in daily operation will have some abrasion, and the abraded particles can be inhaled and are harmful to human health. It's a danger which is compared to asbestos. So abraded particles from the blades, do they constitute a danger to human health? Please update us on the status for our wind turbines.
We would like to know what the danger or risks of these particles mean for fires. Could they also be involved in fires? What are the steps or improvements that we are going to use in order to convince the market of the viability of wind farms? Since the traditional primary solution in power plants is now no longer effective, alternative stabilization for grids is required. What kind of contribution can Siemens Energy make to this? How can we help stabilize grids, electricity grids, and in this way reduce the costs for consumers and grid operators? Here we would like to know if the controllability of electrolyzers and gas turbines can be further improved and what kind of considerations you have here. What is the intention underlying a cooperation with battery manufacturers?
Another topic in this context that we would like to know more about is carbon capture and storage. Scientifically acknowledged, it can be a cost-effective solution for the CO2 solution. As a pilot project, you have a pilot project in Saudi Arabia. You already pointed it out. What kinds of contributions can we make when it comes to carbon capture and improvements in this respect? For instance, in relation to the former Dresser-Rand portfolio, what kind of contribution could we make to this, to carbon capture and storage? Management says there are high strategic risks for the corporate viability. One of the major risks is lack of skilled personnel. Over the past few years, our increase in personnel is about 5% behind the increase in revenue and orders. We seem to have a lack.
We are not coping when it comes to hiring new personnel. What measures are you going to take in your company to also implement this target in your company to hire skilled labor? HR and strategic units, do they have the necessary capacities? Will you maintain the necessary capacities, for instance, in HR to make sure that you can hire skilled personnel? Now, the efforts taken by management to train young people, we very much welcome this. And the example we saw this morning was impressive. But how about the further education and upskilling of older employees so that they can still cope with the rapid developments going on? So what measures are you taking for older employees? And can you give us some costly training measures? The number of employees in R&D is 4,200 people working in R&D at the moment.
Compared to the previous year, the number of people working in R&D remained constant. We think that we need more people in this area. What is the concept that the Executive Board is pursuing for the future to develop more personnel for R&D? In the annual report, you are complaining about scarcity of products and long delivery times. We have the following questions here. In your introductory statements, in fact, you already said something about it. What do you do to make your supply chains even more resilient? In particular, when it comes to service, but also in production, we see that there's a need for more warehousing to keep more on stock. Does the Executive Board agree? What measures might you take in order to make sure that we build up sufficient stocks?
The direct matching program offers the employees support from the company and making full use of the tax allowances, and our employees can become co-owners of our company, and it's an excellent contribution to make sure that employees can participate in the success of the company if they become employee shareholders, and the other shareholders also benefit from these programs because this culture of co-ownership improves people's performance, and employee shares are usually kept much longer, and this has a tendency to increase the share price. So it's beneficial for everyone if employees buy company shares. We welcome this. Now, how are we going to vote? The appropriation of net income. Mr. Fembacher, you have to close your remarks. Mr. Ahme, you spoke for full 10 minutes and 21 seconds, and the two at Siemens Energy's, we don't want to create the impression that we give preferential treatment to anyone.
I'm already talking about how we're going to vote. And apart from that, I can stick to the 10 minutes, which is, of course, no longer possible. Okay, fine. Our voting behavior. How are we going to vote on items three and four? All Executive Board and Supervisory Board members will be ratified. We also agreed to item five, item six, and seven, and nine. We are not going to agree to those. And this is about the compensation of the Executive Board and also compensation for the Supervisory Board. Our criticism of the compensation system does not concern you personally. We are not envious of anyone and the money they're going to get. Quite on the contrary, we appreciate your performance and success, and you should be properly compensated for it.
Our criticism relates to the system itself, meaning that the different structural treatment of the income of Executive Board members compared to other employees is not something we can agree to. We do not doubt that this is in line with market practice, but we don't see why. For instance, fringe benefit components have been agreed upon, which in employment relationships are usually excluded. Usually, well, of course, that's what I mean here. Now, strategic component of the compensation. Here we don't have a direct relation or correlation with well-being of the employees, for instance. Item eight, Kaeser and Gabriel are the only candidates where we are not going to agree. Irrespective of this, irrespective of how you agree, whether you agree to the political statements by those two gentlemen, we believe that they are not helpful for the company.
The inclusion in organizations like the World Economic Forum or the Atlantik-Brücke or the Munich Security Conference underscores our concerns that there might be conflicts of interest. We cannot exclude them. Now, amendment to the Articles of Association 10, we do not agree to this, and we might agree to the counter-motion of the Wir für Siemens Association. We welcome the intention to have a physical meeting next year, physical AGM meeting. However, we don't need a change or amendment to the Articles of Association for this. Ladies and gentlemen, we also share the impression which is demonstrated by the share price. We think the company is in good hands. We wish the Executive Board, the Supervisory Board, and the entire team of Siemens Energy a lot of success and joy with your excellent work. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you, Mr. Fembacher. The next speaker is Mr. Giebel. I have a motion according to Section 129, Section 5, and 125(4) and 130, Section 2(2), and also according to Section 131(4) of the Stock Corporation Act. I would like to note that now, if there's a visual adoption of resolutions, then I must object to it. As far as the annual report is concerned, I have two questions. Now, in the annual report, you're saying Karim Amin, and Anne-Laure de Chammard. Anne-Laure de Chammard is the name mentioned, but you're not saying Josef Kaeser and also named Joe Kaeser. Why are you not specifying it? And also, thank you for the nice films on the two new members, Xu and Dotzenrath, and also the presentation of the other candidates. What were the costs for making those films for the presentation of the candidates?
I'm going to say something about executive board compensation. Mr. Fembacher already mentioned it. For every member of the executive board, please tell us the five largest positions in the fringe benefits. Give us the amounts for the past two fiscal years. Fringe benefits, the five top positions for all members. Fringe benefits also include reimbursement of costs for moving house, moving, and also in connection with a second residential address in Berlin, and also reimbursement of trips to the family. So my question is now, if you earn millions of EUR, why do you have to be reimbursed for the costs for traveling home to your family? And does the company also pay taxes on the benefit in kind? If taxes are also paid for you, then you double the expenses. Then for 1,000 EUR of expenses for the trip home, the company would have to pay 2,000 EUR.
In addition, Anja Dotzenrath, to compensate for forfeited compensation entitlements to the former employer, she received a compensation payment amounting to EUR 1,872,064. So my question is, why does Siemens Energy have to compensate for the work of this lady for the former employer? And this benefit, was it also? Were the taxes paid by Siemens? What were the costs? Is there a payback agreement in case she should leave the executive board prematurely? The CFO of ThyssenKrupp, Dr. Jens Schulte , just a couple of months after he assumed his office, well, he signed a contract with Deutsche Börse, and he can keep all of the initial payments he received. And would that be exactly the same case for her when she leaves the executive board?
Didn't you find a more qualified candidate because this position of millions without having to pay for family trips home and also compensating for costs for fitted at a former employer? Does it have to be a woman? And does it have to be this woman? For Philip, the amount shown, well, actually also includes security installations in residential residences and also leased homes and also taxes for the company. All of this is included in fringe benefits, and all of this is done in line with the security concept of Siemens Energy. Now, this is a benefit. Non-cash benefits does not meet the cap for the amount of non-cash benefits or pecuniary advantages, and why did you not comply with the compensation system? And the bonus then could be circumvented in this way, and the money for the security installations was EUR 75,821 for all of the security installations.
What were the costs for taking over the tax payments on these non-cash benefits? And from how many condominiums and rental apartments and Mr. Philip did you pay those security installations? Is there a cap on the number of flats or apartments rented or owned by Mr. Philip where these installations were made? Please mention the five most expensive security installations without endangering his safety or security. Are there any clawback regulations? If Mr. Philip leaves the Executive Board prematurely, does he have to pay back this money if he leaves the Executive Board prematurely? And does he have to make a compensation payment because this increased the value of his private real estate? Now, on today's AGM, the costs of this year's AGM and the one last year and the five most expensive items with their amounts, please mention them to us.
Please specify the costs of food and beverages separated into executive board, notary, and other workforce. I saw this morning that Mr. Lienhard, well, was eating a butter brezel, a buttered brezel that is very popular in Munich. I didn't see what the others are eating. What is the food for the others present there at the AGM today? Maybe you can just give us a list of the menu that you're serving today. For the participants, tell us about the number of people who've registered for the AGM, number of attendees at the beginning, the highest number and the lowest number during the meeting.
Please also give us the number of how many internal, how many external people are participating in the AGM and tell us how many external legal experts are physically present or virtually present at the AGM and give us the names of the various law firms. Now, let me talk about gifts. Please give us the costs of gifts that are not tax deductible last fiscal year and was a lump sum for income tax paid on these gifts. And why did you pay taxes on those gifts for those who received gifts? Please give us the amounts for the five most expensive gifts that you made last year. And also tell us how many or the value of gifts to board members in the past fiscal year, the occasion on which gifts were given, and were those gifts that board members received paid taxes for.
Please give us the amounts of the five most expensive gifts with the various sum of money and recipients. Do you have any kind of guideline for accepting gifts? And for the Executive Board and the other parts of the workforce do the same provisions apply? And please give us the basics of these guidelines. Mr. Fembacher already told you that there's a difference in treatment between members of the Executive Board and other employees. Next topic, donations. Please tell us how many donations were paid, the five, well, most expensive donations, who received them, and to what extent did you pay donations to political parties or associations? Please give us the names of the recipients and the various amounts of these donations. Now, employees, please tell us how many female and non-binary employees work at the first, second, and third level of management below the Executive Board.
For how many employees was the total compensation in the last two fiscal years above the limit of 100,000 EUR, 300,000 EUR, 500,000 EUR, and 1 million EUR? Give us those different categories. On the Works Council, the question, according to the ruling of the Federal Court of Justice of the 10th of January 2023, in the group, well, they had to reduce the money paid to members of the Works Council that were released for this function. In how many cases did it actually happen? And how much less did they get in terms of euros because their pay had to be reduced according to the ruling? And what is the model of payment for Works Council members who are fulfilling this function full-time?
And also give us the same data for members of foreign, non-German bodies of councils, and give us the highest, lowest, and average sum of compensation for the full-time members of the Works Council in the group. And you cannot reject this information because of data privacy reasons. It's no longer possible under the German ruling. So you have to provide us the data on the Works Council members and their pay. Then the compensation payment for severely handicapped people in Germany, an employer has to pay this money to the integration agency if you do not hire the legally required number of severely handicapped people. And this compensation payment is to be paid per each not-filled vacancy. It's EUR 125 or EUR 220 that you have to pay for every position that was not filled with a severely handicapped person.
How much did you pay for this for the companies in the group in the past fiscal years? And why were the legal requirements for the employment of severely handicapped people not complied with by the group? How many severely handicapped people are you employing in the group? Then the notary. Which criteria and qualification requirements did the Executive Board and Supervisory Board apply to the selection of the notary? And do you also intend to regularly use different notaries, like with the independent audit and the Executive Board and Supervisory Board? Did they review the independence of the notary notarizing our AGM? In what way? What were the specific criteria? Not just legal requirements, but how do you assess the skills? And the notary, how much is he paid for notarizing today's AGM?
This notary in 2023 and 2024, did he perform any kind of notarial or legal duties for any companies of the group? And what kind of activities were these? And what was the fee paid to the notary for these activities in 2023 and in 2024? Overtime. Please tell us how much overtime was worked in the past fiscal year that was where people did not get any financial payment, which were forfeited, and also the average number of overtime hours per employee that were forfeited. And in 2023 and 2024, please tell us how many overtime was worked and how much was paid for this, what the total expense was, and the last item, participation in meetings of the Supervisory Board and its committees. Which members of the Supervisory Board participated in which meetings of the Supervisory Board and its committees in which they are members?
Where did they not participate or only partly participate? I do not see this information in the report on the work of the Supervisory Board. Now, for which of these meetings did they send deputies or proxies? Where did they not vote? Please tell us what topics were dealt with at the Supervisory Board meetings where some members of the Supervisory Board did not only partially participate and also the names of the Supervisory Board members. Which members of the Supervisory Board participated only virtually in some of these meetings, only online? Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your very interesting contribution and also for the great number of questions that we will answer in as far as these are. This is required. Of course, I will happily talk about the other food that we have apart from pretzels, butter. Of course.
Given the shareholder meeting process so far and the timings, we will need to streamline everything slightly more. Also, with regards to those who would like to speak and who would still like to register to speak, we've already heard more than six speakers, and the speaker list isn't still extensive. I informed Mr. Fembacher that we would like to stick to 10 minutes. This worked for most speakers, but not for all. I will reserve my right as the chair of this meeting to limit speaker time to 10 minutes. So please do your best to speak for as little time as possible. Otherwise, I might have to close the speakers list. So for reasons of fairness to others, please do stick to the allotted time. In the second block, we will hopefully then be able to stick to the 10-minute limit.
We have a whole broad range of questions, and I would like to thank all of the speakers for their interest and for their nuanced and fair contributions. We already have a great number of answers as well. For this reason, we can already move to the first block of answers. I would ask the members of the Executive Board now to answer these questions. Mr. Bruch, I'd like to begin with Mr. Speich.
First of all, thank you from me for your questions and comments. You asked about the market maturity of the export turbines. The expert teams have analyzed problems, and in December 2024, all faults were found, and we believe that the market introduction, well, the market introduction is planned for 2025, meaning that we are within our own schedule.
We're not able to offer any definitive comments on costs, and I don't want to make any estimations because, of course, this is data that is relevant for competition. You also then asked whether onshore still has a future given the quality problems we still have losses. The absolute priority, of course, at our capital market day 2024, we established a plan to focus on fewer markets and fewer product variants, and it is totally uncontested that the onshore division must achieve the correct margins. Otherwise, we are not the right owners. That applies to all of our business. As regards the competition pressure from China, of course, we take this very seriously, but it does not frighten us off. We have to compare the competition conditions for all in the wind industry. We need clear rules for fair competition on the European market and beyond.
Regulations are necessary for this. It's a question of creating value with jobs, R&D compared to pure import. Sustainable business practices are also required, and cyber and data security measures play a role too. You also asked whether in wind offshore everything worked so well. The ramp-up in the offshore area was one that we totally focused on. We are doing this step by step in order to deal with the incoming orders. After initial delays, the ramp-up in production is now well within our revised plans. You also asked as to why we want to retain Gamesa. The market for wind turbines is offered by Siemens Gamesa and therefore also Siemens Energy. It offers us considerable opportunities in the medium and long term as the forecast growth rates are very good, particularly in the offshore business where we are the market leader.
We have presented a plan as to how this part of the business can be returned to profitability. Irrespective of this, it is absolutely clear to us that the wind business must also fulfill our margin ambitions in the medium term. You asked how necessary it is to build up expertise in transmission division or grid technologies. In particular, the growth of renewable energies and the necessary renewal of infrastructure currently lead to increased demand for products and solutions such as high-voltage direct current transmission solutions or grid stabilization systems. We can build upon a strong position here as these technologies have been part of our core competencies for many years. We are therefore currently investing heavily in the expansion of existing sites in Austria, Germany, India, the USA, and Saudi Arabia.
As of today, we want to create a total of 6,000 new jobs in our network business alone by 2028. In Nuremberg, for example, we are expanding the plant for converter electronics, which are also used in our high-voltage direct current transmission and grid stabilization systems. This was also seen in Charlotte and Austria. You asked about the new American government course and whether this is reflected in our long-term orientation as a company. The USA is one of our largest and most important markets. Siemens Energy has been in the USA for more than 100 years. We have 12,000 employees, eight sites, and are well positioned with a forward-looking energy technology portfolio to help to shape the country's energy policy. Our customer base in the USA is very broad. Thanks to our broad portfolio, we are able to meet the demands of our customers along the entire value chain.
We are currently assessing the impact of the U.S. government's new course with regard to our medium- to long-term orientation and will adjust as necessary. As of today, we believe that there are more opportunities than risks in the U.S.A. Mr. Speich, you asked what our stance on sustainability issues is and whether we know how we will deal with the anti-sustainability movement in the U.S. or whether we believe that sustainability is still an opportunity for our business model. You also wanted to know how we will generate added value for shareholders with sustainable content. Sustainability is, of course, a key element in building a resilient energy supply. Sustainability, therefore, remains an important criterion and priority for the development of our products and services. We have developed an ambitious sustainability program and will continue to work on its implementation.
It is customary to regularly review and, if necessary, adjust targets and measures as part of a materiality analysis. We are convinced that we generate added value for our shareholders if we are competitive and at the same time promote sustainable practices. To this end, we focus on innovation and efficiency improvements. In our investments in research and development, we place a particular focus on projects that improve the sustainability of the energy system. We are also actively seeking partnerships that will help us to improve our sustainability goals. You asked whether we will be able to withstand market growth or whether we will be subject to setbacks or cancellations. In all divisions, we have comprehensive growth programs, and we are expanding these all the time, particularly in profit-strong areas. Gas, for example. We, of course, want to serve the increasing demand on the market.
We are focusing on the expansion of existing sites. That's why I showed you Charlotte, Nuremberg, Weiz. All of these are existing sites. Our order books of EUR 131 billion and the continued strong demand of customers makes us very confident that even if we have unexpected cancellations of individual projects, we will still be able to achieve planned growth. Mr. Speich, you asked about climate strategy in concrete terms. Siemens Energy actively supports the Paris Climate Accord. In the long term, we are pursuing a net zero ambition across our value chain and all greenhouse gases. We have set ourselves ambitious interim targets for 2030 for the supply chain, our own operations, and the utilization phase of our products. You then also asked about the planned inclusion of an agenda item, say, on climate for future annual shareholder meetings.
We are monitoring the developments surrounding Say on Climate resolutions at annual shareholder meetings very closely, but in light of current developments in ESG regulation, we do not see any need to make a decision for future annual shareholder meetings in the short term. You asked about planned acquisitions and the influence of intended takeover of Siemens Limited India and our leeway there. We are focused on the use of our financial means on the profitable increase of our incoming orders and targeted investments in existing business areas. If the opportunities arise in a sensible nature, then we will, of course, check these financially and bring them into line with our forecasts. We are considering the takeover of this company. I will briefly have a drink. This brings me now to the questions put by Ms. Bergdolt.
Ms. Bergdolt, you asked about market acceptance for the 4.X wind turbines and the sales of 5.X wind turbines. Sales activities were taken up again in September for the 4.X turbines. The sales volume is going to be limited. Initially, we've already always said that because we are focusing on targeted countries. The team is making good progress in its negotiations with customers, but there are no specific project completions yet. For the sales start of 5.X, as I've already communicated, we plan to begin the sale of platforms in 2025 fiscal year. Ms. Bergdolt, you also asked about expectations for the reasons as to why we expect that Gamesa will be able to be in the black again as of 2020 up to 2028. The way to break even is based on four pillars. All of these are currently in implementation.
A successful service business, maximizing profit is the focus as regards the installed base, as well as growth in the spare parts market. Increasing offshore profitability. This follows faultless implementation and strict adherence to contractual obligations, turnaround onshore, reintroduction of the 4.X and 5.X platforms, and significant reduction of fault costs, improvement of operative excellence, including optimization of the organization, the portfolio, and the production sites, and maximizing synergies with Siemens Energy, then also moving out of unattractive markets. If all of this works and we are not set upon by further setbacks, the break even is realistic, meaning that we will be out of the red. Ms. Bergdolt, you asked about the duration of the faults, quality problems. We have now developed most solutions to most of these problems. As regards the 4.X improvements, these have now been approved and implementation is in work.
This will probably be finished by the end of 2026. As regards the 5.X improvements, approximately 70% have now been approved for implementation. Implementation has begun, and most of this will be finished by the end of the business year 2027. We aim for a break even, as I've already mentioned, for the business year 2026. You asked about the dissolution of the quality task force at Siemens Gamesa and whether all problems have been recognized, analyzed, and resolved. We found technical resolutions and have developed them for most quality problems and are in implementation phase. The quality task force is still active and supports the organization in eradicating these problems, for example, the excess by way of so much good information, and 90% of the solutions have now been approved, and as I said, 70% for 5.X has also been approved.
You asked further whether sales of the onshore unit of Gamesa is planned. That is not the case. Onshore is the second most highly growing market, and we see that the general circumstances are improving. In Germany, for example, the expansion has progressed well over previous years. Approval times have lessened. At the same time, every business, of course, has to achieve our margin goal. Otherwise, we are not the right owner. You asked about the validity of our orders and the order books and how we would deal with this. The increasing energy market is driving our business units. We have improved in most areas in terms of profitability. That's not all down to the positive market conditions, rather also that we have accepted the best orders. This offers us planning, security, the service business, and it's approximately half of the incoming orders that are made up of this.
Ms. Bergdolt, you also asked about expectations and the influence of Donald Trump's presidency. I've already addressed this point briefly. The new U.S. government has made a number of announcements in recent weeks. We are currently analyzing these. Only when these are known in full, we will be able to gauge the actual impact. We have 12,000 employees on the ground in the U.S. and are therefore very well represented. We are convinced that we'll be able to continue our business successfully in the U.S. In terms of punitive tariffs and whether these will be disadvantageous to Siemens Energy as a technology provider, we will, as I said, continue to analyze the announcements and try to ensure fair competition in the market. And now I'll come to the questions from Mr. Rautenberg. Mr. Rautenberg, you asked about our capacities for gas turbines.
In order to live up to the market expectations, we will be increasing our investments for large gas turbines by 30%. This expansion will be achieved by increasing capacity at existing locations in our production network so that we can continue to react flexibly to fluctuations in demand. You also asked how we could balance out overcapacity and in terms of balancing growth. We are seeing a strong increase in demand in many areas of our portfolio, which cannot be met by the current production capacities of all suppliers on the market. We are therefore expanding our capacities in line with demand from key customers and sales regions. Some of these growth investments are therefore already secured by the current order intake of 131 billion EUR. In order to minimize the risk of long-term overcapacity, we are focusing on the fastest growing product groups.
We are organizing the expansion in a capital-efficient manner and expanding existing locations in particular. You also asked how flexibly we could react to the current weakness in demand in the wind turbine business. We are continuously reviewing our global production capacities and locations in order to adapt them to changes in demand where necessary. Our onshore business is currently in a stabilization phase with falling sales, so we have initiated restructuring measures there. In offshore, we are making gradual progress with the expansion of capacities and the ramp-up of the plants. Just this week, for example, we initiated our plant expansion in Le Havre in the presence of French ministers. In this respect, we believe we are generally well equipped to react to fluctuations in the wind business in certain markets. You asked when Siemens Gamesa will be profitable.
I've already answered this question, and I would refer to this answer. You asked what lessons we have learned from quality problems at Siemens Gamesa, especially in product development. Siemens Energy has revised its product development process with clearly defined milestones and a focus on certain development parameters, such as technical maturity. In addition, new models are tested for one year under controlled conditions, which is a practice already established in the offshore sector and has now also been implemented for onshore. You asked how the demand in the Wind business will develop over the next few years. The transition to green energy will not work without wind energy. Installations of wind turbines are expected to grow at a high single-digit rate every year until the end of this decade. We are currently seeing very positive developments in the offshore sector in particular.
For example, we have successfully positioned ourselves as a preferred supplier in auctions in Japan with a capacity of one gigawatt. If everything goes to plan, the first contracts will be awarded in 2027. You also asked what impact the election of Donald Trump will have on the business of Siemens Energy, also in regards to the U.S., China, and Europe. We are currently monitoring and evaluating the numerous announcements made by the new U.S. administration. It's still too early to properly assess this or understand exactly what this means for competition. It is important to know that we are not only in one market, but that our portfolio, with the exception of solar, of course, covers the entire value chain, and we are well represented in the region. You asked about Scope 3 and when we could expect to achieve full climate targets beyond 2030.
As I've said, we support the Paris Climate Agreement and aim to reduce emissions along the value chain to net zero. Today, it's not possible yet to say with certainty exactly when this target will be achieved. We know that the energy sector must lead the way in order to enable the transformation of other sectors of the economy. However, we also know that the energy transition is taking place at different speeds in different markets. We must therefore keep a close eye on how the market develops in the future. It will only be possible to define complete climate targets in this context. Mr. Rautenberg, you asked how we can get Siemens Energy back on track in terms of reducing emissions, even if there are further shifts in demand for gas-fired power plants and wind turbines.
The Scope 1 and 2 emission targets are within our control, and we have put together a comprehensive package of measures so that we are largely certain of achieving our targets. To date, we have reduced our emissions from our own operations by 55% compared to 2019. We are also well on track with emissions from the supply chain, and our suppliers will support us in achieving this target as well. In terms of emissions from our products, our portfolio offers highly efficient and innovative products that support our customers in reducing emissions. We calculate the emissions of our products in accordance with international standards in the year in which the order is received for the entire service life of the product. In this respect, our Scope 3 emissions reflect the order intake in the divisions to a certain extent.
We remain committed to our goal of reducing Scope 3 emissions. To this end, we are developing CO2 capture solutions with partners and driving forward the development of large gas turbines that can run 100% on hydrogen. Our medium-sized gas turbines, such as the SGT-400, can already theoretically run up to 100% on renewable hydrogen. I'll now come to the questions from Tobias Klaholz. Mr. Klockholz, you asked which factors might jeopardize the break-even of Siemens Gamesa and how probable we believe these are. I briefly addressed the break-even earlier on and the columns upon which it is based: successful service business, increasing offshore profitability, turnaround of onshore, and operative excellence. I already elaborated on the details in the previous answers. When these conditions are fulfilled and we experience no further setbacks or external influences, this break-even is realistic. You also asked about GE Vernova and the takedown in rating.
I believe there are a few important reasons for this. The American stock market is particularly fluid and cash-based, leading to companies are rated higher than European companies. GE Vernova also has a higher portion of business in the USA, which is positively viewed by investors. GE Vernova's wind business is not positive across all areas. Given the quality problems in the onshore area, this is seen as severe. Investors, therefore, are observing whether we will indeed achieve our break-even in 2026. Siemens Energy has a solid balance sheet, but GE Vernova has higher cash reserves and is currently carrying out buybacks. Siemens Energy is not able to do so this year. This is why the value decrease is taking place. We need to bring the wind business back on track and improve balance sheets. The dividend payments also play an important role.
You asked why we are not focusing on gas services, grid technologies, and transformation of industry, and not spinning out or closing the wind business. We are convinced that after the difficult phase, currently the circumstances and conditions are being created politically, geostrategically to enable better performance. Siemens Gamesa is currently on the right track in terms of onshore, and most quality problems have been resolved. In the offshore business, the ramp-up of sites is on schedule. We continuously assess the optimization of our business divisions in order to clearly and sustainably maximize the market value of Siemens Gamesa. Now I'll come on to questions for Paul Petzelberger. You asked for a detailed explanation as to why today's annual shareholder meeting is taking place virtually. As Mr.
Kaeser said in his speech, we believe that virtual annual shareholder meetings have proven itself over the last few years, not just for us, but for many other large companies. The advantages are based on the following considerations: to ensure shareholder rights. Shareholders are able to exercise all rights comfortably from their own home. They're able to ask questions just as they would in on-site meetings. If you followed our previous meeting, you would have seen that there was a very lively exchange between speakers on an international level. The agenda of today's meeting is proof of this, and what we've done for the last couple of years shows that annual shareholder meetings are just as good as meetings in person. They are not second-class. We're able to make resolutions, and there seem to be no reasons that would speak against having an annual shareholders' meeting online.
Costs, sustainability, and so on are reasons as to why we decided on this format, and we believe that virtual meetings are advantageous. And for the shareholders, of course, we looked at the high approval ratings of virtual meetings: over 91% from shareholders. In addition, we also received positive feedback on last year's virtual Annual Shareholders' Meeting. We also know, of course, that many shareholders want to get to know the company personally and directly and want to have a direct exchange with us in person. And for this reason, we aim to hold the 2026 Annual Shareholders' Meeting in person. Preparations are already underway. You asked about our position on the counter-motion, Wir für Siemens. We believe that online meetings have proven themselves. We decided not to limit virtual meetings apart from in exceptional circumstances, and we, of course, maintain our proposal to agenda item 10.
You asked about a new legal assessment of the decision on the Aval guarantees. These guarantees are not an aid measure. Any other decision of the Federal Ministry mentioned earlier on does not mean that it is an aid measure, and no lawyers have been commissioned. To clarify, Siemens Energy is not receiving any loans from the Federal Government or payments. No money is flowing to Siemens Energy. Rather, a back guarantee is offered by the government, which is underpinned by banks. You asked about portfolio adjustments and departures from these guarantees. We continuously assess, regardless of the departure from these Federal guarantees, whether there are possibilities to optimize and adjust our portfolio that might increase the corporate value of Siemens Energy. All decisions are assessed in terms of profitability and strategic orientation in order to increase our corporate value.
You asked whether Siemens Gamesa in the midterm would be able to achieve two-digit margins. We're working on it. In the midterm, this does not mean our midterm goals by 2028. Mr. Petzelberger, you also asked which capital measures are being considered and assessed and how this can be carried out carefully. In the Annual Shareholders' Meeting 2024, resolutions were made that authorize the Executive Board to carry out capital measures, including measures that would improve the performance of the share price. Our balance sheets are solid, and we do not have net liquidity to make sure that we are able to achieve net liquidity. We are delighted with the positive performance of the share price. Currently, we are focusing on profitable growth, and we want to exhaust this as much as possible on the market.
We will, of course, continue to adjust our capital strategy for profitability in the coming years, in the long term. Mr. Petzelberger, you also asked about which measures are being taken in order to ensure that Siemens Gamesa break even for 2026. This question has been asked a few times. I've already answered it, and I would now like to refer once again to the four columns that I mentioned earlier on that are significant for this break-even. All four of these make a significant contribution, but offshore, of course, makes the most significant contribution to renovation. Mr. Petzelberger, you asked about the remaining measures to achieve the synergistic potential of 300 million EUR per year at Siemens Gamesa. The remaining measures to achieve the full potential of 300 million EUR are in the coordination of processes in purchasing and logistics and IT.
This would now bring me to the questions from Mr. Ahme. Mr. Ahme, you asked about the current situation in working out the problems in the 4.X and 5.X platforms. At this point, I would refer you to the answers given to the previous speaker from Mr. Speich from Deka, who had the same questions. You asked about markets and countries in which 4.X is indeed used, those countries with new contracts and whether or not. As I've already said, we have sales activities in 2024. This is when they began again, September 2024. Good progress is being made, but there are no specific project completions yet. The sales activities were very successful: Belgium, Canada, Vietnam, and so on and so forth. In total, there are 29 countries. We've stressed time and again that our focus for these sales activities is on the USA and Europe. Mr.
Ahme, you also asked about the planned new models and offshore wind farms. As you can see in the press, we're testing a new prototype in the National Test Center in Denmark. However, this is only a test. A decision about the commercial introduction of this prototype will be made at a later point in time. Currently, we're very happy with our 14-megawatt turbines. You also asked about the break-even goal for the wind business. This is at least how I understood your question. I've already actually answered this question. You asked about the progress of integration of SGRE tasks and employees at Siemens Energy and the point in time of completion and the available options. The integration progressed as planned in June 2024.
All group functions were organized together from the 1st of August 2024, when the wind business was the fourth business unit analogous to gas services, grid technologies, and gas transformation of industry, and is represented in the Executive Board by Mr. Philip. The presentations are in the regional area, so the consolidations of the country companies for legal and financial questions. This is where they have to be considered. The completion of complete integration will take at least two years, in particular given the consolidation of our companies in those countries. We therefore have a clear plan that we'll be able to implement well. We therefore see no other options. You asked about countries where 5.X products are our focus and whether we can serve old orders, legacy orders, and how many of these are concerned.
The focus of sales activities for 5.X will be Europe, and in addition, Siemens Gamesa, for all orders which we already received before the sales stop, will be fulfilled. They will actually execute all of these orders or have already executed them. You also asked about the valuation of the orders received in grid technologies, and if all resources, including qualified personnel in engineering, in production, and machine installations, are sufficient to execute the order backlog. Since we increased our level of orders and demand increased for grid technologies over the past few years, we already increased our capacities accordingly in grid technologies. One example of this is our vacuum switching tubes manufacturing plant in Berlin, which we opened last year, to execute the order backlog and also to cope with increasing demand for grid technologies in the future.
We are investing at the moment. We are investing a lot in the expansion of our existing sites in Germany, in Austria, in Croatia, the United States, in India, and Saudi Arabia, and as we said before, as of today, until 2028, in our grid business, 6,000 new positions are to be created. Mr. Ahme, your questions concerning the current technical risks for gas services and technical limits to customer satisfaction insights received so far in the Duke test facility. To this, I have to give you a somewhat lengthy answer because there were many questions. Now, with our quality management, which we established over the years, we take care that potential risks in the production or sale of our components are minimized. These are tried and tested processes, and they are performed irrespective of the current order volume.
With the SGT-9000HL, our latest turbine, over the past few years, once again, we made it possible to exceed the technical limits that we had in the past, both in terms of power output and efficiency and startup speed of the turbine. Both with our established turbine models, which we have had in the market for many years, and also with our new and further developments of turbines, we are successful in the market. The high demand confirms that our customers are satisfied with the quality and performance of our solutions.
Siemens Energy has a large order backlog for long-term service contracts, and we also operate our own power plants under so-called operation and maintenance contracts, which gives us a lot of experience for a wide range of maintenance and service data for the existing machine fleet, above all, with continuous remote monitoring and also remote operation in some cases. These insights and data are valid both for or useful for the new development of machines and also development of modernization products for existing plants. The Duke power plant was handed over to the customer for commercial operation. It runs in accordance with the contractual requirements, and further technology validation is performed in cooperation with the customer, and it's a process which takes place with various milestones in the product development process. It's an ongoing process. Technical improvements are discussed regularly and are assessed regularly. Mr.
Ahme, you had questions concerning the current situation for new orders in the ship and maritime business of Siemens Energy. Now, the objectives of the International Maritime Organization for maritime emission reductions are 20% by 2030, 70% by 2040, and net zero by 2050, and this promotes the use of clean fuels and energy-efficient technologies and also the market activities and investments, and we are benefiting from this. The order situation for our maritime or marine business is positive, and it's in line with our business planning. You were asking about the current status for the expansion of production capacities in Germany and in Europe, and also the suitability of our training centers to qualify our employees for the increase in our level of new orders. We are currently intensively expanding our production capacities in Europe and in Germany.
In Germany, as we said several times, we are expanding the plant for converter electronics in Nuremberg. In Austria, we are currently expanding our transformer factory in Weiz. In Croatia, we have power transformers, and there we are doubling our production capacities. And for us, it's very important to train and further educate and upskill all our employees. We have a very comprehensive training program, both with e-learning and with in-person seminars, and also function-specific topics. And with the help of our strategic HR planning, we are identifying at an early stage which additional qualification needs exist or emerge so that in due time this can be translated into training programs. You were asking about solutions from Siemens Energy for CO2 neutrality in shipbuilding.
We are offering various different solutions for decarbonization of the shipping industry, solutions for electrification, increasing efficiency of marine drives, and also electrification of ports and plants for the production of alternative fuels, such as hydrogen or e-methanol. You were also asking about the importance of our nuclear business and whether we have sufficient capacities here. We are actually no longer active in the nuclear part, the hot part, but steam turbines and generators and also control technologies for nuclear power plants are still available. We also service this. The development of a new generation of smaller and modular power plants, so-called small modular reactors, and the changed energy policies in many countries, in many places, lead to a renaissance or let us expect a renaissance or revival of nuclear energy, but it won't happen soon. It's not going to happen overnight, but we already established partnerships in this area.
We are now a member of the European Industrial Alliance on SMR. With our production capacities, we are currently very well positioned for this market. We were also asking about the technical and future status of the compressor segment. In the compression segment, both technically and technologically, we are state of the art. Our broad and very competitive portfolio allows us globally to be among the top two players in the market. We have an excellent position to tap into traditional markets for oil and gas, all the way to industrial applications, chemicals, fast-growing markets like CO2 separation, or the decarbonization storage of heat. You were asking about the future of F&HL gas turbines. This class of turbine accounts for approximately or more than 85% of the current market volume for large gas turbines.
Siemens Energy serves this market segment inter alia with our SGT-5000F, SGT-6500F, and SGT-9000HL gas turbines. We are developing these turbines on an ongoing basis, also with a view to the ability for use of hydrogen efficiency and flexible modes of operation, and with this, we want to be competitive also in the future. You were also asking about the status of the joint venture with Air Liquide, whether any installations are sold, and whether Air Liquide is still participating in the joint venture and how the production facilities are ramped up. Air Liquide and Siemens Energy, with this joint venture, want to rapidly expand production capacities for electrolyzers in Europe. It's a joint venture. We have the technology.
Air Liquide has the use cases, and together, and with the help of our gigawatt production for electrolyzers in Berlin, industrial hydrogen projects in Europe in the three-digit megawatt area should be implemented, and we would like to apply for subsidies for major projects, and together, we want to develop the next generation of electrolyzers. Even today, we are working on joint projects, for instance, in Oberhausen, and the production of green hydrogen to be fed into an existing pipeline has started, and we are also implementing, by 2026, together, a 200-megawatt facility in Normandy, and both partners benefit from this cooperation and more than we had originally expected. Your question about whether we are selling any plants and installations in the past fiscal year: two major projects were gained in Germany with 280 or 100 megawatts, respectively, with orders amounting to EUR 420 million.
This means this is a global top-rank position in the electrolysis market, and how do we ramp up our production? Our current capacity of one gigawatt per year is sufficient to meet our current customer demand. One main feature of our factory concept is its flexibility. We have many levers that we can use to quickly adapt production capacities to the demands of the market, for instance, with a multi-shift system. You were asking about the business situation in industrial steam turbines and generators, particularly in terms of personnel utilization and exchange of production packages among sites. Industrial steam turbines and generators had a margin of 10.3% at the end of the fiscal year, and the good result from the year before of 10.2% was confirmed.
All other important KPIs, such as revenue and new orders, developed positively compared to the previous year, and we complied with labor law and operational conditions. We complied with these conditions, but fluctuations among the plants and production lines can be compensated for by an exchange of personnel. We are making use of it, and whenever the utilization situation requires it, production packages can be swapped between sites. And apart from the economical criteria, of course, the skills and equipment at the various sites have to be taken into account. You also asked about our market estimate for green hydrogen, how we see the market opportunities and whether possibly our estimate was wrong about the potential. Now, there was a certain hype about green hydrogen, but now the situation is more realistic.
The market is growing more slowly than expected three or four years ago, but this development is very much in line with our own much more conservative planning. New technologies never develop in a linear fashion. There will always be learning curves, but it's also clear that we do not expect any commercial model before the end of the decade. It will remain a joint task for politicians, industry, and society to make sure that renewable hydrogen becomes part of a sustainable energy system and to reduce costs by scaling it up, and we are well positioned for this ramp-up and are ready to participate in it. You had questions about our fighting spirit and our sustainability strategy. You wanted to know in particular whether we would follow Mark Zuckerberg's example and whether we develop a new male spirit of fighting. Honestly, this concept doesn't really resonate with me.
I don't think that you can accuse anyone of us that we lack the fighting spirit, but I must say that diversity and inclusion are fundamental components of who we are, of our corporate culture and our corporate success. So we are definitely convinced that employees with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences promote innovation, make it easier to find solutions to problems, and strengthen the performance of our company. Our commitment to inclusion and diversity is unchanged, and the same applies to our sustainability strategy. I already got a similar question from Mr. Speich, which I answered, and Mr. Ahme, you also asked about short, medium, and long-term corporate strategy relating to the Trump government. I think I have not answered this yet.
Now, for you personally, however, when I answered the other questions, I already addressed this concept or this situation, and we are now observing all of the announcements which are now being made by the new US administration, and it's premature to have an opinion here. But as of today, we see more opportunities than risks for our business in the US. And this brings me to Mr. Fembacher's questions. Mr. Fembacher, you asked about the abrasion of wind turbine blades and inhalable particles that could damage human health. Now, basically, this whole topic of abraded particles, of abrasion from blades, is something that we are aware of. Studies have been made, and we developed developments, or we started developments, and the motto here is leading-edge protection. So the particularly affected parts of the blades should now be protected so that abrasion of particles should be minimized.
This kind of technology is now being used on our products. A comparable danger as for asbestos does not exist since the materials we are using for the blades. Polyurethane mainly for the top layer and epoxy resin or in a solidified form on the blades behave differently because they are breaking in a transversal situation and longitudinal direction of the fiber. Mr. Fembacher, you wanted to know what kind of improvements we are making to convince the market of our wind turbines, and I guess you are relating to the quality problems on the 4.X and 5.X turbines. Our product development processes were completely revamped. Any new projects are subject to a clearly defined release process, which takes into account technological requirements and the contractual obligations.
I told you before that on the 4.X, we have started with the sales activities, and we are already conducting very good talks with our customers, and we are getting good feedback from our customers. You were also asking about our estimate or view on the particular danger if there is a fire on the wind turbine blade. So even if there is a fire on the blade, the danger is minimal because any kind of amounts that might be released will be distributed in such a way that the remaining concentration would be negligible, would be very low. Mr. Fembacher, you were also asking about the offerings from Siemens Energy on grid stabilization, improvement of the controllability of electrolyzers and gas turbines, and whether we intend to cooperate with battery manufacturers.
Grid Technologies has a comprehensive portfolio of solutions which are adapted to the specific grid situation and needs of the grid operators and can stabilize a grid. For instance, the rotating shift or phase shifters or STATCOM facilities, we have a strong position in the market and a lot of experience, and the combination of battery storage systems and conventional grid technologies helps us cope with the new requirements for grids as part of the energy transition. In Ireland, we are, for instance, at the moment building the world's first hybrid system, which is able of both technologies, large battery storage and grid stabilization with the Silyzer 300. Siemens Energy has an electrolyzer on the basis of PEM technology in its portfolio, and it is distinguished by a large controlled range, and it can be quickly controlled as compared to other electrolyzer technologies.
So it is a very good choice for fluctuating renewable grids. Another possibility to stabilize grids is the use of flexible gas power plants, gas-fired power plants, and this is a particular facility. These power plants are not part of the conventional grid market, but only used in case there is a demand for them to stabilize grids, and there are first projects where a coupling of energy production and grid stability can be used alternately. You were asking about the contributions by Siemens Energy for CO2 separation and injection in the context of the former Dresser-Rand portfolio. Our compressor business addresses all potential use cases as far as CO2 capture is concerned, and this includes both compression solutions for solvent-based separation and also cryogenic CO2 capture.
Apart from the compressors themselves, we offer solutions to optimize the entire system and also the auxiliary equipment, such as cooling or drying solutions, and we offer solutions for the transport and ultimate storage of CO2 and for electrification of CO2 separator systems. Mr. Fembacher, you were asking about measures to increase our workforce, hire new employees, and also the internal development of workforce in our company. Okay, so internal further upskilling and development of our employees because there's a shortage of or lack of skilled labor. We are meeting it at different levels to attract talent to our company. We offer various possibilities for developing a career and attractive working conditions and certain benefits.
In addition, our training concept has now been adapted to the Generation Z and its expectations, and we are also including or increasing our STEM pool for women in technical professions, and together with our training manager, Christoph Kunze, I already told you about this in my presentation. For our employees, what's very important is to offer continuous training and qualification at many different levels, for instance, our learning platform, and we are also continuously expanding our learning offering. Working together with a global external partner in recruiting helps us to be flexible when it comes to make use of further resources for recruiting. You also asked if the necessary capacities in the HR and strategic units will be maintained. We will make sure that the necessary capacities exist to make sure that our personnel development can be ensured at the highest possible level.
This includes not only making available training and further education measures, but also promoting a culture of continuous learning and growth, and change of capacities in the various functions is not planned at the moment. In this context, you also asked about the measures and costs for training of older employees to ensure that they don't fall behind or lag behind the current development. Now, developing our employees in the current function and for the future career is an important success factor for our company. Our employees must have the possibility to continuously get trained and learned irrespective of their age, and for this, we have a very large offer. We have e-learning programs, we have in-person seminars, classroom seminars, and most of these are made available via our learning platform.
In addition, we have lots of so-called academies where function-specific topics are taught, for instance, the Sales Academy or the Manufacturing Academy, and in fiscal year 2024, about EUR 90 million were spent on training measures. You were asking about the concept for the future of HR development or personnel development in research and development. We believe that we have the necessary employees and skills that we need to implement our R&D strategy to make sure that also in future we have the necessary capacities in R&D. We are regularly checking our demand and requirements, and this is then defined in our HR planning. In addition, we have lots of qualification or upskilling programs, and these programs are addressed both to new hires and also our existing workforce in the Research and Development Department.
You had a question about how we want to improve the resilience of our supply chains. I already told you in my presentation the resilience of our supply chains is a very high priority. To this end, in the purchasing department, various levers are used. For instance, long-term supply contracts for standard material, sharing the risk with suppliers and customers, establishing alternative suppliers, strengthening strategic partnerships, and globally balanced supplier footprint or sourcing from different regions. Compared to the previous year, we've been able to considerably increase our supplier base, and the number of high-risk suppliers was reduced, as I already mentioned in my presentation. Mr. Fembacher, you had a question about the position of the Executive Board regarding increasing our stocks in service and manufacturing and any measures taken in this respect.
With our current gas turbine fleet, we have a high level of coverage with long-term contracts, and this means we can plan ahead, long ahead with our procurement of spare parts and stocks. So we have a systematic stock keeping for service components, which we've been building up. We optimized our stock keeping for service components, so whenever our customers have downtimes or service measures that need to be implemented, we can offer optimum support with our level of stocks. We don't see any need to significantly increase the level of stocks for service components at this point in time. I would like to address Ulrich Giebel's questions next. Mr. Giebel, according to 131A of the Stock Corporation Act, you want to get information.
So you want us to share information that shareholders, because of the function of shareholders, are entitled to, and we can tell you that nobody will; we will never refuse to give information to shareholders outside of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. Of course, all of the shareholders have to be equally treated whenever we give you any information. So information can be given to you at any time, but it must be equal treatment. And we also give information to institutional investors, but all of this information can be found on our website in Investor Relations under Publications and Ad-hoc. There you find all of the information. All shareholders are informed.
According to 125(4) and 129(5) of the Stock Corporation Act, you're requesting further information, and this is about information on resolutions adopted by the AGM, and also you want to know if and how the votes were counted, but that's something we can only tell you after the annual shareholders' meeting, and then, of course, we will be happy to meet your request and your motion according to Section 131(2)(2) of the Stock Corporation Act. We took a note of it, and when we announce the results of the vote, we will then address it. Mr. Giebel, you want to know about the number of registrations for the AGM, and you want to know the number of attendees at the beginning, the highest and lowest levels. The number of registrations for this year's AGM was 29,171. At the beginning of the AGM, it was 618.
That was the lowest level. 1,074 participants was the highest level. You were asking about the estimated cost of the past and current AGMs and the five most expensive items. The cost of the AGM in 2025 will probably be approximately EUR 1.5 million. The cost of the 2024 AGM were approximately EUR 2 million. The five most expensive items were the, well, EUR 350,000 handling these stock-related questions, and then EUR 230,000 for postal fees, and then technical installations of the studio, EUR 200,000, and the cost for legal support, approximately EUR 100,000, and also various services for project management amounting to approximately EUR 100,000. You asked about the cost for the films and presentations of the Supervisory Board members. Two videos were made, and the cost for the presentation for the re-elected members was EUR 6,011.49, and the cost for the presentation of Ms. Schuh and Ms. Dotzenrath was EUR 8,914.16, and the cost for both of them, both videos together, is EUR 14,926.09 for the two videos together.
And then about gifts. Our Siemens Energy Business Conduct Guidelines apply both to our employees and to the Executive Board. In Section T1, it says that no gifts may be accepted as an exchange for business advantages. We must not receive any such gifts, and it means that occasionally token value gifts or symbolic gifts or adequate invitations according to the local customs may be received. Any gifts and any invitations, of course, have to comply with the current laws and provisions, and this is a principle that is applied, and it guides the behavior of all of our boards and committees. Mr. Giebel, you wanted to know about the number of internal and external people who are involved in the AGM.
240 people work at this year's AGM. 90 of these persons are not employees of Siemens Energy. Mr. Giebel, you wanted to know about the total cost of entertainment, food and beverages, and the Executive Board, notary, Supervisory Board, and other employees. The cost of catering at this AGM were approximately EUR 30,000. Now, the catering is the same for everyone, so that a split according to different categories is not possible. We all get the same food.
Well, talking about food, well, I mean, you gave many, many answers, and I hear that your voice is getting hoarse. It was basically just a whole hour of answers given. I would like to shortly interrupt also because we still have 13 further requests to speak on our list. Only 12 are left now. 12, okay, as of now.
12 are requesting to speak, and I want to make sure that all of the shareholders really have the opportunity to speak, and in our next round, we have very important topics. Compliance, Western Sahara, for instance, is really important, and EcoDefense. Now, these are compliance topics. I would really like to give them the opportunity to speak, but because of the many questions we are receiving, which of course we appreciate, and we'd like to give you precise answers, I must point out to you that the speaking time is now limited to six minutes, maximum speaking time. So please, all of you in the waiting room and who will join us later on in the waiting room, six minutes is the maximum time because we want to make sure that all of the open requests for the floor can actually be taken into account.
I would suggest that Maria maybe, Maria takes the floor now just very briefly. She wants to answer a couple of questions, and then I would continue, and then we have a short time, or the CEO can take over again. Maria, over to you.
Hello everyone from my side. Going back and starting with Mr. Speich, you asked which dividend policy we plan to pursue after the federal guarantee comes to an end. As already communicated in the past, our general dividend policy foresees a distribution of 40%-60% of the net income attributable to shareholders of Siemens Energy AG. We will also continue this policy after the federal guarantee comes to an end. Moving on to Frau Bergdolt. Dear Ms. Bergdolt, you asked about the annual fees that are incurred due to guarantees from the German government.
We assume that we will pay on average approximately EUR 100 million per year for the term of the program for providing the counter guarantee. Dear Ms. Bergdolt, you asked about the forecast for the development of the US dollar exchange rate for the year 2025-2026. We currently expect an average euro US dollar exchange rate of 1.04 for the 2025 financial year. This expected rate is speculative, is not speculative, but is derived from market rates. Dear Mrs. Bergdolt, you are inquiring about the impact of the US dollar's appreciation on revenue and profit. Let me first emphasize that currency risks in existing contractual obligations are generally hedged. The remaining effects from currency conversion are largely neutral with respect to profitability. In 2025, we expect this to result in a positive double-digit million EUR increase in revenue and a mid-single-digit million EUR increase in profit across all currencies.
Dear Ms. Bergdolt, you asked about the credibility of the revenue forecast of 8%-10% and the margin of 3%-5% for 2026. The forecast ranges you cite refer to the 2025 financial year and correspond to our current expectations. Moving on to Herr Klockholz. Dear Mr. Klockholz, you asked about the expectations regarding the use of provisions created for quality issues in onshore and ramp-up difficulties in offshore. The amount of the provisions created corresponds to the expected future cash outflows for the known quality problems. All provisions are regularly reviewed to ensure that the amount corresponds to the expected future cash outflows. In the offshore area, we are making progress as planned, increasing production to cope with the current order backlog and to meet market demand. Dear Mr.
Klockholz, you asked under which circumstances and which time frame it would be possible to end the use of the federal guarantee. The guarantee facility, which is covered by the counter guarantee of the German government, has a term of five years, whereby no new guarantees can be issued in the last two years. This facility can be terminated prematurely. The Executive Board's main focus is on becoming independent of the counter guarantee as quickly as possible. Moving on now to Herr Petzelberger's questions. Dear Mr. Petzelberger, you asked about the percentage of service business in total revenue in the four segments, when the service business might reach 50% of total revenue, and the targets for 2030 and 2035. In fiscal 2024, the share of service business in revenue was 35%.
In the individual business areas, the percentage of service business in revenue was 66% for gas services, 47% for transformation of industry, 24% for Siemens Gamesa, and 6% for grid technologies. It is our goal and is to continue to expand the percentage share of service business. We hope you understand that we're unable to provide a detailed forecast of this figure for the periods you've mentioned. Dear Mr. Petzelberger, you asked about the current margin in the service business. In fiscal year 2024, the service business made a significant contribution to the profitability of Siemens Energy with attractive double-digit margins. Moving on to Mr. Fembacher's questions, you asked about the brand license fees in 2024 and the possibility of an early exit by Siemens Energy. The brand license fee in 2024 was approximately EUR 270 million.
Both parties to the contract, including Siemens Energy, have a termination right in the event of reputational risks or a serious breach of contract. These cases are subject to specific rules. The brand license agreement with Siemens AG can be terminated by Siemens Energy at the end of the ten-year term or extended thereafter for an additional three years at a time. Preparing this decision requires a comprehensive decision-making process. Among other things, it includes an assessment of the brand reputation, the costs associated with the use of the name and brand, and the corporate strategy. Moving on to Mr. Giebel, you asked about the number of female and non-binary employees in the levels below the management board. The proportion of women in top management positions is 24%. Overall, the proportion of women in management positions is 18.2%.
The number of nine non-binary employees is not recorded group-wide at Siemens Energy. Those conclude my questions at this point in time.
Thank you very much, Maria. I will continue answering several other questions. First off, Mr. Rautenberg's question. Mr. Rautenberg, you were asking about the absolute amount of retention and the so-called early exit components, meaning if we leave or if we can leave these responsibilities early. The amount of the components after the year where the compensation limitations exist, well, this of course depends on the exact topic and the exact timing of the compensation restrictions. So the question is if and when the federal guarantee can be replaced. Also plays a big role what the economic situation of the company is in the respective fiscal year.
This is more of a general statement that the early exit component or regarding the early exit component, this can be between EUR 0 and EUR 3 million maximum, and for every other Executive Board member, it can be between EUR 0 and EUR 2 million maximum. This is of course pursuant to significant savings in fees or a so-called success component that was also negotiated. Executive Board members can receive a retention payment of a maximum of EUR 6 million if certain preconditions have been met after the compensation restrictions. The EUR 6 million is the same across the board, and we did this on purpose. Mr. Klockholz, you asked whether Ms. Mulliez is intending to step down from one or more of her mandates within the next 12 months, and I would like to once again specify the actual situation. Maybe we didn't communicate well enough.
Ms. Mulliez already has stepped down from her Morgan Advanced Materials mandate in 2024. Therefore, outside of Siemens Energy, she only has two mandates, meaning the Globelec mandate, which is not listed, and at the listed Voltalia SA. Should Ms. Mulliez decide to step down from one or more of her mandates, of course, we would immediately communicate this accordingly. Mr. Giebel, you were asking, among many other things, about the largest items in the non-cash benefits for each Executive Board member. This is mainly four categories, actually. These are costs regarding the international activities and, of course, also the mobility of the Board members. These were EUR 394,000 in fiscal 2024 and around about EUR 230,000 in fiscal 2023. The second complex is the mobility complex in Germany. Here we had around about EUR 100,000 in fiscal 2024 and around about EUR 80,000 in 2023.
The third complex were one-off costs, for example, due to a required move that was required by the company or any and all security and safety measures. Of course, energy technology is a very exposed topic, so there are many different societal ideas, also rather militant ideas, and that's why we believe that because of the office or mandates, we believe this is crucial to have safety and security in place. So this was around about EUR 85,000 in 2024, and in fiscal 2023, there were no costs pertaining to this yet. The fourth point in the main cost blocks is insurance cost. This amounted to EUR 40,000 in 2024 and EUR 36,000 in 2023. Then you had a whole host of questions regarding the notary public.
First off, the criteria regarding the criteria and qualifications that we took into account for the selection of our notary public, whether we have a regular change in notary public. We do not intend to have a regular change in the notary public. The approved notary publics here in Munich, who are taking the minutes of the AGM, we selected based on experience with large listed stock corporations. This was very important, and our notary public, Mr. Kirchner, of course, has this respective experience. Then it was about the independence of the notary public. Let me say that the nature of a notary public already is based in independence, but I would like to say, just for clarity's sake, that he has no further activities as a lawyer that he can carry out. So again, there is no conflict, there is no issue in independence.
It's in the nature of the thing itself. Then you were asking about the remuneration of the notary public for today's AGM. This is 18,500 EUR net. Next, you were asking about the justification for why we nominated Ms. de Chammard. To make a long story short, because she was the best for the job. We had a very intense selection process, which we carried out with the support of external companies. So we looked at the competence and the industry experience as crucial selection criteria, and we are particularly happy that even outside of that, she has additional extraordinary experiences and qualifications, like, for example, her internationality, her way of listening, how empathetic she is. I think this is truly an excellent situation, and I'm very happy that we were able to win her for the board. Now, the question is whether it had to be a woman.
I do not want to answer this because I believe this question answers itself. So that's it from my side, but there's a whole host of questions that have not yet been answered because we either don't have them, because we don't have the answers yet, or because we now would like to do something different. And unfortunately, at this point, as already announced, I have to let you know that outside of just limiting the speaking time to six minutes, we now also have an additional 12 requests to speak, and therefore, I now am forced to announce to close the list of speakers at 3:00 P.M., meaning you have a bit more than half an hour left. So please do register yourself in the Shareholder Portal, even though it's going to be a little bit of a tight squeeze.
We are still looking very much forward to having the continued dialogue today. Please, again, if you would like to register in the list of speakers, you have to do this until 3:00 P.M. because, of course, I also have to let our technicians know to execute on this accordingly. We would really like to make sure that we promote the dialogue in the Shareholders' Meeting and ensure that all shareholders and all colleagues on the AGM, on the virtual AGM, can contribute accordingly and make sure that their contributions can be heard so that we can also get the right feedback on board. Maybe we can also have better questions than just asking about the menu and the food items at today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting. This would be something I would be very much open to.
Next up, I would like to call upon the next block of speakers. This would be Matthias Gäbler. This would be Zeina Abulmaati Abdulrahman. I do hope that I pronounced the name correctly. She is from the Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre. Alida Koos from Western Sahara Resource Watch. Volker Schultz. Vladimir Slivyak from EcoDefense. Julian Schwartzkopff. Christina Deckwirth. and Karl Maschke. I would say we take a three-minute break so that everyone can get into the waiting room and can prepare their audio and video transmissions accordingly. So three-minute break. So I würde vorschlagen, dass wir dann.
So I suggest we continue now with the request to speak. I can see that the onboarding is still going on, but Mr. Gäbler is already there. He's ready to be given the floor, and I'm happy to do that. Welcome, Mr. Gäbler.
You are going to start in the second round of speakers, Mr. Gäbler.
Thank you, Mr. Kaeser, for giving me the floor. Six minutes. Now, that is really tight. Yeah, I'm also very unhappy about it, but you probably noticed what happened during the first round of speakers. Maybe you can give me a bonus. If I take too long, I can also come back once again, but I have a couple of preliminary statements in Finland. We talked about it. That's quite a nuisance, but I have a second issue. That's the advantage of a virtual AGM. Now, your AGM is twice as expensive as in Finland, so you should not only talk about who is going to meet when, but compare the costs because you are of a similar size. So I'm really quite surprised that your AGM is twice as expensive as in Finland.
Just to give you a tip, you can save a lot of money, and I'm not going to send you a bill for this advice. Okay, as a preliminary remark, share price, we talked about that before, from €13 to €63. Now, see, oh, I hope you don't mind if I say it. You actually, this was almost first a crash landing in Bruch's crash, but now you turned around the trend. We don't get a dividend, so we have a profit of €1 million. So what's wrong with us? We had problems, and then when did you decide to take out a state guarantee? Were we threatened by insolvency because if we don't guarantee, it means we won't get any new orders and only costs? So at what point in time did you decide this or debate it on the board?
The negotiations on the state guarantee, to what extent was it actually granted? What was the maximum amount you drew from this guarantee? And up until what point in time can we fully repay this state guarantee? And what will be the final total cost we're going to pay for this guarantee? You are planning a committee for digitalization and artificial intelligence. Now, what are they actually going to do? What is the concrete job or the work that they're going to do? And digitalization and AI, what is happening at the company now at the moment? And where do you want to be in three to five years? You can decide what period of time you're going to look at. How is it going to change the company? And most important of all, how much are you going to have to invest in these areas?
What will be the positive results for us as shareholders? Then I would like to criticize the virtual AGM. Mr. Kaeser, could you pinch Mr. Bruch in the arm? Because as a shareholder, you don't know whether he spoke himself or was it an artificially created avatar? Was it Mr. Bruch who gave his speech? Also the picture in the background with an English note on it. Of course, you are an international company, but you should have given us the picture in German. On the compensation system for the executive board, I have to be really brief here. I'd like to know when the CEO gets a maximum compensation of close to EUR 10 million, EUR 9.5 million. Now, what is the multiple compared to the average employee compensation? And to review the compensation system, have you used an expert?
How much did you pay for the compensation consultant? Who exactly was it? Now, on the development of the share price, can you name three reasons why one should hold the share at this level? I know that the Executive Board should not give us any recommendation as to whether to buy or hold, but maybe you can give us arguments that could inspire our shareholders to buy the share at more than EUR 60. What are the three biggest risks that could impact our share price at the moment? And don't refer me to the annual report and the risks stated therein, but specifically give me those risks. Now, the problems in your company certainly led to a lot of unrest among your employees.
I'd like to know, in the past fiscal year, what was the fluctuation or turnover, attrition, and how many retired, and how many were cases where the employee terminated or where the company terminated, or was it by means of a mutual agreement? So what is the level of exits or attritions, and how many severance payments did you have to make this year? And how many people in your company earn more than 180,000 EUR per year? Now, are you prepared for the electronic invoice? Is it going to be implemented? How much did you have to pay for it? What savings effects do you expect of this? Honestly, I don't expect anything. The fiscal authorities later on, when they do a tax audit, they can check you, inspect you even more carefully. I don't see a major advantage here.
Another obvious question: what do you expect from politicians, from the next federal government here in Germany? Mr. Kaeser, a couple of days ago, you talked about a EUR 500 billion program. Now, that's a slightly different topic, but nevertheless, Mr. Kaeser, why are you actually not taking on a political mandate? Why don't you become a politician? We need people with a lot of experience and not people who dropped out of their courses or studies at university telling us what we should do. I don't want to defend anyone or advertise for anyone, but only because the traditional parties in Germany actually failed is the reason why AfD has become so successful. Mr. Kaeser, why don't you become a politician? But why don't you become Minister of Economics or Industry for the next government? I mean this seriously.
You are not writing children's books, so you're really an experienced person. That gives you a great advantage. Coming back to politics, specific question: which are the negative consequences you expect from the clown in the U.S. administration in terms of tariffs and other obstacles? What could be the risks? Election to the Supervisory Board today. Concrete question: all of the people who run as candidates, also with respect to their age, are they available for the full term of office? Or could it be that some of them, after two years, retire in view of their age? Let me also know how many people are working in the back office, how many of these are external, and which lawyers from which law firms, and how many shareholders were registered in the shareholder portal, the peak number? Well, I was really quite fast.
You said that next year it would be an in-person meeting. That's not enough for me. You should have a hybrid meeting, and that is no problem whatsoever. The legal arguments don't count for me. I cannot accept them. What is the reason except for the cost? Why do you not offer a hybrid meeting? Because when you say health protection, I mean, February is always a time of the year when people have flus and colds. So that would be a good argument to say it should be virtual only. Or is it since TUI and Siemens, these resolutions were not accepted and they are forced to offer in-person meetings again? Is that the reason? You are a market leader. You are a technology leader in your segment. So a hybrid AGM should be, well, the easiest thing in the world for you.
I think I've taken more than the allotted time. I'm basically finished. Now, the Executive Board, what are the three biggest problems you can still see? One request for you, Mr. Kaeser, and we had this problem with Siemens as well. You said at the end of the, or you closed the speakers' list at 3:00 P.M., but I think this does not include the right to ask follow-up questions. It's a separate right at an AGM. It should be possible to ask follow-up questions even when the list is closed. And I think the virtual AGM is not very personal. You know this from Daimler Truck, Mr. Kaeser. You have not responded to our comment yet. Regularly, you drive past my door. So my invitation is still valid.
So at some stage, when you're in Leinfelden and when you come to the local meeting, please drop in, visit me. You can use my contact ID. You find them in the shareholders' portal. I will be very happy to welcome you, Mr. Kaeser. And technically, according to 125, Section 4, and 129.5, I would like to file a motion. Oh, I see. I don't have any time anymore. Thank you very much to all of the employees and everybody who listened. Unfortunately, I had to talk very fast now, and I hand back to you, Mr. Kaeser. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Gäbler. Thank you for your contribution and for the precise and fast comments.
Right, I was hoping that you would wear the golden shirt because at the last Daimler Truck AGM, you promised to me that when the share price goes up, you're going to wear the golden shirt, but a black shirt is fine too, after all being in the red or non-profitable in the past years. Thank you very much. As our next speaker, I would like to call Zeina Abulmaati Abdulrahman. I hope I pronounced your name correctly. Yes, go ahead.
Do you know the hot air you feel when you open your oven? That heat that feels like it will burn you instantly. Now imagine being exposed to that feeling, not just for 10 seconds when you chew on a cake, but for 24 hours straight. For four months, this is the reality of the summer in the Sahara refugee camps.
My name is Zeina, and I'm 20 years old. I was born in a refugee camp. Now you might ask yourself, why was she born in a refugee camp, and why has she continued to live in a place meant to be temporary for two decades? Let me explain why and what Siemens Energy has to do with it. The Sahrawi people come from Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. In 1975, instead of gaining independence, we were invaded by Morocco. A brutal war started, and countless Sahrawi civilians lost their lives. Sahrawis, including my family, had no choice but to flee our homeland, running away from the massacres Morocco was committing against us. The war lasted until 1991, when a ceasefire was agreed to. Since then, Western Sahara's fate was supposed to be decided through a referendum. But now, 30 years later, there has been no referendum, no solution. Why?
Because when a Corporation becomes profitable, those in power are reluctant to give it up. And that is what has happened, not just with phosphate, fishing, agricultural, and so many other sources, but now renewable energy. Siemens Energy is building wind farms in occupied Western Sahara. Some are already running, and more are planned. And imagine who is Siemens working with, with the company Nareva, owned by the Moroccan king himself. So while he's filling up his bags, he's supposed to sit on the same table with Sahrawis and negotiate seriously. Also, you are enabling Morocco's sectoral policy, creating jobs for thousands of Moroccans. According to the European Commission, right now, only about 25% of the population in the occupied territory are actually Sahrawi or regional.
This settlement policy violates international law, as your own parliament's research division noted, is that Morocco's strategic transfer of civilians into Western Sahara is a violation of the Geneva Convention. As the European Court of Justice confirmed this October, we, the Sahrawis, have to consent to any activity in Western Sahara. What is also infuriating is to see how you're normalizing the occupation, greenwashing it. You are claiming to fight climate change, but what you are actually doing is that you keep all people in an area of extreme risk of unsurvivable heat and humidity. Already, right now, we are experiencing the longest summer with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees. Imagine 50 degrees. We are not only facing displacement, but we are also in the front line of the climate crisis.
In the '90s, my people fled here. My people fled here for safety, and now we are facing the same risk again. The Moroccan occupation is keeping us in exile. I have lived my entire life here, and I have never seen my homeland. Some of the Sahrawi people were born here, and they died here too, and I don't want to have the same destiny. I don't want to have the same destiny. I have one simple dream: to sit in my own balcony, drinking my evening cup of tea in my own homeland, and see my relatives whom I never see, who I've never met, just as you all do. Today, there is still a wall dividing our people, just like the wall that used to divide families west and east in Germany, so here are my questions to Siemens.
How can you claim to care about the climate crisis while supporting an occupation that displaces us in one of the most affected regions? How will you respect our rights to self-determination and our resources? How are you explaining to investors that you are active in an occupied territory? Thank you for listening.
Thank you, Zeina. This was a very touching, a very moving speech that you just delivered to us, and I think we can all feel what you're going through in terms of what happened with Siemens Energy and their commitment. The CEO will also explain the situation. Thank you very much. Then I would like to call the next speaker, Alida Koos. Go ahead, Alida Koos.
Hello, good afternoon. I'm Alida Koos, and I'm speaking on behalf of Western Sahara Resource Watch. Now, complying with human rights in our business activities and conduct for us as a global company is a basic responsibility. Our actions go beyond complying with existing laws and regulations. It's a commitment that Siemens Energy proudly states in its sustainability report for 2024. And assuming our responsibility as a global company and the promise that we are going to comply with international law. But when we look at it more closely, there is a contradiction. Siemens Energy is one of the most active companies in occupied Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, which suffers under brutal occupation by Morocco. In 2025, the occupation by Morocco and the systematic plundering of natural resources in Western Sahara have been going on for 50 years. Instead of maintaining international law and using ethical business practices, now Siemens Energy is getting more and more involved in this occupation.
It benefits from the violation of international law by Morocco. The status of Western Sahara is clear. In October of 2024, the European Court of Justice came up with three further rulings on Western Sahara, in which they confirmed that the trade and fishing agreements between the European Union and Morocco violate the law because the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi population is disregarded. The court distinguished between the population with the right to self-determination and the people who live there. Most of them are Moroccan settlers. In its ruling, the court said that most of the current population of Western Sahara does not belong to the people that have the right to self-determination, the Sahrawi people.
The last ones that were displaced are, however, the only holders of the right to self-determination of this land because only this population, or only the people there, have the right to self-determination and not the settlers. According to the commission, only 25% actually are Sahrawi people. The others are settlers coming from Morocco. The court says that the agreement of these people and not the people, the settlers in Western Sahara, should actually agree to any activities. Clear conditions were worded, but they also relate to the people, the people who have to benefit from this kind of exploitation of resources. Siemens Energy justifies its long-standing presence with the advantages that its projects have for the local population.
In other words, Siemens Energy is using exactly the same argument as the European Commission, but the European Court of Justice says this is illegal once and for all. So it's very important to keep this in mind. Now, with the Moroccan occupation, so many people of the Western Sahrawi people were displaced that more than 75% of the people in Western Sahara are illegal settlers and not Sahrawis. And Siemens Energy says that these, or Siemens Energy does something that those illegal settlers benefit from, and the European Court of Justice says it's against the law. So the argument of Siemens Energy that its projects are for the benefit of the local population, how can it be valid in view of the ruling by the European Court of Justice that distinguishes between the settlers and the people who should have the right to self-determination?
What measures has Siemens Energy taken to make sure that the benefits created by its business activities, like jobs or supply of electricity that the actual people to whom this area belongs to, can benefit from? But they're just a minority. Most of them had to go to refugee camps in Algeria. What measures had Siemens Energy taken to make sure that those benefits are not enjoyed by the settlers there? Now, Siemens Energy says that its activities serve the local population. How can you distinguish between the people who actually come originally from this area, who are part of the people and the Moroccan settlers? So the commitment of Siemens Energy or activities of Siemens Energy in Western Sahara obviously intensifies. It is not reduced.
On the 15th of November 2024, the Moroccan Authority for Electricity and Drinking Water published a list of companies they are interested in building a high-voltage electricity grid. And Siemens Energy is one of the companies, and Western Sahara is to be linked to Casablanca in Morocco so that the energy resources of the occupied territory will be integrated into the Moroccan grid. And with this, Morocco will become even more dependent on electricity generated there. In your letter to us, you said that you had not applied for this tender yet. Can you confirm that Siemens Energy has not applied for participation in the tender in this highly debatable project? In the sustainability report of 2024, Siemens Energy's report also says that the company has joined the International Pact on Civil and Civilian Rights and a Pact for Cultural Rights.
These are two alliances or pacts which include the right to self-determination. How can the company believe that its activities in Western Sahara are compliant with those pacts, with UN pacts? And what is the current status and progress of this wind farm? And Siemens Energy definitely has to withdraw from Western Sahara, which is an occupied land, and it has to comply with international law and the principles of justice and has to make sure that all of this is complied with. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Koos. This was, in fact, a follow-up comment, a complete or an addition to what was said before, and I'm sure that the Executive Board will give you a comprehensive answer to your question. Now, before we call the next speaker, this is Mr. Schultz. I would like to, because it's really important, say something, Mr. Gäbler. Mr.
Gäbler, you assumed that there is a separate right to ask follow-up questions. To ensure a proper conduct of the AGM under the circumstances I explained with a long list of speakers, to make sure that this is possible, I cannot promise to you that the speakers' list will be open again for follow-up questions. So if you have any follow-up questions, please put your name on the list of speakers now. That's very important. So if you want to take the floor once again, now you would have to approach the colleagues. It's now 2:51 P.M. according to my watch here, and since this comes at very short notice, I would say it's 3:10 P.M. deadline for the closing of the list of speakers, but please take this seriously. So I will close this list of speakers at 3:10 P.M., including the possibility for asking follow-up questions. I cannot permit this today.
So if you have any additional questions, register for those questions now, because I cannot guarantee whether it's possible at a later point in time. I think it's the interest of all of the shareholders here so that everybody has the opportunity to speak and so that all questions can be answered. That was my additional remarks. So 3:10 P.M. I'm going to add another 10 minutes because it's important that you should all understand that we cannot guarantee that follow-up questions can be taken later on because of the circumstances. So much about this. Then I would like to ask our next speaker, and that's Volker Schultz. Mr. Schultz.
Good afternoon, Mr. Kaeser, and to everyone else on the Executive Board. As the following questions, most of them have to do with provisions 5.X problems. Now, first of all, how many litigations or arbitration proceedings were there against Siemens Gamesa because of the freeze on sales in the year 2023 for the 4.X and 5.X turbines? Second question, how many litigations and arbitration proceedings were there against Siemens Gamesa as a result of the serious quality deficiencies in the year 2023 on the 4.X and 5.X turbines which had been installed? Third, the provisions or accruals in your balance sheet are for the Siemens Gamesa segment. And for warranties, this is 2,636 million EUR, and for impending losses, 1,200 million EUR. So these are the provisions for impending losses. And how is this split over 4.X, 5.X, or for the offshore area? So how is the breakdown for the contingent losses provisions? And Mr. Bruch said 2,100 turbines of the 4.X and 800 of the 5.X platform were put into operation.
So for what percentage of the 4.X turbines and for how many of the 5.X, or what percentage of the 5.X turbines were these accruals or provisions set up? And then the amount of the loss or damage, how many of the 840 5.X turbines between 2020 and 2023, and stop between 2020 and 2023 in the calendar year 2023, how many of them had a normal availability, normal availability of more than 97% in the wind industry? How many of them delivered normal availability? And how many of the 5.X turbines out of the 840 5.X turbines installed between 2020 and 2023, ever since they've been put into operation, have in the first two years of their operations had a major technical loss or damage with a downtime of more than 30 days per year? How many of them had technical defects of more than 30 days per year?
Another question at the AGM last year, Mr. Bruch, you reported that as of August 2023, the Executive Board had approved any further contracts, had not approved any further contracts for 5.X. How many contracts for the delivery of 5.X turbines for Europe were in the period between the 6th of April to the 30th of August 2023? How many were actually signed and closed? How many of these contracts? Next question. On the 21st of March 2024, on German television in the Markus Lanz Show, Mr. Kaeser, you said that in the wind industry, new models had been launched in the market prematurely to generate competitive advantages and that as a consequence, testing had not been carried out sufficiently. The question to Mr.
Bruch, this insight, when did you realize it at Siemens Gamesa and when did it mean that a change of strategy had to be decided upon at this point? Because things had been launched prematurely before sufficient testing had been performed. Then on the improvement measures which you initiated, what are the concrete technical improvements to the key components, blade, hub, drive train, generator, transformer of the 5.X turbine that account for 70% of the released solutions that Mr. Bruch just referred to? How many of these improvements were made or what were the concrete technical improvements that were actually made? And then which technical improvements were made to the new turbines which account for the remaining 30% of the solution? How many of these are still in the process of being released? And which components are concerned?
When can we expect a conclusion of the release process and when can you start sales again? What's the plan here? One more question. How many of the 4.X and 5.X turbines were installed? Is it true that all of them or many of them of the 4.X and 5.X turbines installed in Germany so far that they had to be checked on a daily basis by a technician in a cell because those facilities had been built without a functioning oil tray or oil pan? And this was because you had a major oil damage or oil leak that had happened before. So how many of these turbines were affected by the measure by a technician had to check them for oil losses or oil leaks on a daily basis?
So I think that's it. Time's up.
When you're finished, okay, then you have not used up the full six minutes. Thank you very much. Thank you for your questions and your contribution. The next speaker I would like to call is Mr. Vladimir Slivyak. Mr. Slivyak.
Thank you very much. Dear Mr. Kaeser, dear Mr. Bruch, dear members of the Managing Board and Supervisory Board, dear shareholders, my name is Vladimir Slivyak and I work for the Russian Environmental Organization, EcoDefense, which has been campaigning for safe energy and climate for the last 35 years. Because of this work, EcoDefense was falsely accused and persecuted by the Russian government. In 2022, the European Court on Human Rights ruled that the Russian government violated our rights. Despite that, me and my colleagues had to leave Russia in order to avoid going to prison.
It's nearly three years since Russia started an unprovoked and bloody war in Ukraine, which turned out to be the largest war in European history since the Second World War. According to our latest available data, there is over one million people who have been killed or wounded in this war, and it's not over yet. There is only one way to stop this war, and that will happen when Russia will not have enough resources to continue it, and that means that economic cooperation with Russian dictatorship must be stopped by democratic countries entirely. Three years ago, Siemens Energy said it will stop doing business in Russia, following other European companies who didn't want to supply Moscow with more money for war. I and my colleagues were very glad to hear it.
But then it turned to be only half of the truth, because Siemens Energy is still involved in a few contracts with Russian nuclear industry. As part of this war in Ukraine, Russia is attacking and occupying nuclear power plants in Ukraine, and that creates nuclear safety and security risks not only inside of Ukraine but for entire Europe. I'm sure you're well aware about it, since Siemens Energy is still continuing cooperation with a few nuclear companies, including from Russia. Your partners include Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom. This is not some kind of a business company that stays away from the war in Ukraine. It's the state arm directly involved in supplying the Russian army. Rosatom sent its personnel to operate the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Moreover, this Russian state corporation offered to procure key goods needed by the Russian army, potentially bypassing existing sanctions.
Finally, the Putin regime in Moscow is regularly threatened to use nuclear weapons against Western countries, and this weapon is actually produced by Rosatom. The board of Rosatom in Russia consists of governmental officials and secret service officers sanctioned by many countries for their involvement in war. As far as I understand, Siemens Energy continues economic cooperation with the Russian regime through supplying various equipment to the Russian nuclear industry. That cooperation allows the Russian regime to spread its political influence in Europe and around the world through building nuclear reactors and supplying fuel and services for it. The Russian political regime pays to Siemens Energy very well for its involvement in those supplies. But one thing you should get very clear: money coming from Russia is bloody money. And by supplying your great technologies to Rosatom, you work to weaken European security and strengthen European dependence on Russian supplies.
By that, I mean, for example, that Siemens Energy is still involved in the project of the Hungarian nuclear power plant Paks II, which is under construction by Rosatom. If built, this plant will require nuclear fuel supplies by Russia for nearly a century ahead. Being dependent today on the Russian political regime, which started a bloody war at the doorstep of the European Union, sounds like a nightmare, isn't it? I call on Siemens Energy to reassess your current policy of cooperation with the Russian nuclear industry, whether in contracts in Europe or other parts of the world. All cooperation with Rosatom must be stopped immediately, and I deeply hope that next year this is what you will tell me at the 2026 shareholders' meeting. I also wanted to ask a few questions.
Number one: How many nuclear power plants built or under construction by Rosatom in Russia or other countries that may be supplied in the future with Siemens Energy equipment? For how many there are contracts signed already? Number two: Did Siemens Energy, after all, deliver any equipment for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey? If so, what exactly was delivered, and for what type of equipment the governmental expert permit was granted? Number three: Does Siemens have more contracts with Rosatom and its suppliers for Akkuyu units, and for what kind of work exactly? Number four: Will Siemens Energy supply the instrumentation and control systems for the Paks II nuclear power plant in Hungary? Is there an expert permit from the German government already granted for this deal? Number five: Are there any limits for exports in cooperation with Rosatom, or conditions in place for the export of nuclear safety or nuclear security-related equipment? Number six: Is there any contract related to the construction of the Russian nuclear plant in Egypt, in El Dabaa? Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you very much, Mr. Slivyak. This now brings us to the next speaker, Julian Schwartzkopff. Mr. Schwartzkopff, please.
Hello. Ladies and gentlemen, members of the Supervisory and Executive Board, my name is Julian Schwartzkopff. I work at Environmental Action Germany, and I represent the Association of Critical Shareholders. We ratify the actions of the boards. We criticize, however, that Siemens Energy says it's working towards climate neutrality, but it's still building gas-fired power plants. There are significant risks, uncertainties, political problems, and environmental problems. The Scope 3 emissions significantly increased, in particular those caused by the technology of fossil-fuel-powered power plants built by Siemens Energy. What we know about the sustainability of the company and the climate goals of the company is simply utopian, because we know that the most significant climate damage that is being caused by the company is increasing. Unfortunately, it seems that the company is not working to substantially reduce these.
Siemens Energy creates fossil fuel and the emissions therefrom as part of the basis of its business model. Converting to power plants that would actually reduce CO2 emissions seems not to be part of its work. The emissions of gas-powered power plants moving from this to hydrogen power plants would, of course, lead to an improved general environmental situation. There are lock-in effects associated with fossil fuels and a significant increased risk in the gas turbine business. Gas-powered power plants, of course, continue to emit fossil fuels and greenhouse gases. This seems not to be reflected very clearly in the report this year. I would, therefore, ask the Executive Board to give us comprehensive and clear information on this. In the non-financial report from the company last year, we read that EUR 9 million, so more than a quarter of earnings, was created with non-taxable activities.
Fossil fuels was that part of this? What project was it? What share of these earnings can then be divided to the individual projects? I would also ask you to tell us what incoming orders Siemens Energy had as a supplier for fossil fuels. How do you see the order books for the coming year? Which greenhouse gas emissions, particularly those of Scope 3, does Siemens Energy expect? The International Energy Agency notes that to avoid significant environmental damage, the OECD emissions of fossil fuels and non-OECD to 2025 need to be reduced to zero. New gas-fired power plants with a life cycle of 25-40 years will not achieve this goal. These are also not in line with the 1.5 temperature goal. By 2040-2045, at the latest, these would need to be deactivated. For large-scale turbines on hydrogen, these simply do not yet exist.
move to hydrogen is not provided for by regulation in any Siemens Energy documents. So I'd ask the Executive Board how many incoming orders does Siemens Energy have as a supplier for large-scale power plants with hydrogen, and what do you expect in the future? A new study of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research shows that in 2023, only 7% of the original green hydrogen capacity was actually fulfilled. Given this gap in implementation, the study expects a continued scarcity of green hydrogen, which is why it would make sense to focus on those industries that cannot be electrified easily, for example, steel. Siemens Energy's central measure is included in this question. The climate goals of the company seem not to really mean much. In addition to green hydrogen, blue hydrogen is apparently also sustainable and positive for decarbonization. It's what the company says.
However, a study shows that the footprint is approximately 25% larger than that of burning fossil fuels, gas, or coal. CCS can be used in order to decarbonize power plants. However, gas-fired power plants do not work in the same way, and this process will be very complicated. No complete carbonization can be guaranteed. Mr. Bruch, you talked today about separation in the atmosphere, but there are no secured processes that would enable this on a large scale. I would ask the Executive Board what incoming orders did you have as a supplier in 2024 for gas-fired power plants, and what order volume do you expect in the future? I'm also interested to know what the incoming orders, aside from gas-fired power plants, you had for CCS power plants. The transformation power for hydrogen and CCS seem merely to be myths.
Siemens Energy is therefore either working towards a non-fulfillable technology decarbonization, one miracle, or simply missing the European climate goals. This will lead to a significant risk for geopolitics. On the global gas turbine market, we have overcapacity. There is no reliable ramp-up for hydrogen and CCS infrastructure or renewable alternatives for storage, for example, and these are becoming less and less important. For long-term sustainable management and a contribution to the transition to green energy, Siemens Energy should reduce Scope 3 emissions as quickly as possible. I ask the Executive Board, and come to the end of my contribution, why are you so optimistic in your reliance upon gas turbines and the expansion thereof with a transformation to green hydrogen or CCS? Do you have an alternative? Should this not come to be true, or what should I imagine?
Siemens Energy has stated that its Scope 3 emissions will be reduced by 28% by 2030. Change in fossil fuels and separation technology is this estimated down to incoming orders and estimations? And do you think it's realistic? What contribution to this 28% reduction do you expect to achieve by using these technologies and products? So that's the end of my comments. I recommend all those who are able to vote not to ratify the actions of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board.
Thank you very much, Mr. Schwartzkopff. I would say for those who do not know in as much detail about this that if you consolidate everything, all scopes, ultimately only one scope remains. For this reason, when we're talking about Scope 3 and orders, we're talking about the sales, the capital flow. That's important when we talk about these things at annual shareholders' meetings.
We want to make sure you are aware we do take the topics such as sustainability very seriously. As representatives of the shareholders in the Supervisory Board as well, we will not be influenced by changing of the winds across the Atlantic. We will work sustainably and profitably. This is very important. I want to make sure that all of the shareholders are aware of this and understand Scope 1, 2, and 3. So far, so good. Ms. Deckwirth is the next speaker. Please.
Mr. Kaeser, Mr. Bruch, members of the Executive Board, members of the Supervisory Board, shareholders, my name is Christina Deckwirth. I'm speaking for the Transparency Initiative LobbyControl, and I'd like to thank the critical shareholders who transferred their right to speaking for me. We look at transparency, integrity, and we criticize cases of conflict of interest.
With this in mind, we took a lot of notice in looking at Ms. Grimm's appointment in the Supervisory Board. She is seen as an independent member for science in the Supervisory Board, and she should actually consult upon the energy strategy of the federal government in an independent manner and bring these into Siemens Energy. As a scientist, for example, she has talked about hydrogen time and again, and this is an area in which Siemens Energy has economic interest. But scientific and economic consultation must be free of conflicts of interest. A scientist and government consultant should therefore not accept a position on a Supervisory Board, particularly not if there is a conflict and overlap with their areas of work. We criticize this, and there has been much public criticism of this case.
Even Siemens AG, at the last Siemens Energy annual shareholder meeting, referred to this conflict of interest and did not give their own positive vote. Our criticism has been further underpinned. Ms. Grimm's conflict of interest is underpinned by compliance policy, and we see examples of similar conflicts of interest. Despite this pressure, Ms. Grimm aims to take on this position in the Supervisory Board. Ms. Grimm even refused to sign these policies and actually took action against it, meaning that Ms. Grimm seems to be ignoring her conflict of interest. This also shows how the conflict in the expert council is becoming ever exacerbated. Ms. Grimm is damaging the integrity and reputation of this council. Last year, Ms. Grimm was seen in public spheres as a very one-sided speaker on hydrogen. It's important to know that Ms.
Grimm is not only in your Supervisory Board. Rather, she is also an Executive Board member in Hydrogen Bavaria, Wasserstoff Bayern. So she has vested business interests in hydrogen. Ms. Grimm also offered a minority vote for, clearly for, the use of hydrogen in road travel, and this is in direct contradiction to the accepted scientific information in this area. All opinions linked to Ms. Grimm and her opinions seem to damage her credibility and reputation enormously. Ms. Grimm is therefore being perceived more and more as a lobbyist and is being taken less and less seriously as a scientist. This shows that Ms. Grimm seems to have questionable influence on these circles. Siemens Energy should not add to this. We called upon Ms. Grimm not to accept her Supervisory Board role last year. We would now ask her this year to step down. Should she not do this?
She should then leave the other professional groups in which she is present. Petitions with almost 21,000 signatures have also been collected. Media interest in this case is enormous, and it has been met with disbelief. This also is damaging to Siemens Energy. We therefore call upon her today, Veronika Grimm, lay down your mandate. We call upon the other shareholders not to ratify her actions. We have the following questions to you, Mr. Kaeser. How can you ensure that with a person of this type, how can you guarantee that the reputation of the economic experts' group is not damaged? How should Ms. Grimm's Supervisory Board mandate come together with your aims of integrity as a company? Ms.
Grimm, if you are present, we would like to ask you, given the huge criticism in your two roles, how can you remain in your position in the Supervisory Board given the damage that this will cause to the company and to the economic experts? How do you respond to the claims that you missed meetings of the economic experts because of Supervisory Board meetings? Have you missed more? And if so, how can you justify what your priorities are? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Ms. Deckwirth. We will, of course, answer these questions as far as these concern Siemens Energy. One brief remark. Talking about hydrogen in mobility and saying that it plays no role is simply incorrect.
If you're interested to join the Daimler Truck Annual Shareholders' Meeting, which will cover sustainability of this type, then you can certainly deepen your knowledge about it, and I'm sure that this would be very interesting to you. It's also of particular interest for Siemens Energy in their mobility business. All other points I will come to you later on. Mr. Gäbler, I have good news for you. The legal assistant on my left-hand side has told me that you will be able to ask another question if you do have one. Nevertheless, ladies and gentlemen, it's now 3:20 P.M. The discussion has now been ongoing for more than three minutes, which is positive, of course. It's very interactive. It is virtual, as I've already said.
But given the long first contributions, first round of contributions, and the questions that are still to be answered, I do now, unfortunately, have to close the list of speakers. It is now 3:21 P.M. Should time still be available when we are finished with the speakers' list as it stands, I would happily allow new contributions, of course. I expressly believe that interactive dialogue is the huge value offered by such annual shareholders' meetings. And I would like to inform you once again that we now have six minutes for the contributions. I did not interrupt the contributions in the previous round, but I would ask you, those who will come to speak, to try to stick to six minutes as much as possible. This now brings us to the next speaker, Karl Maschke. Mr. Maschke, please.
Yes, hello. My name is Karl Maschke. I'm a consultant. Mr.
Kaeser, members of the Supervisory Board, members of the Executive Board, ladies and gentlemen. Siemens Energy has 30% shares in the USA. My question is, what was the development, or what is the development going to be like this year for the next four years, perhaps regardless of the current political atmosphere? Which risks exist? For example, if the offshore things are no longer possible, the next questions would be, do you plan discussions with suppliers? And it would then be a question about market development in the USA, be it for gas turbines, be it for offshore, wind energy, corporate development, I've already referred to. Are you able to go into more detail about the American market and what do you expect for the next one, two, or four, even four years?
The next question is, which offshore areas, East, West Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of America, are even suitable for an offshore project? There are, of course, risks such as hurricanes and the like. Are these risks predictable? If you consider that hurricanes are becoming ever more powerful, are the offshore areas prepared for this? I think that some of these points had already been addressed by previous speakers, but I would like to echo them and comment on the in-person event next year. I will more or less be voting in agreement for everything, voting for everything. Thank you for your attention.
Thank you very much, Mr. Maschke. I'm sure that the following speakers will be very appreciative that you were able to keep it to a speedy 2 minutes 16. That might even be a new record. So thank you so much for your contribution. I would now go on to a round to answer the questions that are open. As I've said, we still have a very good number. We've had 177 questions asked, so that shows just how intensive our dialogue is. And of course, this is positive, at least in most of the topics we've heard. Who would like to begin?
Oh. I'm happy to do that. I'm going to answer the residual questions from the first block. I'll go back to Thomas Ahme's question. You had a question on the diversity program and what it means for our employees. Diversity and inclusion are fundamental components of our corporate culture. For us, it is important that we have an inclusive, respect-based working place where nobody has to be afraid of discrimination or prejudice.
We are firmly convinced that our employees with different backgrounds and perspectives and experiences will promote innovation, will improve the solution of problems, and strengthen the performance of our company. In our commitment for inclusion and diversity, we will maintain this commitment. There's a question by Mr. Fembacher, which has not been answered yet. You were asking about the current status of an SF6-free product portfolio and any interim developments worth reporting. The implementation of our comprehensive switchgear portfolio in an SF6-free version is a giant task, and we have a clear development plan, which we are going to execute step by step. Like in the last years, we made major progress. Our available SF6-free portfolio comprises even today switchgear up to a voltage level of 145 kilovolt.
As a next step, we will be developing together with partners the corresponding 420 kilovolt systems, and they are almost finished and will soon be handed over to customers. Another important milestone was the opening of our new vacuum switching tubes manufacturing facility last year to meet the increasing demand for SF6-free switchgear. Ulrich Giebel had a few questions that I'd like to address. Mr. Giebel was asking about the costs from gifts that cannot be deducted from tax in the past fiscal year, and also the handling of income tax for gift recipients, and the reason for the way we handle it, and also how many taxes we paid, and also names and value of the five biggest gifts at Siemens Energy AG and Siemens Energy Global GmbH and Co. KG.
In the last fiscal year, approximately EUR 340,000 were paid for non-tax deductible gifts for third parties, and the income tax on this is actually paid by the company, and this is in line with the general business practice, and this is an alternative provided by the legislature. This legal provision is to facilitate taxation proceedings and create certainty for everyone as far as taxes are concerned. We comply with the local laws. The highest value of five lump sum gifts were vouchers, vouchers for our own employees, vouchers for in-kind gifts for Siemens Energy to reward them for special performance. EUR 1,500 or EUR 2,500 was the value here. We were also asking about the number of external lawyers participating in the AGM, both physically and virtually, and the names of the law firms participating in this year's AGM. Now, we have four external lawyers from Freshfields.
So four external lawyers from Freshfields. We were asking about the amount of donations to political parties or associations and the recipients and amounts. Siemens Energy is neutral in terms of party politics. We, as a matter of principle, do not make any donations to political parties or associations. And you also asked about the food, the menu at the AGM. And here for breakfast, we have pastries, sandwiches, fruit and cereals, and for lunch, various salads, a goulash, and spätzle, a vegetarian lasagna, and various desserts. You were asking about the need for reducing salaries and bonuses for members of the Works Council who are released so that they can do this full time. Now, the number of cases, reduction in euros percentage, the payment model, and comparable figures within the group. Now, we looked at the income development for Works Councils in our company.
This is in line with the legal requirements, also with a view to the latest rules by the Federal Courts. Also, taken into account, the amendments to the law. Now, all of these developments did not lead to a need for adjustment. If a Works Council member is elected for the first time, then appropriate comparable persons are defined, and in the annual salary rounds, these persons are used for assessing the fictitious development of salaries of the full-time Works Council member as a basis. At the moment, we have 56 full-time Works Councils that have been released for this function in the German group companies because of the different national laws. In other countries, we do not have any reliable comparison with the German co-determination situation, so we cannot give you any figures here.
The average compensation for the Works Council members in the group who do this on a full-time basis is in the medium five-digit to low six-digit EUR range. Mr. Giebel, you were asking about the number of employees where the overall compensation in the past two fiscal years exceeded EUR 100,000, EUR 300,000, EUR 500,000, and EUR 1 million in fiscal 2023. Approximately 18,500 employees at Siemens Energy worldwide had a gross annual target income of more than EUR 100,000, approximately 320 had a gross annual target income of more than EUR 300,000, and 50 employees more than EUR 500,000, and just one person more than EUR 1 million.
In the past fiscal year, approximately 21,000 employees at Siemens Energy worldwide had a gross annual target income of more than EUR 100,000, 400 a gross income of more than EUR 300,000, and 50 more than EUR 500,000, and one person more than EUR 1 million. Mr. Giebel, you also asked about the number of the overtime worked in the past fiscal year where no financial compensation was paid and the main reasons for forfeiting the payment. The average number of forfeited overtime hours per employee and how many were paid for 23 and 24, and also the overall expense. In fiscal 23, in the whole group, in Germany, a total number of 11,300 overtime hours were actually compensated for, and 24, 11,700 hours were worked overtime. The total expense was EUR 610,000. The numbers indicated do not include Siemens Gamesa.
Now, for our employees in the pay scale range, compensation for overtime hours is based upon the collective bargaining agreements. By the way, with the employees in the non-pay scale group, we have working time based upon trust. Now, that means in particular that the duration and when they want to work, I mean, that's something that they can decide themselves. They are free to decide when they want to work, at what times, and they do not get any additional pay for this. And this is why we cannot give you any main reasons for forfeiture of overtime hours work. We cannot give you any average values here. Mr. Giebel, you were asking about how much we pay for as a compensation for hiring a not-so-sufficient number of severely handicapped people.
In 2024, in Germany, in the whole group, altogether, approximately EUR 700,000 were paid as a compensation levy for the rate of severely handicapped people we would have to employ. In calendar year 2024, we are also complying with the law according to which at least 5% of our jobs must be filled with severely handicapped people. That's why we do not have to pay any kind of compensation for not hiring a sufficient number of severely handicapped people. Mr. Giebel, you wanted to know the reasons for non-compliance with the legal requirements for the employment of severely handicapped people and the number of these people in the group. This is a follow-up from the question you had before. In Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co.
KG, also in calendar year 2024, we are complying with the legal requirements according to which at least 5% of our jobs have to be filled with severely handicapped employees. In the German Siemens Gamesa companies, we have approximately 4%. That is, we do not meet the required rate. In the year 2024, this is why further measures were initiated to make sure that we can increase the share of severely handicapped people employed by our company. At the end of the fiscal year 2024, Siemens Energy employed about 1,400 employees that suffer from a disability in Germany because of different national laws and requirements. Currently, a global evaluation is not possible. Mr. Giebel, you wanted to know the reason why in the annual report it says Joe Kaeser instead of Joseph Kaeser. Mr.
Kaeser has been known as Joe Kaeser to the general public for 25 years, but as opposed to this Mr. Jamal, Mr. Amin, it seemed appropriate to us that their full name, their full legal name should also be indicated in the annual report. Let me now address Mr. Giebel's questions. Mr. Giebel, you asked about the persons who are involved or were involved in the negotiations about the government guarantees. Now, the main negotiating partner for Siemens Energy was the Federal Ministry for Economy and Climate Protection and PricewaterhouseCoopers for Siemens Energy. It was the executive board and an expert group coming from different technical departments. Siemens Energy was represented by Freshfields, was supported by the Freshfields Law Firm. Mr. Giebel, you wanted to know whether I spoke myself in my speech or whether an artificially inspired avatar gave the speech.
We had this discussion last year. I spoke myself. I gave the speech myself. And for the rest of the AGM, it's going to be me, myself, and not an avatar. I hope if my voice doesn't give up at some stage because I have to speak so much. Mr. Giebel, you wanted to know how many people are employed in our company with an annual gross income of more than 180,000 EUR. Approximately 3,000 employees at Siemens Energy worldwide have an annual gross income target income or salary of more than 180,000 EUR. And you were also asking about the expectations of politicians and the next German government. And next Sunday, we'll have elections in Germany. We hope that a lot of people are going to participate. We hope that there will be a stable majority, and we will have a government ready to act soon.
Now, for a prompt progression of the energy transition, we quickly need reliable conditions and a stronger focus of the energy policy on the needs of industry. What do we expect from the new federal government? Clear conditions concerning the expansion of wind energy and power plants and grids, and we need facilitation for planning and permission proceedings, state support for availability of raw materials, promoting the export conditions, sufficient skilled labor, and enough strategies for capital-intensive projects and reducing bureaucracy and other cost drivers. Mr. Giebel, you also asked about the number of persons in the back office and the participating lawyers. In the back office, we have 61 persons today. Four of them are external lawyers from Freshfields. Dr. Mr. Giebel, you were asking about reasons beyond the annual report that would indicate that you should hold on to the share.
As a CEO, I cannot help you with your investment decisions, as you said before. The main reasons, however, were described in the annual report. The focus is on the growth and profitability targets which you communicated, and we want to get the wind business back on track so that it's successful, and we want to strengthen our balance sheet. You were asking about the three greatest risks that could have a negative impact on the share price currently. Our risk policy corresponds to our aspiration to increase the corporate value, and inappropriate risks must be avoided. In our annual report, we are informing you about our risk management systems and those risks that could have a material negative impact on our business.
As far as strategic risks are concerned, for us as a globally operating group, political instability and conflicts and the introduction of obstacles to free trade are most significant, and the greatest operational risks include risks in the supply chain, but also quality-related problems like the ones we had at Siemens Gamesa. Mr. Giebel, you were asking about the maximum number of shareholders that were registered in the portal so far. The maximum number in the shareholders portal, well, has not changed since my last answer to Mr. Giebel. It's still 1,074. You were asking about the current identified larger three problems identified by management. I'm going to give you three examples. I wouldn't call them problems, however, but challenges. Now, first and foremost, challenges relating to Siemens Gamesa.
Even if the ramp-up for offshore proceeds according to plan and we now have a handle on quality problems in Onshore and remedying them step by step, it's still a challenge, and the absolute focus is on making Siemens Gamesa profitable again. Second, competition for talent. I think it's still a great challenge, well, recruiting and retaining our employees and talent. That's the key to our future success and one of our most important strategic priorities. Number three, number three challenge, the uncertainty of political situation that we are facing at the moment. Here we are observing the situation very carefully so that we can manage any risks that might emerge. You were also asking about the reasons apart from the cost factor, which means that we are not conducting a hybrid meeting. Now, hybrid AGMs, particularly for large corporations, are hardly common in Germany.
It's because of the high organizational effort. Basically, you would have to implement two AGMs at once, both a physical and a virtual one. So that means we would, first of all, have to book an appropriate hall for an uncertain number of participants on site. And at the same time, we would have to provide the technical prerequisites for the virtual exercising of shareholders' rights. Another problem is the different level of information between shareholders on site and those who join us virtually. This is a legal risk which has not been fully clarified yet. We are observing the development in this respect, and we are going to inform you as soon as future decision-making is required. And you had another question on artificial intelligence.
The question was use cases and the impact on the company and what the related investment would be and whether it creates positive impact for the shareholders. We are convinced that artificial intelligence will fundamentally change the way we work and our services. Even today, we are using artificial intelligence to improve the quality of our products, solutions, and services. I showed this to you. For instance, for gas turbines, we are already using AI and also for the development of new generations of power plant components to increase energy efficiency and also for the quality control in our manufacturing processes. In addition, we are using AI also for our operational efficiency, the company's efficiency. And in my speech, I already gave you an example. The corresponding investments are not separately shown at the moment. They are included in the research and development expenses of the divisions.
In addition, the introduction of artificial intelligence is supported by training programs for our employees so that we can draw the greatest possible benefit from this and can responsibly handle this technology. All in all, the introduction of AI at Siemens Energy also contributes to making us more competitive, reducing costs, and also increasing customer satisfaction. These positive effects have a direct influence on the value of our company and create added value for our shareholders as well. I'm going to address the comments made by Ms. Alida Koos. Ms. Koos, your question was what the current status is on the Tiskrad wind farm. The Tiskrad wind farm includes extension options for three existing wind farms. Two are in Morocco and one in the area of Western Sahara. The customer has not exercised any one of these options yet, so the status of the project remains unchanged.
You also asked if we believe that our activities in Western Sahara comply with the articles of the civil and social pacts of the United Nations. We do respect the principles of the UN pacts of the United Nations. This is why in the ruling of the ECJ, we think those requirements are authoritative for the right to self-determination. We do acknowledge and respect it, and Siemens Energy is going to take this into account in its activities. You also asked if you can confirm that Siemens Energy is not participating in the 3-gigawatt ultra-high voltage transmission line. So far, Siemens Energy has not submitted any offer for the 3-gigawatt ultra-high voltage transmission line and taken into account the requirements defined by the European Court of Justice.
Every individual project will be scrutinized, will be screened on an individual basis, and we will carefully consider the risks involved. I had another question left over from Matthias Gäbler. Matthias Gäbler, you wanted to know about the times when the problems of the company were detected in autumn of 2023 and the counter-guarantees of the government burn option, and you were also asking about a potential insolvency risk and the discussions on the Executive Board and Supervisory Board. Now, because of rapid growth in the autumn of 2023, Siemens Energy had an order backlog of EUR 112 billion. With high-volume orders, it's only common that this is secured by bank guarantees. But our need for guarantees had grown so rapidly that the fundamental problem had been known for quite a while, and in addition, our rating was downgraded because of the quality issues at Siemens Gamesa.
As a consequence, the banks became more conservative when it comes to issue guarantees, were not ready to grant them. And once the order backlog had risen quite considerably, the executive board started to talk to the federal government. At no point in time were there liquidity bottlenecks. Now, let me address questions by Mr. Volker Schultz. Mr. Schultz, you had a question about the number of litigations and arbitration proceedings in the year 2023 because of quality deficiencies on the 4.X and 5.X turbines by Siemens Gamesa. In the year 2023, there were no litigations or arbitration proceedings on the basis of quality deficiencies incurred with 4.X or 5.X turbines against Siemens Gamesa. You also asked about the, okay, that's something we already dealt with. Arbitration proceedings are not pending. No litigations are pending here.
Okay, so that was once again, that was because of these freeze of sales, because we stopped sales. No, there are no litigations or legal proceedings because we stopped sales. You asked about the number of 5.X turbines that between 2020 and 2023 were installed and where the availability was more than 97% in calendar year 2023. Availability naturally varies in different wind farms, depends on the local conditions and also seasonality. Individual 5.X turbines had more than 97% availability, but only individual turbines had this high level of availability in this period. Mr. Schultz, you wanted to know how many between the 6th of April and 30th of August 2023, how many contracts were concluded for 5.X turbines for the European region for Siemens Gamesa. In this period, there were five such contracts concluded in the European region.
You also wanted to know about the time when Siemens Gamesa based upon insights about a premature launch of new technologies in the market in the wind industry when they started to change their strategy after detecting the problems in the Q3 of fiscal 2023. Detailed investigations were launched, and they immediately led to a change in strategy. Mr. Schultz, you also asked about the concrete technical improvements to the main components of the 5.X turbine, which account for 70% of the released solutions. Now, the implementation of the currently available retrofit solutions for the 5.X turbines has already progressed. 15% have been implemented by the end of 2027. We expect that the majority of those measures will have been concluded. The key technical improvements relate to inspection and repair of the rotor blades and also reinforcement of the central bearing.
You also asked about the number, and that relates to between 2020 and 2023. How many of 5.X turbines were installed in this period? In the year 2020, no 5.X turbines were installed. In between 2021 and 2023, 527 wind turbines were installed. Mr. Schultz, you're asking about the technical improvements to the new turbines, which are still in the process of being released and the components concerned. And when this will be concluded, when the sales is planned to start now for the residual 30% of the turbines solutions in the release process are work in progress, and we are looking at the same product components as for those turbines where the solution has already been installed. Now, the resumption of sales talks for the 5.X turbine is planned in the course of fiscal 2025. Mr. Schultz, you asked about the number of 4.X and 5.X turbines already installed.
All in all, it's 2,600 4.X and 5.X turbines which have now been installed. That's the total number. And now I'm going to address Mr. Slivyak's questions, Vladimir Slivyak's questions. Mr. Slivyak, you're asking about supplies to the Akkuyu power plant in Turkey. Siemens Energy for the Akkuyu power plant in Turkey has a contract for the supply of gas-insulated switchgear and also further related components and tools related to this. And up until now, approximately 35% have been supplied. The Federal Office for Economics and Export Control has given us a permit, and it includes the delivery of the parts, which I have mentioned, and the accompanying documentation. You are also asking if the control and instrumentation for the Paks II power plant in Hungary were going to deliver it and whether we received a permit for it.
The contracts for the control and instrumentation for Paks II were entered into in 2019 and 2020. We will comply with valid legacy contracts, and we, of course, it's our top priority that we abide by the sanctions. One of the last amendments to the sanctions by the European Union as part of the 14th package of sanctions in June 2024 will include most of the or include certain prohibitions, but these are no longer applicable to any activities related to the Paks II project. This means within this framework, we comply with our contractual obligations within the framework, and any further permits required here will be obtained from the relevant authorities in due time. Mr. Slivyak, you're asking about future supplies by Siemens Energy for Rosatom power plants.
In February of 2023, Siemens Energy already decided not to enter into any new business where the Russian state group Rosatom is involved or one of its majority holdings. Future deliveries are therefore only to be made within the context of projects which were established and concluded before the beginning of the war in Ukraine, and this concerns the two projects which I mentioned before, on which I just gave you a statement. In addition to this, Siemens Energy is not involved in any project with Rosatom or any other nuclear project in Russia. Mr. Slivyak, you also ask about further contracts with Rosatom for the Akkuyu project in Turkey. Siemens Energy for the Akkuyu project has a contract with the general contractor for the project, and this contractor does not belong to Rosatom.
This is a contract which was concluded in 2020, and we already reported about it in previous AGMs. Any further contracts for Akkuyu do not exist. So it's a Turkish-owned customer and operator, and they belong to Rosatom, but we do not have any contractual relations with them. Mr. Slivyak, you were also asking about export restrictions or conditions when we cooperate with Rosatom or the export of installations related to nuclear safety. First of all, we want to make it really clear. Siemens Energy itself, for more than a decade, has no longer been involved in hot nuclear technology, only in instrumentation and control for operations. This is used for the control and supervision of the power plant in normal operations. In this area, there are very few suppliers, for instance, from Russia or from China.
Siemens Energy has the only system that allows qualification and certification according to the relevant standards and to the extent required before supply and export of goods for nuclear power plants. The relevant permits have to be obtained from the relevant authorities, and illegal bans or sanctions or export restrictions will strictly be adhered to. This also applies to the execution of all our projects, but of course, and in particular for projects where Rosatom is involved and in the nuclear area in general. I suggest we take a short break once again so that you can take a breath because, I mean, this time it's quite unilateral. The CEO has to answer most of the questions, and I suggest that I'm going to continue a little bit now with the answering of some questions.
And then Maria Ferraro will answer some questions, and then maybe I would take a look at who we have on the speakers list. I have a question to our, well, technical team. I see six open requests for the floor, but only five names. Maybe you can clarify that. I just want to make sure that we forget somebody.
Right. So I would continue answering some of these questions. First off, Mr. Giebel. Mr. Giebel, you asked about the compensation regarding safety and security for Vinod Philip and also the taxation of the fringe benefits, also regarding owned and rented property, how it was financed, or if there were any repayment or clawback schemes pertaining to this as well. Now, of course, when it comes to Reinhold's fringe benefits and everywhere else, of course, the compensation system was strictly adhered to.
Now, of course, we also made sure to double-check whether it complies with the strict regulations from the federal guarantee. Regarding the preventative maintenance of ongoing operations, all Executive Board members are obligated, according to Siemens Energy requirements, to carry out safety and security measures and implement them in accordance with Siemens Energy stipulations. The cost, the maintenance, as well as the non-cash benefit is covered by the company. Generally speaking, when leaving the Executive Board, these safety measures will be taken out again. Should this work be more expensive than leaving it in, the security and safety measures will be left in unless explicitly asked or demanded differently from the Executive Board member. The non-cash benefit for Vinod Philip was round about EUR 40,000 in this context. Mr.
Giebel, you then asked which Supervisory Board members did not or only partially take part in which meetings of the Supervisory Board. You also want to know whether these members designated any proxies or submitted absentee votes and which topics were discussed during their absenteeism. Furthermore, you asked about which Supervisory Board members only took part virtually at the Supervisory Board meetings. So this is a very extensive answer. In 2024, Mr. Kensbock couldn't take part in the Remco of the 23rd of March. Mr. Gabriel was missing on the 26th of February in the plenary session. Mr. Kerner couldn't take part on the 14th of November in 2023. And on the 5th of December 2023, he also was unable to take part at two presiding committees in 2024.
When it comes to the Sustainability and Finance Committee on December 4th, 2023, as well as the meeting of the Special Committee on the 13th of November, Laurence Mulliez, in the plenary of the 26th of February of 2024, as well as in the Special Committee meeting, which, as the head of the Audit Committee, she would basically attend as an observer. She was not there on the 24th of April 2024, also in June, and also on the 20th of June in 2024. I would like to once again emphasize the fact that she would just have been an observer as the representative of the Audit Committee. So she was invited. Mr. Rebellius in the plenary couldn't be there in the plenary on the 30th of October, as well as two meetings on the 12th and two additional meetings in 2024.
Furthermore, Professor Thomas couldn't partake in the plenary session on the 30th of October 2023, as well as the 14th of November 2023. Of course, all the Supervisory Board members who could not attend the sessions intensively looked into and prepared the reports and presentations. Should there have been any resolutions or motions, they did submit absentee votes or submitted their votes and questions after the meeting. We generally do not differentiate between an onsite and a virtual attendance should both of those be planned for. Then you were asking about any notarial or lawyer activities of our notary public in 2023 and 2024 and if there could have been any conflicts of interest.
I have to tell you that in 2023 and 2024, our notary public only carried out services in terms of notarizing any potential signatures and, of course, also abided with the legal stipulations and only charged the legally required fees. Mr. Giebel, you once again asked about the reasoning why the fringe benefits would also cover trips home or family trips and whether this also has any tax implications regarding the non-cash benefits. Siemens Energy, in general, when it comes to fringe benefits, of course, orients itself with the local market practices and, of course, looks at what companies with an equal profile do. And that's why we are, of course, also in the competition, or we are, after all, in the competition with the competition with our market competitors.
That's why, of course, we also have to offer a similar package, which is why we cover, for example, also these family trips home. Then, Mr. Giebel, it was about additional compensation payments to Ms. de Chammard and the taxation of this amount, as well as the possible payback agreement should she leave the Executive Board ahead of time. Now, it's common market practice that when you have talent, when another company has talent, that you would want you do what it takes. So in such cases, certain candidates could potentially have economic disadvantages. And, of course, if you are interested in this candidate, your company would cover this. So this is absolutely common market practice. This is exactly what we did as well. The tax that resulted from these activities, of course, was not covered by Siemens Energy.
We were particularly happy about the fact that we supported expressly the fact that Ms. de Chammard took the net amount and invested it in Siemens Energy shares. This was a very smart decision, I can say, especially looking at how the shares have developed ever since. Any additional repayment obligations do not exist. Of course, this also always depends on the board members. Should they decide to leave the company, it depends on the conditions in which they leave. We have the so-called good leavers and the so-called bad leavers. Respectively, this is how we deal with the compensation components. Again, it always depends on the individual case. Mr. Gäbler, first off, thank you once again for pointing out that the AGM cost is cheaper at Infineon. We'll definitely take a close look. We are absolutely convinced of the quality of our team.
It's great. But still, it is an absolutely good note to do some benchmarking here as well. Thank you very much again. Furthermore, outside of this good advice, you asked what we would think about hiring a compensation consultant to double-check the compensation system if we've done so, what the costs were. And I can tell you, like I already said in my opening remarks, that establishing a fair and guideline-abiding compensation system is a huge challenge. I really have to tell you that this was a big challenge. And, of course, in order to comply with regulatory stipulations, we relied on two compensation consultants on the compensation component, HKP and Willis Towers Watson, because we wanted to make sure that we have at least two parties who consult us and give us a thumbs up in order to ensure we don't make mistakes.
Of course, you didn't ask, but I'm still going to tell you and volunteer the information. The same we've done with our legal consultation. It was also necessary. Again, here we had two neutral law firms that we hired to double-check the compensation system, to evaluate it, to audit it, to check it regarding the conformity of the system, of the legal stipulations and how it aligns with the federal regulations. The fees for the compensation system were around EUR 120,000. Mr. Gäbler, you then asked about the ratio between the maximum compensation of the Executive Board and a regular employee. This is a very popular question, which is why we have the number. The maximum compensation of the regular compensation system is the maximum compensation is EUR 9.95 million. The regular compensation system, not the extraordinary situation we're dealing with here.
This is higher than the average compensation of a regular employee by a factor of 68. Then, Mr. Gäbler, you asked about Supervisory Board activities. We covered this, but then you also spoke about societal elements. You, of course, addressed me personally, not just in my role as Chairman here, but also in Mercedes. You also talked about the EUR 500 billion in extra budget. You basically asked how Germany can tackle an Agenda 2030 and how it kind of can kick back into gear what we need to keep wealth, what we need to restart business, to hedge our company. You've mentioned these euro amounts. This is from now till 2030. This would be the Agenda 2030. Of course, many things need time. Many things don't just happen overnight. It was mainly about having a modern, high-performance infrastructure, which we could provide.
So this would be an investment budget. And, of course, there's also several posts on LinkedIn. And you can definitely see why I believe that our country, our economy, but especially our society, really needs these special funds to keep our wealth. I won't comment on your political questions. Of course, the voters are going to decide on the weekend. If someone asks me for advice, I will give my advice. And if not, then not. I don't think there's anything worse than uncalled for advice. I'm now looking at our Chairman, our CEO. I think he knows what I mean.
Of course, besides that, as a committed citizen, I will continue to speak up, not because I love the spotlight, but I believe that people who've made many mistakes and who've learned from their mistakes, that people who have seen the world, that people who have seen the good and the bad also have a lot to share and can really contribute in terms of what you should do and what you shouldn't do, especially. So much for that. And again, thank you very much also for your compliments. Don't hear that every day. Then we were talking about, or you were talking about Supervisory Board candidates and their respective terms of offices. The two new colleagues who will hopefully be approved also by you would have a term of office of three years, and the remaining candidates would have a term of office of four years.
As you already heard in my speech, as I alluded to, actually, I said it quite expressly, we would like to have a staggered board. Therefore, we have the respective terms of office of the potential Supervisory Board members. I'm not sure anymore who exactly mentioned it, but someone asked about succession planning. Please rest assured that we have a very keen eye on this, that I have a very keen eye on this, and also am developing respective ideas. It's a very important question in the Supervisory Board and at large. Then, Ms. Deckwirth, and then I would hand over to Maria. Ms. Deckwirth, you wanted to know how we can ensure that Professor Grimm's membership in the Supervisory Board doesn't damage the economic experts in our country.
You were also asking about memberships and how her membership in the Supervisory Board aligns with integrity and how we can ensure that she doesn't have undue influence. We dealt with the nomination in depth in the Nomination Committee. Then, of course, we had some feedback from the experts group. Unfortunately, it was quite late in the nomination process, but we dealt with the situation again. We talked about it again. I have to tell you that in the Nomination Committee, we ended up at the conclusion that there was, in fact, no conflict of interest between Ms. Professor Grimm's activity in the Supervisory Board and her activity as an economic expert. It's also hard to imagine how that could be, because, look, even if Ms.
Grimm was so convinced, or if we were to make her talk about gas turbines or high-voltage systems and really focusing on that as an incredibly important economic factor that you have to do this, then what would happen? Even if we did that, what would happen, hypothetically speaking, then she would hopefully find a majority in her council. If that is not the case, then it's already nothing, then the federal government would have to listen to the council, then the federal government would have to approve this. That, for example, you built, I don't know, gas power plants, and then what happens, then you have to find a customer. We used to call them the suppliers, so you have to find someone who does this, who takes care of this, and then the customers, the suppliers, would create a tender process. There's EU guidelines.
You don't have to invent anything. This already exists. And then you have another two very aggressive competitors who would love to the same contract. So if you look at this chain of fictional events, I can give you a whole host of other fictional scenarios, but we don't have the time, especially looking at all the colleagues who are still in the list of speakers and all the questions. You can tell it's very difficult to sort of create a conflict of interest. And honestly speaking, humans at her level, humans at her experience, and I'm really taking all of the economic experts in the committee under the same umbrella, they also have personal integrity. They wouldn't do these things, and that's why we have nothing but the fullest confidence, and I can tell you that Professor Grimm's work in the committee has been incredibly helpful.
And I honestly also really believe that we, in our company, can communicate with her what the differences between the things that we would like to see and between the things that are quite feasible. It's not a bad thing to know these differences, even though they might not really fulfill all of your wishes. I thought this was very important. Generally speaking, all the Supervisory Board members don't do lobbying. That's not why we hired them. That's not what they're there for. This is, of course, not their job. They should, of course, represent the interests of the company, the interests of the shareholders, especially on the capital side. That's why they are in office, and that's what we would like them to do. Full disclosure.
Of course, we also have our rules of procedure where it explicitly states that each and every single Supervisory Board member needs to report any potential conflict of interest should this arise from any other activities based on the best of their knowledge and abilities. So much for that. I am finished with my answers, and I would now like to hand over to Maria Ferraro. She will answer a few more questions, and then we will jump into the presumably last round of questions. I would already like to announce the next few speakers: Moritz Leiner, Pauline Rupprecht, Regine Richter, then again Ulrich Giebel, Matthias Gäbler. I'm assuming both of those colleagues have follow-up questions. And I'm very glad that we were able to squeeze you in at the end, because, of course, the dialogue is, of course, crucial in this AGM. So, Maria, over to you.
Yes, thank you. Going back to the first set of speakers, dear Paul Petzelberger, you asked what the current repayment schedule looks like, as well as what measures are in place to enable an earlier repayment, and when would this be possible. The federal government's counter-guarantee is merely a safeguard for a guarantee facility provided by banks. Therefore, we do not have to pay anything. I have already commented on the options and measures for early termination of the counter-guarantee. Dear Mr. Petzelberger, you asked how the cost savings resulting from the termination of the federal government's counter-guarantee can be passed on as a dividend. The cost savings from a termination of the federal government's counter-guarantee would increase net income accordingly. As already mentioned, our dividend policy provides for a payout of 40%-60% of the after-tax profit attributable to the shareholders of Siemens Energy AG.
As a result, cost savings would be reflected correspondingly in the dividend. Dear Mr. Gäbler, you ask about the time frame within which we can terminate the state guarantee. The guarantee facility, which is covered by the federal government's counter-guarantee, has a term of five years, whereby no new guarantees can be issued in the last two years. This facility can be terminated prematurely. The Executive Board's main focus is on becoming independent of the counter-guarantee as quickly as possible. Dear Mr. Gäbler, you ask about the potential negative impacts and risks associated with the U.S. president's tariff plans. We have a strong local presence in the U.S. We employ 12,000 people there and have eight manufacturing facilities. We are investing in the U.S. and hiring additional employees. But, of course, just like our American competitors, we have international value chains for our products.
For example, the link between supplies from Mexico and our American plants is important. We're looking at this more or less on a daily basis, depending on the tariff scenario. In the end, the decisive factor will be whether the tariffs create a competitive disadvantage. This depends on how our competitors are positioned and whether we can pass any price increases onto our customers. This is usually the case with existing orders. To sum it up, it can be said that not everything will be positive, but in principle, I see more opportunities for us in the North American market than risks. Dear Mr. Gäbler, you have questions about the preparations for e-invoicing, its implementation, the associated costs, and the expected savings.
Siemens Energy sees e-invoicing as a further opportunity to advance our existing initiatives to digitize finance and accounting processes, whereby the savings cannot be determined by a simple quantification. The associated costs cannot be clearly determined because IT systems and employees are deployed in a variety of ways and also perform other tasks related to invoicing and processing. Dear Mr. Schwartzkopff, you ask about the share of revenue from projects that are not taxonomy eligible, in particular from fossil energy sources, and how this revenue is broken down across the individual project types. Our sales related to the fossil fuel gas are generally taxonomy eligible, but not yet taxonomy aligned in fiscal year 2024. Sales of other fossil fuels, for example, oil or diesel, are reported under non-taxonomy eligible activities. Thank you. Over to you, Christian.
I'd suggest that we—I do see that my colleagues are ready to pass the floor. So I'd suggest that we now move on to the contributions, and our colleagues don't need to wait quite as long. And we can then answer the questions later. So I'd now like to call on Mr. Moritz Leiner. The floor is yours, please.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, I'm Moritz Leiner. I work for the Environmental and Human Rights Organization, Urgewald, and also represent the Association of Critical Shareholders. You today are showing Siemens Energy as an important partner of the change to clean energy. We are at the start of a beginning, the start of a new age, the age of electrification. You've referred to the pressure on creating energy because of sustainable energy sources for energy generation.
However, in the midst of the climate crisis, you are still massively expanding fossil fuel and LPG. You have said that you're proud to be number two in gas turbines, which are extremely detrimental to the environment. You also talked about production capacities for large gas turbines and expanding these by 30%. Your Scope 3 emissions from 2024, that's over 1.3 billion tons, are huge in comparison to 2023. They increased by 20%. Against this backdrop, how is this business strategy, which is so high in emissions, in line with the absolute Scope 3 emission reduction on the basis of 2019 values and reducing it by 28% by 2030? Siemens Energy themselves has talked about a reduction of 11% for the Scope 3 emissions since 2019. So how is this in line then with the increasing values?
What is the current situation of the reductions over 2019? How and when did you decide to adjust your plan to stay within the 1.5 temperature degree range? To achieve these Scope 3 reductions, can you more particularly and clearly show what portfolio changes are planned and what contributions they will make? Are you also considering selling your gas turbine business? Is there a binding 1.5 compatible plan for gas phase-out, especially for those with gas-fired power stations? If that is the case, what is the plan? Members of the Executive and Supervisory Board, these emissions are extremely problematic, not only due to climate change, but also for the financing of the company. Looking at the financial data of 2023, we see financed emissions for Siemens Energy according to the financed emissions standards of the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF).
Given the relatively low corporate value, the upstream oil and gas is actually higher in terms of percentage than that of Shell. Compared to Siemens Energy, that might not be such a negative. Nevertheless, this high value for financed emissions of Siemens Energy should actually be cause for concern to you because the large share of fossil fuels in gas turbines, for example, liquid gas terminals, must lead to high Scope 3 emissions. And these should actually make up part of emissions reports as of this year. The balance is therefore in the mid and long term going to be a risk for the refinancing of Siemens Energy. My previous speakers today, Deka and Union Investment, critically referred to a contradiction between the long-term goals for Scope 3 emission reduction.
My questions are: What transformation risks exist for Siemens Energy due to political measures to combat climate change and rising temperatures? And does Siemens Energy expect financial risks because their business with gas turbines and LPG? Due to the high Scope 3 emissions, will become ever more unattractive. The 1.5 degree phase-out of the gas turbine business and selling their or carve-out thereof could offer lower in risk. I would therefore recommend all those who are able to vote not to ratify the actions of the two boards. In Asian markets, increased energy demands are expected. What are your plans for gas and renewable energies? Will Siemens Energy be localizing in the Asian markets? How? How many of your gas power plants received federal guarantees in 2024? What was the amount thereof? And what share of those is export guarantees? Which would be Euler Hermes and which would be other credit agencies? In 2024, we had large incoming orders. What is the availability of Aval guarantees that couldn't be covered by conventional banks? In the current fiscal year, is Siemens Energy going to take on further federal guarantees in the federal government? Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you very much. I'm sure that we're all aware of the importance of the climate and of sustainability. The only thing that I would say, because you referred to Union and Deka and the contributions from earlier on, our colleagues discussed these, that it is so important to have a social-ecological market economy. We talked about, of course, the profitability of the company, the responsibility intertwined with sustainability. We stress that employees will certainly respect these, that they will do their work as well as possible, and that they will be correspondingly remunerated. I've heard about ecology, but about market economy I haven't heard all too much. The colleagues from Deka and Union and from other companies were referred to, and I think that it's the right thing to do given the representation of the shareholders today. The next person is Pauline Rupprecht. Ms. Rupprecht, please.
My name is Pauline Ruprecht, and I am here for the Association of Critical Shareholders. We call on more commitment from Siemens Energy. Our partner organizations have already addressed this. Until we're able to resolve these critical points, we will not vote to ratify the actions of the Supervisory Board and of the Executive Board. You have to commit to medium and long-term climate goals and to phase out fossil fuels. You must ensure that you are not involved in actions that contravene international law in the Western Sahara and that you exclude the conclusion of further contracts in this area. You have said that you have reduced the gender pay gap by 2%. Of course, this is laudable, but I would still like to ask, if you're able to calculate how large exactly the gender pay gap is, then you know where differences in pay are taking place. Surely, it shouldn't therefore be too difficult to actually completely resolve and eradicate the gender pay gap. In which areas of the company do you have the fewest and the most women as employees? So now, from equal rights to climate, implementation of particular goals seem very bureaucratic and not very pragmatic.
However, it is necessary to actually take hold of pragmatic solutions for sustainability. I would call upon you to do so. Your position on this would be very interesting to me. Do you believe that the EU policy in this area is the right way to go, or do you not aim to follow these guidelines? Now, regarding the Supply Chain Act, provisions have been criticized. So far, it seems that the actions have been very bureaucratic, even if we analyze the supply chain. I would be interested in what actually contradicts the supply chain provisions. Do you send questionnaires to all of your suppliers? If so, what has been the result? We were unable to find a report on the Supply Chain Act. Have you published a report on this? If so, where? If not, why not?
In the previous fiscal year, did you focus on violations of human rights in the supply chain? Did you find any? Which? How many complaints have you received in the current fiscal year, and how many were you able to resolve? How many pointers did you receive in this year? Those are topics that were actually registered. How many were registered but not assessed? The costs for the EU regulations have been criticized without actually offering exact numbers. We asked 40 companies, and I would like to ask you at this meeting, what are the costs? And what were they in the previous fiscal year? Recording according to terms and conditions, do these only refer to particular costs? How high were the costs in 2023? And how high were costs for reporting? Sustainability reporting is, of course, of great importance. I'm afraid the audio quality is very poor. As regards the virtual shareholder meeting, I will try to keep it brief now. We know that the next should take place in person. We don't believe that the Executive Board should decide on the format, and we are for hybrid annual shareholders' meetings. Thank you very much. I look forward to your answers.
Thank you very much, Ms. Rupprecht. I can see now Regine Richter and Mr. Giebel no longer want to ask any questions. So, should you wish to do so? You could. I do see that Mr. Giebel now has the final comment to make.
Thank you very much, Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Kaeser, you are known for your remarks on political and societal comments and are often celebrated for this. But you know, of course, that there are controversial views of this. One person who is known for their work at Siemens actually received negative press. Is that also the case for Siemens? It shouldn't be the case whether a public comment is praised as civil courage or wokeness, or whether it increases your value in the public eye, but how it impacts Siemens and Siemens Energy's reputation. Mr. Fembacher, as representative of the staff shareholders, has already addressed this. I would like to remind you, according to a Spiegel report in 2020, Luisa Neubauer, who is a prominent representative of the Fridays for Future movement, was offered a seat in a supervisory board committee in what would become the Siemens Energy Company. As to whether it's the supervisory board or a committee, Neubauer can decide that herself.
Therefore, my questions are: Are you ready for possible negative impacts to Siemens Energy's reputation and business on the basis of such societal and political comments? The comment in your speech, "The economy can deal with a lot, but not political caprice or volatility," should this be understood that a government actually saved a company from the federal government that saved a company from ruin, that this is then being accused of political caprice? We also heard that business is business. We would each do well to remember that. Mr. Gäbler suggested that you should become a politician. I agree. Mr. Chairman, I must disagree with what you said about the limitation of the last two speakers at the first block. The number of speakers has not changed from the beginning of the general debate. If I'm not mistaken, it has actually decreased.
Please tell us how many speakers who exceeded the recommended speaking time in the first round and the exact minutes and the entire number of speakers who exceeded the speaking time. How much of this is due to your interruptions and the discussions surrounding them? Please specify those who had offered a contribution today and the number of participants who have spoken and will speak. I am referring specifically to the number of the participants and not the number of the contributions. In your comments regarding Professor Grimm, why did you say, "Well, to be totally honest," and not in any of your other comments? Are there various levels of honesty in your comments? The questions that were not answered or not answered fully have been forwarded to the notary by myself, and I would ask these to be included in the minutes of the meeting.
Complete answers are required for due voting. The oral ascertainment was given. I also offered you the legal basis for this, and rejection thereof therefore leads to negligence. Thank you very much, Mr. Giebel. I will answer these questions later on. To be perfectly honest, I'll answer them as honestly as possible. I'll now ask the technicians whether Regina Richter and Matthias Gäbler still wish to take the floor. That is not the case. We will then move to begin answering the questions. Christian, please, I would be happy to continue. We have two questions from you. Mr. Giebel, you asked about the number of female and non-binary employees in the company. I thought I had answered it already, but I'll answer it on the first, second, and third levels. We have approximately 5,400 female employees, approximately 2,100 on the second and 4,100 on the third. The rest on the first, and non-binary employees are not systematically recorded.
Mr. Giebel, thank you very much for your question regarding the amount of donations made and the five largest recipients and the amounts. In the previous financial year, in total, we had EUR 3.36 million donated to the five largest recipients. These were Nefan Anze, EUR 94,000; Siemens Brazil, EUR 162,500; and 163,053, the SMILE Foundation, EUR 121,000; and ANFAS with EUR 108,000. Then I come to a question from Mr. Giebel. You asked about the amount of fluctuation in the current year, employee fluctuation, and why these contracts were ended. You also asked about severance. In 2024, this rate was 8.4%. Approximately the half of this was staff leaving the company themselves. In Germany, the fluctuation rate in 2024 was 5.7%. 7% of this was due to employees reaching pensionable age.
The others were colleagues quitting. The others were terminations of contract on behalf of the company and 7% in unanimous severance contracts. 35% was people entering into the passive phase of old-age part-time contracts. The severance amount in 2024 was approximately EUR 22.5 million. This brings me now to the questions from Zeina Abulmaati Abdulrahman. You asked about Siemens Energy's role in the Western Sahara in the light of the climate change and the peoples of the area. With our focus on renewable energies, we are trying to combat climate change. We, of course, do understand the complex political situation in the Western Sahara, and we stand up for human rights.
As a supplier, we are working to ensure that clients do respect human rights in the Western Sahara, and we assess every project individually to make sure that the guidelines of the European Court of Justice are upheld. We aim to achieve a positive contribution given the complexities of the area. Ms. Gross, you then asked a linked question regarding Siemens Energy and making sure that the local people benefit from it. Which measures are in place to make sure that the Sahrawi people benefit from these and not settlers? And how does Siemens Energy differentiate between Sahrawi and Moroccan settlers? The projects for Siemens Energy technology components serve for the electrification of the Western Sahara and are therefore of benefit to the local people. The European Court of Justice provided that the fact that the remaining people of the Western Sahara benefit, it is ultimately not damaging.
The judgments, of course, have more of an impact on these Sahrawi people, and we will, of course, consider this in the future. Then move to the questions from Volker Schultz. I need to correct myself. You're asking for the number of litigations and arbitration proceedings because of the stop on sales in 2023 against Siemens Gamesa. And I said there were none. No litigations, no arbitration proceedings. That was wrong. There is one litigation which is still pending in this context. Mr. Schultz, you were asking about the number of 840 5. X turbines between 2020 and 2030 that were installed in this period and the number of major technical losses or deficiencies causing a downtime of more than 30 days in the first two years of operation. Downtimes of more than 30 days are very rare.
In the category you mentioned, in the fleet you mentioned, it's only a low double-digit number of turbines affected. The reason for longer downtimes were, however, not the necessary repair measures per se, but the supply times, delivery times for spare parts, which were required for the repair. Mr. Schultz, you were asking whether our turbines in 2023 had a normal availability of 97%. With this, you probably mean the overall fleets. Here we have an average availability of industrialized platform of 97%, and this means we comply with the standard. You also asked if the 5.X turbines, because of problems with the oil pan, had to be controlled on a daily basis, and you wanted to know how many of the turbines in Germany are affected by this. Now, it is true that with one of the turbines, there was an oil leak.
That was an individual mistake made during installation. And as a consequence, all of the 32 installed 5.X turbines in Germany were inspected and technical repairs were performed. And in October of 2024, this has started and has largely been concluded. All 5.X turbines in Germany during this period were checked regularly and sometimes on a daily basis. One question by Vladimir Slivyak has not been answered yet. Mr. Slivyak, you are asking about contracts in conjunction with the El Dabaa project in Egypt. Siemens Energy is not involved in this project. And now I'd like to address questions by Julian Schwartzkopff. Dear Mr. Schwartzkopff, you're asking about the scope of fossil activities of Siemens Energy.
Apart from the business with components and services for gas-fired power plants and also the feeding or supply and transport of fossil carriers, to a limited extent, we offer services also for coal-fired power plants, and we are not involved in the business with new construction of coal-fired power plants. We left this business years ago. You also asked about new orders for LNG and natural gas projects in 2024 and the orders for the coming year and the additional Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. The gas services division in fiscal 2024 had new orders for new units related to natural gas-fired plants in the medium single-digit billion amount and no significant orders for gas turbines for the LNG infrastructure.
Transformation of industries, this division had a total of 18 new orders for LNG new installations for fiscal 2024, including orders relating to the compressors business and electrification automation and digitalization. These orders are mainly so-called e-LNG projects, i.e., LNG projects in which we are offering, well, intelligent electrification solutions. You also asked me about my estimate of the order situation for 2025. The order situation for 2025, based upon what we know today, is developing positively. You were also asking which additional greenhouse gas emissions we can expect here. Siemens Energy has 197 kilotons in Scope 1 and for the fiscal year 2024 and 9,238 kilotons of Scope 3 upstream in 2024. Now, the Scope 3 downstream emissions were 1,334 megatons. Did I say 9,238 kilotons? Sorry, sorry. But the Scope 3 downstream emissions amounted to 1,343 megatons of CO2.
These are emissions throughout the entire lifetime of our products. These emissions are mostly attributed to gas services, and an exact breakdown according to business areas is not published by us. Even today, our customers using our gas and steam-fired power plants can save up to 60% compared to coal-fired power plants. With the use of green hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, emissions in future can be further reduced. When 100% hydrogen is used, a completely emission-free operation is possible. Mr. Schwartzkopff, you wanted to know about the new orders received by Siemens Energy for hydrogen-enabled major power plants in 2024 and the expected new order volume in the future. Our current gas turbines are already, all of them, able up to a certain percentage to be fired with hydrogen. Depending on the turbine model, this percentage varies between 30%-75%.
The fundamental ability to burn hydrogen is given basically for all our current orders. And just like mentioned before, for the future, we expect a positive development of our order volume. You also asked about new orders received in fiscal 2024 as a supplier for carbon capture and storage, the so-called CCS facilities for gas-fired power plants is the expected order volume for 2025. In 2024, we did not receive any orders as suppliers of components for carbon capture and storage systems for gas-fired power plants. This technology, according to the opinion of experts and analysts, will play an important role in decarbonizing energy supply. But the use of carbon capture and storage power plants is still at its very beginnings in its infancy. All in all, opportunities for us as a supplier for CCS systems is something that we regard as positive and promising. Mr.
Schwarzkopf, you asked about the possibility to achieve 28% of our target by 2030 by changing to different fuels and capture technologies, whether we can meet our target, taking into account the level of orders and the technical maturity of carbon capture and storage and H2-ready projects and to what extent they can help us achieve our target. In a market environment where the demand for our products is rising, the achievement of our absolute reduction target will be more challenging. And this is why we are driving the development of hydrogenability of our turbines and also maturity of CCS technologies together with our partners. Decarbonization of energy generation not only depends on availability of technologies, but also on conducive political and market conditions that would make the use of these technologies economically viable.
By the use of CCS and hydrogen-enabled power plants, we expect them to make a significant contribution to reducing our Scope 3 emissions. We cannot publish any exact figures in this respect. Mr. Schwartzkopff, you were asking about why we are so optimistic about the continuation of our gas turbine business and the further expansion of the market and the potential change to green hydrogen and CCS. As already said this morning, according to all the forecasts, there should be a worldwide growing demand for electricity by the year 2050, mainly due to, or also due to the increasing electrification of many sectors and increasing demand for electricity and AI and data centers. This rising demand cannot be met by renewable energies alone. Gas-fired power plants will therefore continue to play an important role for safeguarding reliable energy supply for grid stabilization and also to balance peak loads.
In addition, there is an increasing demand for efficient gas-fired power plants as a replacement for coal or oil-fired power plants, which are now taken off the grid. Modern gas-fired power plants can later on also be switched over, converted to use of hydrogen, or can be coupled with CCS systems. At the moment, we see an increasing number of research and development projects and studies, particularly the area of CCS. And we are confident that such projects in future will also be implemented. In addition, we see that in many countries, the economic or regulatory conditions are now being created so that these technologies will in future can be used on a broad basis. You were asking about an alternative plan.
If the ramp-up of hydrogen production is further delayed or if conversion is too expensive or too much of an effort, our current gas turbines are designed both for operation on natural gas and also partly on hydrogen. As I said before, co-firing of hydrogen is possible, and that means at relatively favorable terms, they can also be retrofitted to pure hydrogen operation. And when new power plants are built, we nowadays, together with our customers, we make sure that these plants are already enabled for the use of hydrogen-ready. So that means at relatively little expense, they can be retrofitted. With our products, we are offering our customers today great flexibility as far as the timing and the path towards potential use of hydrogen is concerned. And we believe that with our gas turbine portfolio, we are very well positioned for the future.
You were asking about the level of orders for CCS systems in the year 2024. In the past fiscal year, in transformation of industry, we had four orders related to CCS systems. New unit projects for the delivery of compressors was one of them, one order for delivery of spare parts for an existing plant, and one order for electrification of a CCS system. I'd now like to take the questions asked by Karl Masche. Mr. Maschke, you were asking about the plan or the discussion about new suppliers in the United States. More than 80% of our external procurement volume of our U.S. sites is today, also today, covered by local suppliers within the United States. Our supplier portfolio is examined continuously so that we can flexibly respond to changing market conditions.
You were also asking about the market development for gas turbines and offshore wind energy in the United States. Now, the demand for electricity in the United States in the coming years will continue to rise rapidly, and this will have generally a positive impact on all technologies and divisions of Siemens Energy. Gas services and grid technologies are very much benefiting from an increase in industrial demand. The expansion of data centers is an additional opportunity for growth at the moment, and it's premature today to think about the concrete impact of the current administration on offshore wind power. But as a matter of principle, it's true that all divisions of Siemens Energy, including wind energy, have very close relationships with customers in the United States so that they can be supported with the energy transmission and the introduction of lots of different energy solutions. Mr.
Masche, you have a question about how business in the United States in 2025 and in the following four years, how it's going to develop irrespective of politics and what the risks are for offshore. As already mentioned, the demand for electricity in the United States will continue to rise over the coming years, and so this is generally positive for our divisions. Now, the impact of the Trump administration on wind power in particular, well, we have to wait and see how we have to assess it. Our plants at the moment until 2028 are using their capacity, and the focus in offshore business is and remains Europe, which accounts for approximately 80% of the overall market.
You were asking about appropriate areas for offshore wind farms in the United States and also the, well, calculability of hurricane risks and how we design our offshore wind farms for strong hurricanes. The east coast of the United States, because of wind speeds and water depths and ambient conditions, is very suitable for offshore wind farms. The west coast tends to have deeper water, uses floating foundations. For the design of turbines, we also take extreme wind forces into account. For instance, for Asia-Pacific projects, we have specific requirements so that extreme wind speeds and turbulences by typhoons, for instance, can be handled. All sites in the United States are also evaluated and analyzed according to wind forces, even extreme wind forces. I'm going to take Mr. Moritz Leiner's questions next. Leiner, Moritz Leiner.
So, Mr. Leiner, you were asking about the timing and the methodology for adaptation, adjustment of Scope 3 emissions to a 1.5 compatible reduction plan, 1.5 degree compatible plan. Siemens generally actively supports the Paris Climate Agreement, and in the long term in our value chain and across all climate gases, we follow a net zero ambition. For the year 2030, we set ourselves ambitious interim targets for the supply chain for our own operations and the use phase of our projects. You were asking about the current increase in emissions, well, how this tallies with the reduction of Scope 3 emissions, 11% since 2019, how, whether this fits together. We compare the development of our Scope 3 emissions compared to 2019. For the year 2019, we had Scope 3 emissions amounting to 1.5 gigatons, and for the year 2024, on the other hand, 1.334 gigatons.
It's a reduction of 11%. Mr. Leiner, you asked about the discrepancy between the target to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 2030 by 28% and the increase in emissions between 2023 and 2024 by more than 20%. The emissions from our products are calculated according to international standards in the year in which the order was received for the entire life cycle of the product. In the past fiscal year, we had an increase of our Scope 3 emissions, which also results from a comparable increase in the level of new orders in all divisions. Okay, then I'm going to continue with the CFO Maria. Over to you. Go ahead.
Thank you. Dear Ms. Rupprecht, you ask about the size of the gender pay gap, the locations of the remaining underpayment, and the reasons for not yet having remedied it. The adjusted gender pay gap at Siemens Energy has fallen continuously in recent years from 5.16% in fiscal year 2022 to 4.81% in fiscal year 2023 and 3.09% in fiscal year 2024. This shows us that the measures we are taking to reduce the gender pay gap are having an effect. According to the EU directive, a gender pay gap of 5% is acceptable. There are also reverse cases in which women earn more than men. We are continuously working on further effective measures and have established a cooperation with the University of Göttingen for this purpose. Dear Mr. Gäbler, you ask about the total amount of the state guarantee and the maximum amount utilized. Siemens Energy has a bank guarantee line of EUR 11 billion, under which guarantees of approximately EUR 3.8 billion were issued in fiscal year 2024.
The German government's counter guarantee covers approximately 68% of this, up to a maximum of EUR 7.5 billion. A call on the counter guarantee is not expected due to the good liquidity position of Siemens Energy. Dear Mr. Gäbler, you ask about the total costs arising from the counter guarantee of the Federal Republic of Germany. The fees depend on the actual term and volume of the claims, so that the absolute amount of the fees that will be ultimately incurred cannot be precisely quantified. We do assume that we will pay an average of around 100 million EUR per year for the provision of the counter guarantee over the term of the program. The term is limited to a maximum of 2028 or five years and can be terminated earlier. Dear Mr.
Schultz, you ask about the distribution of provisions for warranties and owner's contracts among the 4.X, 5.X platforms and the offshore activities at Siemens Gamesa. Approximately half of the provisions for warranties reported in the 2024 annual report relate to onshore, which includes the 4.X and 5.X platforms. With regard to the provision for onerous contracts, around 75% were attributable to onshore. Dear Mr. Schultz, you ask about the number or percentage of 4.X and 5.X turbines for which provisions were recognized. The provisions were not recognized for individual turbines but cover the entire 4.X and 5.X turbine fleet. That concludes my questions.
Back to the CEO. All right. Mr. Leiner, I have a question regarding the specific portfolio adjustment Siemens Energy is planning and the contribution to the emission reduction in 2020. We decided to no longer participate in purely coal-powered power plant tenders.
Furthermore, there are no portfolio adjustments for emission reductions. You also asked regarding any potential disposal of the gas turbine business, and I said it multiple times. Modern, highly efficient gas power plants are still a valid technology and are going to remain, so therefore we don't envision any exit from this particular technology. You also asked about a plan, a fixed plan regarding the exit of LNG infrastructure, gas power plants. It's sort of going in the same direction as the previous question. And just to ensure that we can provide the correct supply as well as contrast it to CO2 emissions of coal plants, highly modern and efficient power plants are still a good technology. And again, they're going to remain so in the foreseeable future.
We invest heavily in the capability of our gas turbine portfolio to use higher shares of hydrogen as fuel, for example, and do not envision a full exit of this technology. You were asking about Siemens Energy's Asian market plans, especially regarding gas and renewables, and whether and if there is a demand for localization and how that is fulfilled. The Asian market, including China and India, in fiscal 2024, with EUR 4.9 billion, make up a share of 10% of our orders. The individual countries in the region are following very heterogeneous approaches in the technological execution of the energy transformation. Therefore, we are focusing our business areas to those countries where we have a very high parallel degree of technological assimilation to our current ones here.
We also have production facilities in the various regions and are constantly assessing any potential need for adjustment, also including potential need for local adjustments. You asked about the gas power plant projects for Siemens Energy that have received federal guarantees, the overall amount of guarantees, the share of export credit guarantees, as well as the share of Euler Hermes and other export credit agencies. I think you really have to separate that because just to make it extra clear, guarantees are provided by the banks. The government has provided a counter guarantee, if you will, but they all are, relatively speaking, banking guarantees. In 2024, in the framework of the guarantee facility from the government, which is this counter guarantee, they provided guarantees for projects with 80 customers of the business area Gas Services.
For the end of the fiscal year, all of this amounted to around EUR 0.7 billion. None of these projects in 2024 received export credit insurance guarantees. You were also asking about the financial risks relating to gas turbines and LNG in light of the increasing Scope 3 emissions, and as I said, for us, efficient gas turbines remain an integral part of the energy transformation around the globe, also in Germany, the current orders backlog at Siemens Energy does not lead us to believe that customers cannot finance these changes and projects in this area, and therefore we don't believe that there is any substantial financial risk for the gas turbine business. I'm moving on to Ms. Pauline Rupprecht's questions. You were asking if we send surveys to our suppliers unprompted and how this is alignable with the risk-based approach.
We, of course, meet all of our requirements on a risk-based approach and are only asking and surveying business partners where such a survey is relevant. You were asking whether Siemens Energy would demand the deregulation in the EU. I do not demand the dismantling of EU guidelines, but in Europe, we do require a regulatory framework which is ensuring more competitiveness and which also provides investment incentives. What is especially necessary is a radical easing of administrative burdens because companies are now in a workload for regulation and reporting, which is simply much too high. Examples: CSRD guidelines that should have given investors a higher degree of transparency when it comes to sustainability. The goal is clear. The execution is not.
The capital market, of course, is making their investment decision based on very important performance KPIs, but through the CSRD, they will have thousands of data points, which really is a bit too much, and therefore, of course, we're not going to be able to convince international investors of the attractiveness of European companies. So cosmetic changes in these regulations won't really do much. This guideline has to be radically shortened, simplified, and yeah, this is simply a discussion that we are having in the public space. At the end of the day, we simply have to create conditions in Europe that bring private capital into the energy infrastructure. So the question always has to be, does this make us more competitive and does this help the economy to grow? And you also explicitly were asking about the Supply Chain Act.
You were asking about the publication and the availability, as well as any potential reasons as to why we wouldn't have published it. We have published it. It is on our homepage under the compliance tab. And as far as I can tell, these are all of my questions. Fantastic. Thank you very much. I'll continue. We have a series of questions from Mr. Giebel. Mr. Giebel, you were asking about gifts from business partners to people holding a mandate in certain committees. Our business conduct guidelines allow acceptance of symbolic presents as long as they, of course, meet the regulatory guidelines. There are legal guidelines. And of course, we also have to take into account local and regional customs, which is very important if you are working in a global context.
We do not have a central tracking system for business partner gifts, and for this reason, we don't have any specific information that we can provide you with on this particular topic, but I can assure you that gifts are always handled in accordance with our guidelines, and we are painfully aware to make sure that our global compliance organizations are on top of this. They are very effective, and you may know that Siemens AG back then learned it the hard way, but all the three Siemens companies now have learned the lesson, and of course, also all the colleagues and employees have not only adopted the rules and regulations, but have also adopted the right attitudes and a very, very clear behavior as well, so I'm very pleased, very happy, and I think that's what our back office colleagues wrote down.
I would just like to talk about a few topics which you, Mr. Giebel, have also mentioned regarding me as a person. It was about you assuming that with my contribution, I'm just paraphrasing here, but I think my ideology would affect the business possibly. This does not align with what's happening. This also has nothing to do with the current, past, or future governments. It's simply a case of the fact that when you have someone holding speeches, because a company, of course, needs to be able to plan properly in the future. Of course, you can always look at where you invest, how you invest, why you invest, and how you deal with certain things, especially, of course, in the world of the economy. That's why I don't think it has any particular relation to current events. Let me just say that.
You were also worried about whether my social commitments have any particular impact on Siemens customers regarding their purchases in all three Siemens companies. And first off, my social commitment as a person is as a private person. This has nothing to do with me in my various mandates. If that were the case, I would tell you. There's basically two things that I particularly stand up for, which number one is the protection and the safety of Jewish life in Germany. And I believe there's enough work still to do. It is about that never again something like what happened back in the 40s will never happen again. I could, of course, explain to you why that is so important, but I think enough has been said.
And the second thing is that as someone who for a very long time was working for a company, has seen it across different functions for who has been responsible for a big transformation together with the managing board and 400,000 people, you know, I've learned a lot in this. I've made many mistakes, I've seen many things, and all things considered. And then looking at the political party programs of certain parties who would demand leaving the European Union, going back to the Deutsche Mark currency in Germany, then I do think it is my obligation, it is my responsibility to point out what these things would lead to, what these things would benefit should they receive a political mandate. And that's all that it is.
If your comments were true that a comment on one particular party, which is allegedly also partially right-wing radicals, proven right-wing radicals, then according to today's forecasts, you know, they're going to end up with roughly 20%. So if your comment were true, that this were to impact potential purchasers, we would have 80% market share. We're not quite there, I would say. So I think that alone is, you know, a personal comment, which of course is your absolute right. You can have your own opinion, just like I also have a right to voice my opinion as a citizen of this country. So luckily, we can still voice our own opinions here in Germany without having to be afraid that next time you need an official pardon in order to not be affected by any particular penalties. So let me just say that. Ms.
Grimm, well, again, you talked about it that I said quite honestly or very honestly, and Ms. Deckwirth, I really value her role and also LobbyControl, and therefore there's a lot of empathy that I connect with that. I would wish that these sorts of organizations would carry out the same good work across different regions in the world. That would be important, so quite honestly, this has nothing to do with anything but showing my appreciation. You also pointed out that Mr. Fembacher criticized that I commented on social topics in this country, and quite honestly, Mr. Fembacher oftentimes also criticized us transforming Siemens. He said, "We are shrinking the company, we are destroying the company." I think he may have changed his position, but I still am very happy that he is still faithful to us across all three Siemens companies.
But if you meet him, maybe you just ask him personally why there is a we for Siemens, a we for Siemens as a representative of the employee shareholders. So again, just answering the question with a question maybe. Now, Ms. Neubauer, very important. I think first of all, we need to figure out the facts again. I don't know what the Spiegel wrote. It's not as clear what the Spiegel is writing anymore. But fact is that back then, I offered Ms. Neubauer a position in a consulting committee relating to the Supervisory Board. Of course, I cannot say that she's going to be a member of the Supervisory Board because that's only up to you as a shareholder. Why would I have done this? Well, it's because you want to be particularly woke. That, of course, would be a theoretical possibility, but that is not correct.
I back then just wanted to give those people who determine our future, the young people, the people who go out on the streets for a good reason. I just wanted to make it clear to them that there is a moral imperative, that there are moral levels in the world of the economy, that there is something between what you want to do and what you can do, that we can diagnose a climate crisis. And of course, it's no longer contested except for by a few people, and that it is very important as a treatment, as a therapy for this crisis. That's why I offered it to her. She did not accept, which was, of course, also her absolute right.
But I do still think that it is important to bring the young generation to the table, to listen to them, and to have a constructive dialogue with this young generation, and that, you know, you also have a little bit of a positive experience and try to pass it on to other people, and I would also, by the way, wish that when we have these discussions about the pensions and how we can finance the pensions, we also listen to the younger generation and not just to the old people like myself, who will no longer have an issue with paying for the pensions, so again, a few comments, a few off-the-cuff remarks. I'm just seeing if there's anything else that we haven't covered. Mr. Bruch has still an open question. Yes, Ms. Rupprecht, she had a question on compliance topics.
She was asking about the number of tips, notes, and complaints in the past fiscal year, which we got through the whistleblower system, and she was also asking about specific legal breaches, reactions, as well as the current open cases, open findings. In fiscal 2024, we had 147 compliance cases that were reported. This is mainly in the areas of anti-corruption, money laundering, competition law, data protection, human rights, and other breaches against our Siemens Energy business conduct guidelines. For confidentiality and business-related reasons, of course, we cannot give you any details or any specific information about the type or status of these activities. We are, of course, always in alignment with the respective legal guidelines.
If there is a breach that we can find, we are, of course, taking the respective disciplinary measures and are following not only our own guidelines, but also the legal stipulations in order to ensure a proper handling of the matter. Mr. Leiner asked about transformation risks at Siemens Energy due to political measures in order to fight global warming and reducing or lowering gas consumption forecasts. We see that all the forecasts are pointing towards an increasing power consumption until 2050. This cannot only be covered with renewables. Gas power plants are going to be continued to be in operations in order to ensure the right supply, to stabilize the grid, and to buffer the performance peaks where we need particular amounts of power. Also, the requirement is increasing for efficient gas power plants in order to replace coal plants.
Of course, we already covered this, but it's still on the list as open. So let me just emphasize it again. If I've already read it out, please do accept my apologies. But as already mentioned, modern gas power plants can already be using hydrogen or carbon capture. They can be brought together. Most measures and energy political concepts also meet these insights and therefore are seeing gas and gas power plants as a crucial part in the combating of climate change. Therefore, we don't see any transformation risks materializing. And now I have to double-check, but I think that's it on the list. I think we have. Maria, I think you still have one. Maria.
Yes, thank you. Dear Ms. Rupprecht, you ask about the company segments in which the proportion of women is lowest or highest. In all our business areas, we have a 15% share of women.
At Siemens Gamesa, it is 17%. In the support functions, we see the highest percentage of women with an average of approximately 50%. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We do now have a smaller number of open questions that are being drawn up. It's now 5:20 P.M. We'll take a break of 10 minutes. So we will reconvene at 5:30 P.M. and begin answering the questions still open. Thank you very much and see you at 5:30 P.M. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, shareholders. Thank you so much for your patience. I think we're now moving to our last round of answers, and I will pass the floor to our CEO, Christian.
Yes, I received three questions from Ms. Pauline Rupprecht. Ms. Rupprecht, you asked about specific violations of human rights or risks at Siemens Energy or its suppliers in the last fiscal year.
Reaction and clarification of this: In the fiscal year 2024, two violations in occupational safety were ascertained in the supply chain. Due to confidentiality, we're unable to give you more specific information on the type of violation. When a violation is ascertained, we do take disciplinary action and follow internal guidelines and regulatory provisions. With regards to the fiscal year 2025, eight complaints have been received. Four were classified as non-plausible. The others are still being assessed. You also asked about the additional costs of 2023 and the following years, the marginal costs regarding European reporting standards or alternative standards for sustainability reporting. Looking at the activities for creating the sustainability report, many colleagues from various divisions are involved, and it's therefore not possible to delimit the marginal costs specifically. But in the fiscal year 2024, we had approximately EUR 1 million for compiling the sustainability report. Ulrich Giebel.
You had asked about the number of attendees at the beginning of the general debate, who had submitted contributions or who wanted to speak in total. There were 23 requests to speak. 19 of these were realized. No further will speak. Those were the questions that I had received. Maria?
Y es. Thank you. Do you have any? Yes, thank you. Dear Ms. Rupprecht, you asked about the marginal and full costs in the last completed financial year and in the current financial year for financial reporting in accordance with the German Commercial Code, HGB, and IFRS. The activities necessary for the preparation of the financial reports are very broad, involve many colleagues from business areas and functions, and in addition to core financial reporting, also include non-financial matters such as sustainability reporting as part of the management report.
Therefore, it is not possible to clearly identify the specific costs in isolation. For orientation, in fiscal year 2024, we spent a low- to mid-double-digit million EUR amount on audit services, in particular for the audit of the consolidated and individual financial statements of Siemens Energy AG. In addition, there are costs for the wages and salaries of the employees involved. Thank you. Ja, vielen Dank.
Thank you very much. Now it's my turn to answer the open questions. Mr. Giebel, thank you once again for your follow-up question. You asked about the specific amount of the remuneration for the notary and legal costs for the notary for the group in 2023 and 2024. I'm happy to further specify. Mr. Kirchner, for our group in 2023 and 2024, was only an employee for notarizing various signatures, and the amount charged was approximately EUR 11,000 net.
I think that we already answered this question, whether the passage regarding my comments on the economy or whether the passage in my speech referring to political caprice would have a negative impact on the government that's offered us guarantees. Well, no. This was in reference, was not in reference to a previous, current, or future government. It was, to be perfectly honest, based on my own life experience. After counting when I come to the final question to be answered, Mr. Giebel, you asked about the speakers who had exceeded their time limit in the first round and the share of this caused by my interruptions. You can read this quite clearly here. Three speakers exceeded the recommended speaking time. Ultimately, it wasn't a recommendation. It was more of a request for fairness by five minutes and 49 seconds.
The share of my interruptions is the chair of the meeting, and discussion surrounding these is well below one minute. I hope that this has clarified the situation and that we've now answered all questions. Now we have three requests for clarification. Mr. Giebel, this is in response to your questions, one of which being the number of female and non-binary employees below the Executive Board. I refer to the first, second, and third levels having 5,460 female employees, 160 on the first, 1,200 on the second, and approximately 4,000 on the third level below the Executive Board. That's a percentage of 41% on level one, 30% on level three. Non-binary employees are not systematically recorded, as I've already mentioned. There was then a follow-up question regarding the highest, lowest, and average compensation in the group.
For reasons of data protection, we're unable to offer you any specific data regarding exact amounts that would enable you to conclude individual persons' salaries. You also asked about the total compensation. We would like to add one point on that. The compensation of our employees in the last two fiscal years can only be indicated using the gross target income. Members of management and higher receive stock awards. These are seen as long-term performance-dependent compensation elements and are offered, transferred over a period of four years. And with that, I believe all questions have been answered. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, shareholders. As far as we're aware, we have now reached the end of the list of speakers and believe that we have now answered all questions that you have asked.
All shareholders were able to contribute on all points of the agenda, and I therefore assume that the annual financial statements and the respective agenda items have been sufficiently explained. I also assume that all questions that you have asked have been sufficiently answered. Should any shareholders believe that their questions have not been answered or not been sufficiently answered, according to paragraph 131(5) German Stock Corporation Act, these can be filed retrospectively. Should you wish to do that, please use the internet site and the button "Objection" under article 131, paragraph 5, German Stock Corporation Act. Please use this on the internet service. Please then enter in the window that opens your questions that were not answered or were not fully answered so that these can be reflected in the minutes. These will be sent directly to the email inbox administered by the notary.
As time might well be necessary to do this, I will now give you a break for five minutes, and we'll then continue.
Right, we are back. It took a little bit longer. Thank you for your patience. But of course, we wanted to make sure that we can really make sure that we answer your questions, also follow-up questions. I had already closed the question and answers session, but there were two requests for clarification, and we were asked to be more specific. And of course, we're happy to do that, no doubt about it, if we can help with this. The CEO will now have the last word.
No, not quite. Y es, we're happy to do that. Just I thought that we had partly answered this already, but just to make it clear, once again, it's about Mr. Giebel. Your question about the cost of the AGM in 2024. Now, the cost for the AGM in 2024 were approximately 2 million EUR. The five most expensive items were the cost for legal support, approximately 480,000 EUR. The share-related handling of the AGM, 400,000 EUR. Postal fees for sending out invitations are 250,000 EUR. And the technical equipment of the studio, about 210,000 EUR. The previous one was 250,000. And then services related to project management, approximately 100,000 EUR. And there was one question from Mr. Schultz on the improvement of the 5.X platform for wind energy. And if different components had quality deficiencies, altogether, it's more than 100 individual problems. And all of these were analyzed in detail to find and identify solutions and improvements. The main problems related to the central bearings and blades, and depending on the specific defect, components were replaced or strengthened.
In the course of remedying the quality problems, we first of all focused on solutions with the greatest influence on the entire fleet, and the remaining 30% also include a wide range of different components, but that should really be the end of the answers that we have to supply to you. Another question of the cost of the AGM. Now, that was answered, but we answered this as Mr. Giebel's question, and he told us that obviously Infineon doesn't pay as much, at least in terms of the cost. It's less expensive, but never mind. Sometimes it's better to give the same answer twice.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, after this short excursion into the informal matters, let's go back to our formal agenda for today. We still have quite a lot of work in front of us, and thank you for being patient.
Formally, I would like to note now that all of the answers asked at today's AGM, apart from those that were recorded in the notary's minutes and not or not sufficiently answered, that all of these have now been sufficiently answered, and with this, we close the general debate on all items on the agenda. I would like to thank all of the shareholders and proxies for the lively participation, for the good discussion, for the many questions, and also the statements which you submitted, and I would like to thank the Executive Board for the comprehensive answers. The CEO, I wrote down, answered 154 questions, CFO, 23 questions, and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board answered 19 questions. Now, that's quite a lot, and it shows that you're really interested in our company, and that's good.
Now, let's proceed to the vote on the resolutions proposed by management on agenda items 2 to 10, which were also published in the Federal Gazette of 19th December 2024 in the notice of today's meeting. And on agenda item 1, it's not necessary to adopt a resolution. And as chair of this meeting, I am the one who decides how we are going to vote. We are going to use the so-called addition procedure, addition method. Only the yes and no votes are counted under the addition method. Abstentions are not recorded and therefore do not have any influence on the result. As announced in the convening notice, we will now vote on the ratification of the acts of the members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board under agenda items 3 and 4 by way of so-called individual discharge.
On the election of the candidates proposed for the Supervisory Board under agenda item 8, also by way of individual election. You can also vote separately on the appointment of the auditor under agenda item 5.1 and the appointment of the auditor of the sustainability report under agenda item 5.2. There you can vote separately and also vote differently. All resolutions under item 2 to 10 on the agenda will, however, be voted on in a single procedure. Now, if you have already cast your votes by absentee vote or postal vote, or if you have already issued a power of attorney and instructions to the company's proxies, you do not need to do anything at all. However, you can still change your decision now via the password-protected internet service or by email.
If you have not yet cast a vote or issued a proxy, you still have the opportunity to do so. You can still do that today in today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting. Voting at today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting or AGM can still take place by means of electronic communication, via online absentee voting using the password-protected internet service, or by email, or by voting through the proxies appointed by the company. The proxies must have received authorization and instructions beforehand, naturally. Just before the start of voting, I will set the exact time until which you can still have the opportunity to exercise or change your vote or to issue a proxy via the internet service or by email. The votes to be cast by the company-appointed proxies in accordance with the shareholders' instructions are recorded, and they are filed in our IT system.
Then these votes will be released by the proxies here in this room on a mobile recording device during the vote, so they are then included in the voting result directly. All absentee votes or postal votes received on time are also taken into account for the voting result and are determined, evaluated, and filed using our IT system. The voting process is supervised by our notary public, Mr. Kirchner. Resolutions on the agenda items 2 to 8 require a simple majority. Resolutions on agenda items 9 and 10 require, in addition, a majority of at least three quarters of the share capital represented at the time the resolution is passed.
In accordance with Section 136, Paragraph 1 of the German Stock Corporation Act, current or former members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board may not exercise voting rights from their own shares or those of third parties, nor may they have their voting rights for their own shares exercised by a third party insofar as their own discharge is voted on. The corresponding shareholding is therefore not entitled to vote on the discharge of the respective board member under the respective agenda items 3 or 4. The necessary precautions have been taken to take account of this voting ban, and the shares concerned have also been blocked in the IT system for the counting of votes as a precautionary measure.
The deconsolidation agreement that Siemens Energy AG concluded with Siemens AG and Siemens Beteiligungen Inland GmbH in connection with a spinoff from Siemens AG in 2020 also provides for restrictions on the voting rights of Siemens AG and Siemens Beteiligungen Inland GmbH. Now, in consultation with Siemens AG and Siemens Beteiligungen Inland GmbH, we have taken precautions to ensure that the maximum number of votes permitted in accordance with the deconsolidation agreement is observed for agenda items 3, 4, 8, and 9 in each case. These precautions have also been agreed with Mr. Kirchner, our notary public, who takes the minutes of our annual shareholders meeting. The deconsolidation agreement is available on the company's website as Annex 19, if you're interested. Annex 19 to the spinoff and transfer agreement between Siemens AG and Siemens Energy AG dated 22 May 2020.
Under the link, which you can see now, here it is, www.siemens-energy.com/entflechtung, which means deconsolidation. This is where you can find it. Ladies and gentlemen, I now call agenda items 2 to 10, which are to be put to the vote. The exact and therefore authoritative wording of all proposed resolutions can be found in the convening notice of today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting published in the Federal Gazette on the 19th of December 2024, which is also available on the company's website. I will therefore refrain from reading out the wording of the proposed resolutions individually. And I think that's also in your interest. But if you're interested, you can find it in the Federal Gazette. It was published in the notice published in the Federal Gazette.
On agenda items 2 to 10, I'm putting the management's proposed resolutions announced in the notice convening the annual shareholders meeting to the vote unchanged. So these proposed resolutions have not changed. In the run-up to the annual shareholders meeting, we also received counter-motions that had to be made accessible. And we have duly published these on the company's website. And these are the counter-motion of the Wir für Siemens e.V. Association on agenda item 10, i.e., the amendment to authorize virtual annual shareholders meeting and the counter-motions of the Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre on agenda items 3, 4 and 10, i.e., ratification of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board and naturally also the virtual annual shareholders meeting. They were duly published on the internet website of our company. And as of that time, you were able to exercise voting rights regarding these.
As all shareholders submitting the motions are duly authorized and registered for the Annual Shareholders' Meeting, and since they actually spoke at the meeting, as you might remember, these motions are deemed to have been submitted at the Annual Shareholders' Meeting in accordance with the relevant legal provisions. I will first of all put the management's proposal on the agenda items to the vote. And if these are accepted, the counter-motions are rejected. And there is no need for a vote on the counter-motions. If a resolution proposed by management on an agenda item does not achieve the required majority, I will then put the respective counter-motion to the vote. So we will vote on the counter-motion in that case. Ladies and gentlemen, now it is 6:12 P.M. We will now soon at, here it says, 6:20 P.M. It's 6:20 P.M., or maybe 6:30 P.M.
I'm looking at our clock. So at 6:30 P.M., so at 6:30 P.M., we will vote. So now you have, for the very last time, you have a last opportunity until 6:30 P.M. to use the password-protected internet service or email to cast your vote by absentee vote or to change absentee votes already cast, or secondly, to authorize the proxies of the company and to issue instructions to them or to change instructions already issued, or third, to grant, provide, or revoke a power of attorney to a third party. Please note that there may be a delay in transmission for technical reasons, a delay in transmission on the internet. I told you about this a couple of times. So therefore, make sure you submit your declarations in good time now. And that this time of receipt is decisive here.
If you wish to submit your declaration by email, please note that this must enable the shareholder to be clearly identified. That's obvious. Otherwise, we cannot take this into account, so please therefore state your first name, your surname, and the address of the shareholder, and if known, also the shareholder number. This would help us a lot, and please also submit your declarations in good time so that we receive them in due time. Declarations received after the indicated deadline can no longer be considered, so I would like to ask the technical team to implement this accordingly. So right, these were the instructions, and now we're going to take a short break until 6:30 P.M. At 6:30 P.M., we will continue with our meeting. So, Willkommen zurück, meine sehr geehrten Damen und Herren, liebe Aktionäre und Klimaschutzverbände.
Dear Shareholders, it is now 6:30 P.M. on the dot, and we will continue the Annual Shareholders' Meeting, and we'll now come to the conclusion of the vote. I hereby note that, as announced, no more votes can be cast or changed by absentee vote since 6:30 P.M., from now. The same applies, of course, to proxies and the instructions. I would ask the proxies to now release the votes for the shares they represent that have been recorded in our IT system in accordance with the instructions issued. Excellent. We're getting the thumbs up. This means the proxies have approved the instructions. I note that all votes have been cast on all items on the agenda. This concludes the vote on agenda items 2 to 10 on the agenda. I would now ask you to determine the voting results. The voting results are now going to be determined.
This will take a few minutes before the results will be available, of course, and we're therefore going to take another break yet again. We'll be back in a second. Thank you. So, wir sind. All right. We are now back with the voting results. Ladies and gentlemen, fellow shareholders, or dear shareholders, I have received the voting results. We will therefore continue the Annual Shareholders' Meeting and will now move to the announcement and determination of the voting results of today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting. Before doing so, I would like to point out that I will close the Annual Shareholders' Meeting shortly after the voting results have been determined and announced.
Please note that you will have until the close of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting, which means approximately two to three minutes after the announcement of the voting results, to declare any objections and have them added to the notary public's minutes via the Internet service. The possibility of lodging objections ends once the Annual Shareholders' Meeting will be closed. The same applies to requests for the recording of unanswered or inadequately answered questions and have this included in the minutes. Please bear in mind that the livestream of the transmission of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting is subject to a potential technical delay and that the closing of the Annual Shareholders' Meeting will therefore only be transmitted to you once the meeting has actually ended here on site. You should therefore submit any objections in good time. We will now move on to the voting results of today's Annual Shareholders' Meeting.
I will once again inform you about the fact that one shareholder has submitted the request for the comprehensive reading out of the results. I will, of course, correspond to this request by providing the results orally in a shortened version while at the same time pointing to the detailed voting results which are displayed for each resolution item on the screen so you are able to read up on all the individual voting details. And of course, this will be the subject of my resolution on the respective resolution item. This procedure meets the legal requirements for a comprehensive resolution reading which has also been agreed with our notary public, Mr. Kirchner. The detailed voting results will, of course, also be published on the company's website after the end of the annual shareholders' meeting.
I am now going to announce the resolutions on items 2 to 10 on the agenda. Regarding item 2, the management proposal on the appropriation of the net income of Siemens Energy AG for the finished fiscal year 2023-2024. This was approved by 99.88% of the valid votes cast and has thus been adopted by the required majority. The distributable net income of the past fiscal year 2023-2024 in the amount of EUR 151,568,282.53 will be carried forward in full. This brings me to agenda item number 3 of the agenda. The acts of all the members of the Executive Board for the fiscal year 2024 have been ratified with the required majority. Individually, this means Dr. Christian Bruch with 99.76%, Maria Ferraro with 99.84%. It still gets better, believe it. Karim Amin with 99.85%. And he shares the pole position with Tim Holt with equally 99.85%.
And it looks like it's a triple win because number 3 is Anne-Laure de Chammard with also 99.85%. Close second is Vinod Philip with 99.84%. This is, of course, of all the valid votes cast. And I would like to thank all the shareholders for their trust on behalf of the executive board. We are now moving on to agenda item number 4. This is pertaining to the verification of the acts of the members of the supervisory board for the fiscal year 2024. This has been ratified with the respective majority. Joe Kaeser with 99.73%. Robert Kensbock with 99.85%. Hubert Lienhard with 99.85%. Günter Augustat with 99.85%. Manfred Bäreis with 99.85%. Manuel Blömer with 99.85%. Christine Bortenlänger with 99.85%. Andrea Fehrmann with 99.85%. Dr. Andreas Feldmüller with 99.85%. Nadine Florian with 99.85%. Sigmar Gabriel with 99.81%. I'm assuming this is the Atlantic Bridge we're talking about here. Maybe not.
Professor Grimm with 99.83%. Horst Hackelberg with 99.85%. Jürgen Körner with 99.85%. Almost everyone with 99.85%, but I'll still read the rest. Simone Menne with 99.85%. Oh, Hildegard Müller with 99.84%. Laurence Mulliez with 99.85%. Thomas Pfann with 99.85%. Matthias Rebellius with 99.85%. Just like Cornelia Schau with 99.85%. Dr. Ralf Thomas with, oh, also, he received 99.84%. Geisha Williams with 99.84%. And last but certainly not least, Randy Zwirn with 99.84%. I would like to thank all of you, of course, for the trust bestowed upon the supervisory board and your votes. We'll now move on to agenda item number five. This is, of course, a split resolution. This is agenda item 5.1.
This is pertaining to the appointment of the independent auditor for KPMG AG, Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft München, to have them be the auditor for the annual financial statements and the consolidated financial statements, as well as the auditor for the half-year report for the first half-year 2025, as well as for fiscal 2024-2025. This has been approved with 99.82% of the valid votes cast and therefore has been adopted with the required majority. Agenda item 5.. 2 of the agenda. This is the Supervisory Board's motion to make KPMG AG, Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft München, the auditor for the sustainability report for fiscal 2024 and 2025. This motion has been approved with 99.83% of the valid votes cast and therefore has been adopted with the required majority. We are now moving on to agenda item number 6. This is the management proposal regarding the approval of the compensation report for fiscal year 2023-2024.
This was, of course, a central point of our communication. This was a difficult point because it had to reflect a very specific and particular situation. This is not a typo. Okay. Now, this resolution proposal has been approved with 99.43% of the valid votes cast and therefore has been approved by the required majority. We're now moving on to item number seven. Even more complex, of course, because this is also a future-oriented resolution. This is regarding the approval of the compensation system for the members of the Executive Board. Oh, sorry, this is for 2023-2024. I'm sorry. So again, this was approved with 97.81% of the valid votes cast and therefore has been adopted by the required majority. I am now moving on to agenda item number eight. This is regarding the election to the Supervisory Board.
First off, this is for those colleagues who are new. This was regarding the election of Anja- Isabel Dotzenrath. Her election to the Supervisory Board was approved with 99.77% of the valid votes cast and therefore has been adopted with the required majority. Next, the proposed election to the Supervisory Board of Sigmar Gabriel. This has been approved with 99.3% of the valid votes cast and has therefore been adopted with the required majority. Next, the proposed election to the Supervisory Board of Joe Kaeser. This has been approved with 82.18% of the valid votes cast and therefore has been adopted with the required majority. Next, the proposed election to the Supervisory Board of Dr. Hubert Lienhard. This has been approved with 96.76% of the valid votes cast and has therefore been adopted with the required majority.
The proposed election of Laurence Mulliez into the Supervisory Board has been adopted with 96.97% of the valid votes cast and has therefore been adopted by the required majority. Next, the proposed election of Matthias Rebellius into the Supervisory Board. This has been approved with 97.28% of the valid votes cast and has therefore been adopted by the required majority. Next, the proposed election of Geisha Williams into the Supervisory Board. This has been approved with 99.47% of the valid votes cast and has therefore been adopted by the required majority. And last but not least, we're moving on to the proposed election of Dr. Feiyu Xu into the Supervisory Board. This has been approved by 98.16% of the valid votes cast and has therefore been adopted by the required majority.
With that, ladies and gentlemen, all the proposed Supervisory Board candidates up for re-election or up for a new election have been approved. With this, I would like to thank you very much for your trust and for your votes. This brings us to agenda item number nine of the agenda. This is, of course, pertaining to the compensation for the members of the Supervisory Board. Again, nothing's changed, of course. This was approved with 99.56% of the valid votes cast and has therefore been adopted by the required majority. Last but not least, agenda item number ten. This is pertaining to the amendment of the Articles of Association relating to virtual shareholders' meetings. This has been approved with 93.74% of the valid votes cast and has therefore been adopted by the required majority. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you very much for your votes.
We absolutely are aware that especially the topic of the virtual and in-person annual shareholders' meetings are a particularly intense topic. This was subject to great discussions that, of course, was also very tricky for some other companies during this AGM season. Ladies and gentlemen, we're basically at the end. We have reached the end of the annual shareholders' meeting. In two to three minutes, I will be closing the AGM, so now is the time. In case you have anything you would like to have added to the minutes, I would like to point out that the next Siemens Energy annual shareholders' meeting is expected to take place. It is expected to take place, but it is almost certainly going to take place in Berlin in February of 2026.
As already announced, this Annual Shareholders' Meeting will be our first in-person AGM since the launch of the company and will therefore, I believe, be a very special event. Now, before I close today's meeting, I will tell you that I am really looking forward to welcoming you in person in Berlin. And allow me just to comment on fiscal 2024. I think if you say that fiscal 2024, and also, of course, the end of 2023, I think if we say that this was nothing for weak nerves, not for the Supervisory Board, not for the Executive Board, not for the employees, not for the employee representatives, whom I would expressly like to thank for their excellent cooperation, for the beautiful collaboration in these times.
We were really working together well, and I can tell you that in good times, you have lots of friends, but in difficult times, it's even more important to have good friends. So I do remember the many, many discussions, the many debates that we had throughout this process, also when it comes to the caps in the compensation system. All that taking into account, it is very important to have good colleagues on the employee representatives' side, on your side, who are responsible, who have the right perspective. Because, of course, board compensation is not necessarily something that wins you a lot of new fans and friends. And that's why I really can only emphasize that this was a great process, and I have nothing but the greatest respect for this collaborative process. Of course, I would also like to thank all of our employees throughout these turbulent times.
I would also like to thank you, our shareholders. We saw that we had a very intense discussion today, lots of contributions, lots of speeches, lots of questions, but we also saw it in the voting. I can tell you a personal secret because we're just amongst ourselves. I would have never believed that the shareholders would have expressed their approval of the compensation system in such a comprehensive manner. And of course, we had to create the compensation system in this manner due to the special circumstances. So I really think this is quite astounding. I think it takes a lot of courage and bravery. And I do know that in the catalogs that the compliance departments of the investors have to fill out, it's not laid out to match this.
So we had to really have excellent communication, and I would like to thank you very much for this good cooperation. I would also like to personally thank you for your trust. 82%. Those are necessarily North Korean voting results, but I believe it is important that one of the most prominent investor proxies had legitimate concerns that we're trying to work out. We haven't worked them out just yet, but I still think 82% isn't that bad. I think any political party in Germany would be happy to get half of that. So I'm particularly happy to have gotten these results and that so many investors have seen the issues, the challenges, and have accepted and understood our reasoning. Now, the most important thing I haven't said just yet, the most important thing, ladies and gentlemen, is behind the camera. It's backstage.
I don't know if we can switch the camera. I don't know if we can flip it around. Yes, no, maybe. This is it. This is the team. This is the team of the AGM. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not our fan club. These are the people that we can rely on, that we have relied on here today in our supervisory board meeting, in the annual shareholders' meeting, and basically any time we have any important tasks that we need to tackle together. And I would like to therefore thank you very much publicly. I will do so again off camera, but publicly, thank you very much for your support. It's not always easy to work with us. It's also not easy. It's not even easy if you have a 300% stock price increase, but it makes the work even more important and even more complex.
Thank you very much for the great collaboration. With that, ladies and gentlemen, I have covered the three minutes that I was tasked to cover to make sure that everybody can log whatever they wanted to log. We're good to go. This concludes today's meeting. I'm particularly looking forward to the next annual shareholders' meeting in person together in Berlin. Until then, nothing but the best. Stay healthy, and we'll see you at the annual shareholders' meeting in 2026. This officially concludes the 2025 annual shareholders' meeting. Thank you very much.