Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board, I would like to warmly welcome all of you. I'm opening the regular annual general meeting of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and calling it to order. My name is Wolfgang Büchele. In pursuit of Article 23, paragraph one, sentence one of the Articles of Association, as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I am chairing this annual general meeting. First, I would like to welcome you, our shareholders and shareholder representatives. I'm pleased by the great interest you are showing in our company by participating in this annual general meeting. I would also like to welcome the representatives of the media who are following our annual general meeting via the Internet. I would have liked to welcome you all in person. However, special circumstances do not allow this again this year.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our annual general meeting will again not be held at the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt, but rather as a virtual event without the physical presence of shareholders and their proxies. In view of the unchanged widespread spread of the coronavirus and after careful consideration before convening the annual general meeting, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board decided that for your protection and ours, we must restrict ourselves to this virtual format of the annual general meeting at this time. We are aware that holding the virtual annual general meeting involves certain restrictions of shareholders' rights. In particular, you will not be able to directly enter into a dialogue with the management as usual during the general debate.
To enable you to exercise your shareholder rights appropriately at our virtual annual general meeting, the company offers you a wide range of options, which we have expanded, compared with last year's annual general meeting. Registered shareholders were able to a ddress questions to the management up to one day before the annual general meeting. We will address these questions in detail and comprehensively after Ms. Belén Garijo's speech. As announced in the invitation to the annual general meeting, we already published the speech by Ms. Belén Garijo on April 11th, 2022, in order to give you the possibility to refer to the contents of her speech in your questions and opinions. In this way, we would like to promote the dialogue and exchange with you.
In addition, as described in the invitation, during the annual general meeting, shareholders can use the investor portal to submit follow-up questions on the answers to their previously submitted questions. Submission of follow-up questions is possible up to the time I will announce as chairman of the meeting. I will explicitly inform you 10 minutes before the opportunity to ask questions ends. This will enable you to submit your follow-up questions via the investor portal in good time if you have not done so by then anyway. As a further option to promote the exchange of views, shareholders and their proxies were able to submit comments to the company until April 19th , 2022. We have published these comments on the investor portal. We will also broadcast all video statements during the course of the annual general meeting.
You were already able to exercise your voting rights before the annual general meeting and can still do so until today until I close the voting after the questions have been answered. Until that time, proxy authorizations and instructions can still be issued to the company's proxies. If you have any questions about the investor portal, may I ask registered shareholders to contact our hotline by phone or email. You will find the contact details in the investor portal and displayed here. The hotline will be available until the end of the annual general meeting. To avoid the risk of infection, we have limited the number of people present to a few. All persons who are physically present have tested negative for COVID-19 prior to the event and are maintaining the required safety distance.
We apply a strict hygiene and safety protocol to be able to conduct this AGM safely. Here with me are the Chair of the Executive Board, Ms. Belén Garijo, CFO Dr. Marcus Kuhnert, as well as Dr. Kai Beckmann, CEO Electronics, Peter Guenter, CEO Healthcare, and Dr. Matthias Heinzel, CEO Life Science. The members of the Supervisory Board not attending this meeting in person are following the annual general meeting via the Internet and can get in touch with me and the other members of the Executive Board as required. Furthermore, I welcome the officiating notary, Dr. Albach, who is keeping the minutes of this annual general meeting, and Dr. Friederike Rotsch, Group General Counsel. Lastly, I welcome the proxies appointed by the company. Thank you for joining this meeting.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would first like to address the formalities that must be attended to before we deal with the agenda. The convocation of today's virtual annual general meeting was convened via the publication of the agenda in the German Federal Gazette on 9th March 2022, in the required form and within the stipulated period. A printout of the invitation from the Federal Gazette is attached to the minutes prepared by the notary. The information stipulated by Section 125 of the German Stock Corporation Act was submitted by the executive board within the stipulated period and as described by law. Moreover, the notice of this annual general meeting was forwarded to those media that can be assumed to disseminate information throughout the entire European Union.
The annual financial statement for fiscal 2021, including the proposal of the Executive Board for the appropriation of the net retained profit, the consolidated financial statements, the group management report, and the report of the Supervisory Board have been available on the website of the company since the date on which the Annual General Meeting was convened. Because the company has not received any motion to supplement today's agenda, only the agenda as published must be dealt with. Shareholders have not made use of the possibility to submit countermotions to the company prior to the Annual General Meeting. Since the invitation of the Annual General Meeting was published, the documents and information specified in Section 124a of the German Stock Corporation Act have been available on the website of the company. Copies of these documents are available to the notary.
I thus ascertain that this annual general meeting was called in the required form and within the stipulated period. The required register of attendees will be kept electronically this year. The company's proxies present here, and the shareholders they represent, will be included in this register of attendees. Depending on the proxies issued or revoked in the course of today's annual general meeting, presence will change. I would now like to inform you of the presence as it currently appears from the register of attendees. After the voting results have been determined, I will inform you of the presence again. Out of the share capital of the company in the amount of EUR 168,014,927.60, divided in 129,242,252 no-par value shares.
33,485,270 no-par shares are represented with the same amount of votes. This corresponds to 64.6% of the share capital. On top of this, absentee votes were received for 237,925 no-par shares. This corresponds to 0.18% of the share capital. Shareholders registered for the annual general meeting were able to exercise their voting rights prior to the meeting by absentee voting or by instructing and authorizing the company's proxies. Up to the start of voting, shareholders can still issue proxies and instructions to the company's proxies via the investor portal or exercise their voting rights online by absentee voting.
I will expressly draw your attention to the final opportunity to vote and issue instructions as soon as this time comes. Pursuant to Article 23, paragraph two, sentence two of the Articles of Association, it is my duty as chairman of this AGM to specify the manner and order of voting. As at past AGMs, voting will be based on the addition procedure. That is, the votes cast in favor of and the votes cast against the proposed resolutions will be counted. Abstentions do not have any impact on the result and are therefore not counted separately. Voting shall take place in one voting session after all agenda items have been dealt with. In line with the COVID-19 law, shareholders who were properly registered could submit their questions via the investor portal up until midnight on 20th April 2022.
We will answer the submitted questions after the speech by the Chair of the Executive Board, Ms. Belén Garijo. We will answer all questions that we receive and do so at least as thoroughly and comprehensively as we would at an in-person annual general meeting. We will always state the names of those asking the questions unless there is an explicit objection to their names being mentioned. Please note that this annual general meeting can be followed live by registered shareholders and will also be broadcast in full to the public via the internet. After the annual general meeting, however, only my introductory remarks, the report of the Supervisory Board, and the speech by the Chair of the Executive Board will be available on the internet. Subsequent to these introductory remarks, we will now begin with today's agenda, and I will call up agenda items 1 through 9.
The agenda, including the proposed resolutions by management regarding agenda items 2 to 9 are available to you. I would now like to begin with agenda item 1, presentation of the annual financial statements approved by the Supervisory Board, as well as the consolidated financial statements approved by the Supervisory Board and the combined management report, including the explanatory report on the information in accordance with section 289 a, section 315a of the German Commercial Code HGB for fiscal year 2021, and the report of the Supervisory Board. I ascertain the following. The documents have been available on the company's website since the date on which the annual general meeting was convened, and can still be accessed there. The annual financial statements of Merck KGaA were audited by KPMG AG Berlin. The audit did not lead to any objections.
The auditors issued an unqualified audit opinion on the financial statements rather, and the combined management report for Merck KGaA. In addition, KPMG audited the calculation of Merck KGaA's participation in the profits of E. Merck, in accordance with Article 27 paragraph two of the Articles of Associatio n. In addition, Merck KGaA prepares consolidated financial statements for the Merck Group in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards as well as the supplementary rules applicable under the German Commercial Code. In addition to the combined management report, KPMG also audited the consolidated financial statements. For the consolidated financial statements, the auditors issued the unqualified audit opinion reproduced in the annual report of the Merck Group.
The annual financial statements of Merck KGaA, the consolidated financial statements of the Merck Group, and the combined management report, as well as the corresponding audit reports of the auditors, were presented and distributed to the Supervisory Board. In accordance with Article 14, paragraph two of the Articles of Association , the Supervisory Board examined the annual financial statements of Merck KGaA, the consolidated financial statements, and the combined management report, as well as the report of the auditor presented in accordance with Article 27, paragraph two of the Articles of Association.
On completion of its examination at its meeting on 25th February 2022, the Supervisory Board raised no objections, and thus approved the annual financial statements of Merck KGaA, as well as the consolidated financial statements of the Merck Group and the combined management report prepared by the Executive Board, as well as the report presented by the auditors in accordance with Article 27, paragraph two of the Articles of Association . Ladies and gentlemen, let us begin with the report of the Supervisory Board. You will find the full report on pages 231 - 235 of the annual report for 2021. Please allow me to underscore the following. Cooperation with the Executive Board in fiscal year 2021 was characterized by an intensive, trustful exchange.
The Executive Board provided the Supervisory Board with regular written and verbal reports on the business development of Merck KGaA and the Merck Group. In particular, the Supervisory Board was informed about the current and potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the market and sales situation of the company against the background of macroeconomic developments, and the financial position of the company and its subsidiaries, along with their earnings development, as well as the corporate planning. Within the scope of quarterly reporting, the sales and operating results were presented for the Merck Group as a whole, and broken down by business sector. Apart from the Supervisory Board meetings, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board also maintained a regular exchange of information with the Chair of the Executive Board.
The chair of the audit committee reported comprehensively on the previous meetings of the audit committee, starting with the first regular meeting following its establishment in May 2021. Apart from the year-end audit and current business developments, the focus topics of the supervisory board meetings was on the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the strategy, concepts, projects, and collaborations of Merck in dealing with the pandemic, the regular reports by internal auditing, and the compliance and data privacy report. The supervisory board also dealt with the work of the Research and Development Committee of the Board of Partners of E. Merck KG.
Further important topics dealt with by the supervisory board included the virtual annual general meeting, the status of the enterprise resource planning project, the topic of sustainability as a critical success factor and strategic priority for Merck, the EU Chemical Strategy, the statutory auditor rotation, and the election of Deloitte GmbH as the statutory auditor for fiscal year 2023, the risk management activities of the company, as well as corporate governance developments. Ladies and gentlemen, that is all from my side now. I now turn the floor over to Ms. Belén Garijo, Chair of the Executive Board. She is going to report to you on the past fiscal year and speak about the company's future business developments. Please begin, Ms. Garijo.
Dear shareholders, welcome to the general annual meeting. The first time as the Chair of the Executive Board, and I want to thank you very much for your trust. Please allow me to continue my speech in English. First of all, I have to say it makes me very proud to lead a team of more than 60,000 curious minds at Merck. In everything we do, we build on a strong heritage. Merck is the world's oldest science and technology company, with a very proud track record of innovation since 1668. Our centuries long commitment to science and technology is what has always set us apart, is what make us unique. Those of you who have been part of our journey for some time now know very well that our dedication to advance human progress is deeply ingrained in our corporate DNA.
For those of you who joined us recently, I can assure you we will live up to this principle even more in the future. Now, we are all the more concerned when human progress is at risk, be it through a pandemic or worse, like the one currently going on in Ukraine. To me, personally, and to all of us at Merck, it is devastating to witness what is happening. We are shocked, we are saddened towards this human tragedy. We stand with the global community in demanding action to return fast to a peaceful coexistence in the region. Let me be very clear. Here at Merck, we condemn the invasion of Uk raine by Russia, because freedom, health, and well-being of civilians will always be at the center of our actions. We are fully committed to this responsibility, and we do live up to it.
As a purpose-driven company, we continue to supply patients in the affected region with much needed medicines. We have also restricted our transactions to Healthcare related business. The well-being of our employees in the affected regions continues to be our top priority. While we have no employees in Ukraine, we are working very closely with the local leadership teams to support our colleagues, both in Russia and in the regions, psychologically and professionally. We have donated more than EUR 3 million to the German Red Cross. More than half a million euros came from our colleagues from all around the world, signaling the solidarity that exists in the company. In addition, countless employees at many locations are involved in other kind of donations and humanitarian actions, and this is mainly in Poland and in Hungary. Our people host refugees in their homes.
They help them at the border in Poland. They collect food and relief supplies. A Merck truck transported 15 metric tons of food, first aid kits, toys, and sleeping bags to Poland. I will personally join our volunteers in Poland very soon to recognize and better support their efforts. While we continue to assess any necessary steps to ensure both the safety of our employees and our business continuity, our thoughts are with anyone and everyone affected by this war. Ladies and gentlemen, it is clear that the war in Ukraine is currently on everybody's mind. In times like this, it is somehow difficult to talk only about numbers. However, our obligation towards you today is to report on our business year 2021. Please allow me to return to what moved us here at Merck last year.
It is not possible to talk about 2021 without mentioning the other crisis, mentioning the pandemic. COVID-19 has continued to confront us with challenges. Challenges that whenever possible, we at Merck, turned into opportunities. Take the successful use of mRNA in the development of vaccines. It has been nothing short of a scientific breakthrough, but it will not be the last of its kind. Scientists have long been researching ways to use this technology to fight cancer. At Merck, we also believe in the promise that this new technology holds. During the pandemic, we strengthened our capabilities to help our customers, and partners, and the communities to fight the virus. Let me give you some examples of that. At the beginning of last year, we drastically accelerated the scale-up of custom lipids. Lipids are critical to the drug delivery systems of mRNA therapies and vaccines.
Among others, they are used for the production of the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna. Merck is one of the very few companies in the world that are currently able to produce custom lipids in significant volumes, and the demand for these lipids is higher and higher every day. At the end of 2021, we also announced our plans to acquire Exelead. The acquisition of Exelead closed in February 2022. What is Exelead? T his is a biopharmaceutica l contract development and manufacturing organization, also summarized as a CDMO, that specializes in injectable formulation and technologies to deliver drugs into the body. Together with AmpTec, it was the second important acquisition to enhance our mRNA offering. AmpTec is a leading German-based CDMO specialized in mRNA technology.
With both acquisitions, we aim to provide our customers with a one-stop shop across manufacturing processes for mRNA. In addition, we have supported about 80 different vaccine projects in the fight against COVID-19, and these include several customers requiring solutions for lab research, diagnostics, and for the manufacturing of medicines, therapeutic products. Overall, the pandemic has changed the world's view of science and technology. It has simply shown the potential that science and technology has to advance human progress. At the same time, it has been a structural accelerator for very important trends that we very well serve at Merck. Unlocking and seeing potential in fighting disease. More personalized patient care through digital health. Advancements in the life of the future, or the next generation of materials, equipment, and services to advance the digital world.
We are extremely well-positioned to capitalize on these growth trends of the 21st century. In 2021 already, we achieved the strategic milestones in all these segments. Our performance in all three business sectors very well illustrates my previous statement. Let me start with Life Science. With our Life Science products and solutions, we empower 1.6 million customers. We help those customers excel in fields such as scientific research, biotech, and pharmaceutical manufacturing worldwide, globally, every day. It is our largest sector in terms of sales. In 2021, the sales of Life Science increased organically by EUR 1.6 billion to reaching a new all-time high of EUR 9 billion. The main driver in Life Science was our Process Solutions business, the business in which we market products and services for the production of biologicals, vaccines, and pharmaceutical products.
Process Solutions alone generated organic sales growth of 31%. It was the highest rate within the business sector, and it was strongly driven by the demand for COVID-related products, but also by our core business. Overall, our global team worked hard to meet increasing demand from Life Science customers. For example, we expanded the capacity of our site in Molsheim, in France, where we invested EUR 25 million to add a single-use assembly production unit at our already existing Life Science center. Single-use assemblies are custom-made solutions to accelerate pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, and this is the first site in Europe where we manufacture such a product. We also enhanced the capacity for filtration products that are required for the manufacturing of several medicines and vaccines.
In October, we opened our second facility in Carlsbad, California, with a EUR 100 million investment. This will help us more than double our existing capacity to support large-scale manufacturing for viral vector and gene therapies. Gene therapy involves the delivery of genetic information into patient cells to produce a therapeutic impact. It can potentially fight cancer. The market for commercial and industrial manufacturing for viral gene therapy is expected to become very attractive and to grow to EUR 9 billion by 2026. Keeping up with increasing demand is not always easy. I can tell you that very few companies can match our integrated portfolio of products, technologies, and services.
That is why we are constantly evaluating the capacity of our global network, updating our plans on a regular basis, carefully monitoring the raw material supply situation, and adapting our initiatives and projects accordingly. We will ensure that customers have the products and the services they need to support the health of the global population through our 52 manufacturing sites and more than 100 distribution centers around the world. Now into our Healthcare business. Here, we remain at the forefront of enabling innovative specialty medicines while providing a very solid core business of essential medicines. For example, we are dedicated to making a meaningful difference in the lives of people affected by cancer. Last year, our cancer drug, Tepmetko, was approved in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with a very aggressive form of lung cancer. This approval mark a very important milestone.
There is a growing need for selective treatments that have the potential to generate durable antitumor activity. Our best-selling drug in terms of revenues in our Healthcare business is Erbitux. It is our flagship product in oncology at this time. Since approval, more than 1 million patients have been treated with Erbitux to fight different cancer types, such as colorectal cancer and head and neck cancer. Erbitux grew 12% organically last year across all regions where it is commercialized, and this growth was supported by the temporary supply agreement with the U.S. pharma company, Eli Lilly and Company. Bavencio, one of our newly launched products, is our fastest-growing product in oncology. The sales of Bavencio more than doubled in 2021.
Successful launches around the world in the first-line maintenance setting in advanced urothelial cancer pushed this growth, and we continue to expand our leadership here. We also registered significant growth of Mavenclad, a one-of-a-kind multiple sclerosis treatment which is approved in more than 80 countries. Another highlight of 2021 was our fertility franchise. To date, over 4 million babies have been born with the help of our products. We are very proud of that. In 2021, the business fully recovered from the pandemic-related dip during 2020, and it delivered a growth of 26% organically. Overall, Healthcare, our Healthcare sector, generated 36% of the group net sales in 2021. Sales of our new launches increased by more than 60% organically versus prior year 2020. These are just a few of many success stories.
However, no Healthcare business, no pharma business with such a diverse portfolio is immune to risk, and occasional setbacks are always part of the game. Together with GlaxoSmithKline, we made a mutual decisions in September 2021 to terminate our agreement on the immunotherapy, bintrafusp alfa, because the phase III trials did not reproduce the very encouraging data that we observed in earlier studies. Yet, our Healthcare pipeline remains very promising, as we will discuss later. I am very confident that Merck will continue to bring innovative, specialized medicines to the market that make a meaningful difference to patients worldwide. We were pleased with important clinical advances made in 2021. Our R&D pipeline includes medicines to treat several forms of cancer or multiple sclerosis and other immunology diseases.
To give you concrete examples, our oral therapy, enpatoran, a first-in-class potential product, is currently being tested in clinical studies for systemic lupus. Xevinapant is being investigated as a new treatment option for head and neck tumors. I also would like to highlight the work that we are doing in global health, in particular with respect to one neglected tropical disease called schistosomiasis. This is one of the most common parasitic diseases in many parts of Africa and other tropical regions. Last year, Merck provided to WHO with 182 million tablets to fight this devastating disease affecting mostly children. To date, we have supplied more than 1.5 billion tablets. Since 2007, we have enabled more than 600 million schoolchildren to be treated in 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.
Thanks to the efforts of some other partners on the ground. The Lancet, the medical journal, confirmed that the prevalence of schistosomiasis has declined by 60% since 2000, and we remain committed to eliminate this disease as a public health burden by 2030. Now, moving into our Electronics business. Here, we are creating the next generation of materials, equipment, and services that will advance the digital world. Our Electronics business sector is composed of three business units: Semiconductor Solutions, Display Solutions, and Surface Solutions. Comparing Electronics with your smartphone, Display Solutions represents the user interface, Semiconductor Solutions the intelligent technology inside, and Surface Solutions the nice look. In the past months, we continued to serve the strong customer demand, especially for the semiconductor industry. The overall semiconductor market has seen very strong growth with the rising adoption of digital technologies.
These are driven by progressive recovery of the automotive markets and increasing smartphone demand amid wider availability of 5G networks. Our team in Electronics has delivered successfully considering the challenging supply situation, the unprecedented demand for our products, and importantly, the need to increase capacity simultaneously. Plans for new or expanded sites for research and development and manufacturing were announced already in all our relevant geographies, including China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the United States, and Germany, of course. These efforts helped make 2021 a very good year for Electronics. Sales increased organically by 8% to EUR 3.6 billion. Semicon, our portfolio for the production of integrated circuits, was the key growth drivers. Sales here rose by 15% organically to almost EUR 2.2 billion, well ahead of our medium-term guidance.
Following the smooth integration of Versum last year, we now have one of the most competitive portfolios in the industry. The timing for this acquisition could not have been better. Our transformation in our electronic sectors made possible by the so-called Bright Future program, I'm sure you have heard of it, has made Electronics one of the leading technology solution providers in this market segment, and much faster than anticipated. Now, under new program Level Up, we are turning to the growth phase, and we are investing significantly more than EUR 3 billion in innovation and capacity. All this happening from now till the end of 2025. Thanks to this initiative and our teams, I am confident that Merck will gain the necessary scale, technologies, portfolio, capabilities to continue to serve as a partner of choice for the Electronics industry.
These are just a few examples, once again, of the numerous accomplishments we made in 2021. As our financial results show, our efforts paid off. To put it very simply, 2021 was an outstanding year with record growth for our company, for your company. Financially, operationally, strategically, we have succeeded yet again despite the ongoing challenges posed by the pandemic or the geopolitical challenges, such as the trade wars and the war in Ukraine or the supply chain challenges. We recorded an organic sales increase of nearly 14%, 14%, with reported net sales rising to a total of EUR 19.7 billion. Close to 80% of our overall net sales growth came from our so-called big three segments: Process Solutions, the new Healthcare pipeline or the new Healthcare launches, and Semiconductor Solutions.
Likewise, all three of our business sector posted very solid earnings growth, and this speaks once again to the broad strength of our diversified portfolio. EBITDA pre, the key financial indicator used to steer our operating business, rose organically by 18% to reach EUR 6.1 billion. Our operating cash flow was also up by more than 32%, and at the same time, we were able to substantially reduce our net financial debt by EUR 2 billion to EUR 8.8 billion. Now we have greater financial flexibility, which is going to be absolutely key to realizing our long-term ambition through the right capital investment and growth plans, both organically and also through external innovation. We want all Merck shareholders to participate of our success.
Considering our strong overall performance, we propose that our dividend be increased by EUR 0.45- EUR 1.85 per share. While this represents an increase of almost one-third compared to the prior year, it is still very much aligned with our dividend strategy. Now let's take a look at our guidance for fiscal year 2022. Just like last year, our forecasts are based on various assumptions related to the pandemic, as well as other external conditions, the macro, the geopolitical challenges, and of course, our own market conditions. We are closely monitoring areas of geopolitical tension, most of all at this time, the war in Ukraine. While our business exposure in that region is very low, we will remain agile and pivot according to the evolving situation.
Regarding the pandemic, the Omicron variant continues to generate high infection rates across many parts of the world. We need to keep in mind that we have to be ready to respond quickly to any emerging future variants. Overall, we expect favorable market tailwinds in 2022, and that is why we are forecasting another year of strong organic growth for the Merck Group, both in terms of net sales and also, EBITDA pre. Ladies and gentlemen, as you have seen, 2021 was a great business year for Merck. Looking ahead, our ambition is higher. We aim to become the global twenty-first century pioneer in science and technology. This is bringing me to our long-term view. Our medium-term growth ambition by 2025 can be summarized as 25\25 . EUR 25 billion in group sales by 2025.
More than EUR 1 billion in organic sales growth every year from now on. Our big three growth engines will be the main drivers. We expect them to contribute to that outlook about 80% of our expected growth through 2025. Four key priorities are driving our strategic roadmap and will help us to deliver on that ambition. First of all, innovation. We are aiming to accelerate the flow of innovation across the sectors through leveraging our digital and data expertise. Our leading position in our businesses provide us with a sweet spot to benefit from converging technologies. Whenever we have data and digital merging with other advanced technologies, positive industry transformation will occur. Take bioelectronics, for instance. Here we see scientific know-how at the intersection of Healthcare and Electronics.
Thanks to precise neurostimulation, we can, if we are successful, better treat and monitor patients with chronic inflammatory diseases and other therapeutic areas in which we have unmet medical needs. Another example is the use of artificial intelligence. We are already using that today to generate data from a predictive model of disease onset in multiple sclerosis. We have just started here, but we have already been able to improve very much our understanding of the mechanism of onset of disease activity in multiple sclerosis patients. This will help us in prompting preventive measures, therapeutic interventions, or more frequent monitoring. Talking about using data brings me to our two recently, or not so recently announced partnership with Palantir. Syntropy is the first one. Syntropy aims to unleash the power of biomedical data and to accelerate cancer therapy and cancer research.
Athinia, a collaborative platform for the semiconductor industry, which is generating tremendous attention also in our customers. It is leveraging artificial intelligence and big data to help address the current chip shortage. Second, we have to continue to mobilize for efficient growth. We will largely depend on organic growth of our business, but we will not rule out contributions from potential mergers and acquisitions. We will significantly boost our investments based on a very well-structured, disciplined, and rigorous capital allocation approach. 70% of these investments will go behind the big three segments that I mentioned before. Third, we are making sure that our organization, capabilities, and culture support and enable our growth ambition in the best possible way. Our focus is on the areas of talent development, leadership culture, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion.
A concrete example, I firmly believe that to improve performance, we need to focus on at least two things. First, hire, develop, and retain the best talent. Second, we need to develop and promote people from within. In 2021, we filled roughly 60% of our leadership positions with internal candidates. Of course, last but not least, we are stepping up and upping the game behind our sustainability efforts. Today, sustainability is an essential component of our corporate strategy and processes, and we are working hard to further improve here. For example, we have set ourselves the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2040. By 2030, we want to cut 50% of our emissions from our own business and from energy purchases in comparison with 2020. We also want 80% of our purchased electricity to come from renewable sources by that time.
In 2021, we already made great progress. One example, we were an anchor buyer of a multi-year renewable energy contract for a wind park project in Texas. The renewable energy certificates received through this agreement will match 65% of our total electricity consumption across all business in the United States. Look at our progress when it comes to animal welfare. In my lifetime, I would like to see the elimination of animal testing. In this context, our ultimate goal at Merck is to phase out progressively of the use of animal testing across the organization, step by step. In summary, we are ready to unlock our full potential to take Merck to the next level. We aim to create superior value for our patients, for our customers, for our colleagues, for our society.
In about one week, I will have completed my first year as CEO of this fantastic company. What I can already say is that I am extremely proud to be part of our global team. In times of permanent challenges, this team pulled together and achieved a lot. Our colleagues come to work every day to make a difference for our customers, to make a difference for our partners, to make a difference for patients, to make a difference overall for society. We at Merck represent a vibrant mix of cultural, educational, and professional backgrounds. A team of more than 60,000 colleagues from 140 different nationalities, located across 385 sites and 66 countries.
On behalf of the entire Executive Board, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to our teams for their commitment in the past year. It is the sum of all this, but so much more, that makes us who we are. Thank you very much for your trust, for your support as a shareholder, and for being such an active part of our journey. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Ms. Belén Garijo. Ladies and gentlemen, you can also read the speech of Ms. Garijo online. As mentioned, it was published on the company's website on April 11th, 2022. Ms. Belén Garijo, you give us both a comprehensive and interesting report on 2021, which was another successful year for Merck. For this, I thank you on behalf of the annual general meeting. I would like to express my thanks and recognition to the entire Executive Board for the business achievements in fiscal 2021. My recognition, of course, also applies to the employees of our company. Without whom Merck would have never been so successful. The managers, the superb experts in the various units, and of course, the entire workforce, including their representatives, who did an excellent job last year. Ladies and gentlemen, I will now move on to agenda items 2 to 9.
They can be seen here. These are the resolution on the adoption of the annual financial statements for fiscal 2021, the resolution on the appropriation of net retained profit for fiscal 2021, the resolution on the approval of the actions of the Executive Board for fiscal 2021, the resolution on the approval of the actions of the Supervisory Board for fiscal 2021, the resolution on the election of the auditor for fiscal 2022, the ongoing business year, the resolution on the election of the auditor for fiscal 2023, the resolution on the approval of the compensation report for 2021, as well as the resolution on the cancellation of the current authorized capital and the creation of new authorized capital with the possibility to exclude subscription rights and the corresponding amendment of the Articles of Association.
You can find the agenda items as well as the corresponding proposed resolutions in the invitation, which has been published on our website. Ladies and gentlemen, as regards agenda item 7, the resolution on the election of the auditor for fiscal 2023, I would like to state the following. Merck KGaA is aiming to rotate its statutory auditors as of fiscal 2023. Against this background, the selection process was conducted in line with European statutory requirements. Consequently, based on the recommendation and preference of its audit committee, the supervisory board proposes to the annual general meeting the election of Deloitte GmbH as the statutory auditor for fiscal 2023. Ladies and gentlemen, a resolution is also to be adopted today under agenda item 8 on the approval of the compensation report for 2021.
Under the amendment to the Stock Corporation Act by the act implementing the second shareholder rights directive, a compensation report is to be prepared by the executive board and supervisory board in accordance with Section 162 of the Stock Corporation Act and submitted to the annual general meeting for approval. The compensation report was examined by the auditors to determine whether the information required by law had been provided. In addition to the statutory requirements, the auditors also examined the content of the report. The auditor's report on the compensation report is attached to the compensation report. Both were published when the annual general meeting was convened together with the announcement of the agenda.
Agenda item 9 relates to the resolution on the cancellation of the current authorized capital and the creation of new authorized capital, with the possibility to exclude subscription rights and the corresponding amendment of the Articles of Association . You will find a report of the Executive Board regarding this agenda item in the invitation to the annual general meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now play the shareholder statement we have received.
Dr. Büchele, Dr. Garijo, members of the company administration, fellow shareholders. My name is Markus Kienle. I am a member of the Executive Board of Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger. Dr. Garijo, in your first year as chairwoman of the Executive Board, you have made a good and successful start.
Revenues, earnings, and the margin have increased, with the profit after taxes and earnings per share even rising more than 50% despite a negative impact from currency effects. The dividend is also set to rise 32% compared to the previous year. I will come back to this aspect later. First of all, we would like to express our thanks to the employees. We ask that the company administration pass on our thanks to the staff. At the same time, your first year as chairwoman of the executive board is characterized by another challenging new situation. The pandemic and its effects have not yet been overcome, and now the attack on and the war in Ukraine poses new challenges for you. Peace is nowhere in sight yet, especially since the calls for a complete energy embargo are growing increasingly insistent from more and more sides.
Now it is a matter of not only examining supply chains and reorganizing them where necessary, but also in particular reviewing and initiating the substitutability of fossil fuels, especially oil and gas, not only in the context of energy supply, but also in the context of production processes. Reducing or even entirely avoiding one-sided dependencies here is not just a conclusion to be drawn from the war in Ukraine, but a precept of rational economic decision-making processes as one-sided dependencies always offer potential for extortion, too. In such transformations, we must also pay attention to the time frame. There will be some processes that take a long time to convert, but not all adjustments necessarily have a medium or even long-term timeline. At the same time, however, it is also clear that cost benefits come at a price.
Likewise, even with unchanged supply chains and production processes, you are facing higher procurement and production costs, which you can either pass on to the prices or have to recognize at the expense of profit. Not an easy balancing act. Finally, let me come back to the dividend policy. The company's dividend policy has to be criticized again. A distribution between 20%-25% in terms of earnings per share does not represent an appropriate balance between the company's interests and the shareholders' interests, especially since the distribution is at the lower end of the range. We are calling for shareholder participation of roughly half of earnings per share. Supervisory Board also does not explain in its report why, on the one hand, it thinks that a company's general dividend policy is right, but on the other hand, it considers the specific distribution appropriate.
We expect the company administration to review the dividend policy. We wish you, Dr. Garijo, and your team, every success and the best of luck in continuing to tackle the upcoming challenges and hope that you can keep the company on its successful track. Thank you for your attention.
Mr. Kienle, thank you very much for this statement. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now answer the questions submitted by shareholders and shareholder representatives prior to the annual general meeting. I will now hand over to Ms. Garijo.
Thank you very much, Mr. Büchele. Thank you, dear shareholders, for all your many and good questions. This year, each and every member of the Executive Board will have a voice so that you can get first-hand information from the business sectors. Each and every member of the Executive Board will contribute to the discussion. Mr. Guenter and I will answer in English and will be able to follow the translations of the German-speaking colleagues. I'm going to start with the questions submitted by Mr. Hans-Martin Buhlmann, representing V IP, the Association of Institutional Shareholders. The same questions with identical wording have been submitted twice, which we have assumed was in error, and we, therefore, only answer the questions once. Dear Mr. Buhlmann.
Buhlmann, you asked about progress in our decarbonization efforts and the reduction of our carbon footprint during the past year and in the near future. You also ask about investments made for decarbonization, the amount of expenses incurred as a result, and whether this investment have yielded outcome or income. You also ask whether climate-related effects were additionally achieved through compensation measures, such as reforestations of certificates. In total, we emitted around 1.84 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents in 2021, which represents almost 10% less than in 2020, precisely 9%. Our current focus in cutting our greenhouse gas emissions is on process related emissions and on the procurement of green electricity. Process related emissions occur mainly in the production of special gases for the electronic industry.
Having identified new solutions for process optimization and waste gas purification, we are allocating sufficient capital for investment. Looking at green power purchasing, we have already concluded the first long-term power purchase agreement in this segment. We intend to extend the scope of such contracts via renewable energy from wind and solar parks in the future. While the majority of decarbonization effects will only be achievable in the near future through investment, a smaller portion can be realized through higher ongoing expenses. We have not realized any decarbonization effects through compensation. Mr. Buhlmann, in the context of decarbonization, you ask about our policies for the investment of pension fund assets and whether we receive corresponding reports from asset managers.
To this, I say within the framework of our investment policies for pension fund assets, we have committed to ESG criteria which provide guidelines regarding our investment. As a general rule, investment products are categorized by service providers based on clear and well-defined ESG criteria. We have defined which categories we consider to be acceptable and which are not. We do not receive any detailed information regarding decarbonization of asset managers or investment funds. Here is what I can say. We are in continuous contact with institutional investors as well as proxy advisors, analyzing their respective guidelines. We are therefore aware of the current requirements. This also applies to pension funds, where we have observed the growing awareness of sustainability issues. Requirements are particularly high in England. This is one of the reasons why we have this year supplemented our TCFD reporting.
That is disclosure prescribed by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures in our sustainability report. Dear Mr. Buhlmann, you asked about changes in working conditions as a result of the pandemic. Changes such as training efforts for young professionals, multiple staffing and resultant idle time, future uses of space, in the offices, as well as about the impact of reduced travel on compliance and the impact of complexity on IT networks and data security. A specific threat assessment for all training areas has been in place since the outbreak of the pandemic, together with a hygiene concept based thereon. This has enabled us to continue imparting all relevant content through in-person training. Furthermore, all our vocational trainees are equipped for flexible working and learning in terms of time and location. We were able to protect our critical infrastructure through intelligent shift working and substitution regulations.
This has enabled us to flexibly respond in either direction, additions or reductions, within a relatively short period of time. Looking at office space planning, we are considering the ongoing trend towards hybrid work as well as the needs arising from targeted corporate growth. Mr. Buhlmann, you also asked about equal opportunities offices of all categories at Merck, pursuant to the German Act on Gender Equality. The German Act on Gender Equality is not applicable to Merck KGaA. Pursuant to sections two and three, this act refers to equal opportunities for women and men in the German Federal Administration and in federal enterprises and courts. Nevertheless, Merck assigns great importance and is a top priority for us to focus on diversity and inclusion.
We have nominated a new Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer who is responsible to ensure equal opportunities and an inclusive environment group-wide through the proposed DEI strategy and corresponding initiatives. We promote a working environment where all employees feel a sense of belonging. Together, we are fully committed to creating an inclusive culture at Merck, where we assume responsibility for each other, where we all feel welcome, and where our various voices are being heard. Mr. Buhlmann, you asked why the AGM doesn't take place in January and whether this is due to the weather, proxy policies, or the law. Our annual general meeting usually takes place at the end of April, and this is due to the fact that our financial year ends on December thirty-first, with the financial statements and consolidated financial statements being prepared and audited prior to the AGM.
In addition, we need to observe statutory deadlines for convening the AGM, which provide shareholders with sufficient time to prepare for such a meeting, for the AGM. Mr. Buhlmann, you ask about our investment in Russia and Ukraine and about the affected assets in the published financial statements. You also ask about current impairments, net sales, affected and insurance cover, indemnities. Let me tell you that Ukraine and Russia accounted for less than 2% of our group consolidated net sales during the financial year under review. The Healthcare and Life Science business sectors accounted almost exclusively for these sales. Merck does not have any subsidiary in Ukraine. The assets of our Russian subsidiary, as reported in the consolidated financial statements as of 31st December 2021, amounted to less than 0.5% of Merck Group's total assets.
Receivables from Ukrainian and Russian customers amounted to approximately EUR 100 million by the end of March 2022. These receivables were partly covered through credit insurance. No impairments have, as yet, been required on the uninsured parts of these receivables since there were no payment defaults to date. However, we are, of course, very closely monitoring the payment patterns of our customers in the region and will eventually recognize corresponding impairments as and when this is required. Dear Mr. Buhlmann, you also asked to what extent we can support the staff in the war zone in Ukraine. Furthermore, you ask whether the Executive Board might be able to support war victims through savings on business travel. I mentioned some of this and the humanitarian aid that we are deploying in Ukraine.
I will add that once again, the well-being of our employees across the affected regions continues to be our top priority. Even though we don't have any staff in Ukraine, we are working very closely with the local management team in order to support whenever we can. Mainly in the countries bordering Ukraine, such as Poland, where many refugees are arriving and need help, both professional and psychological. Furthermore, Merck has donated more than EUR 3 million to the German Red Cross to provide humanitarian aid. Merck staff from the entire group, especially in countries neighboring Ukraine, Poland, and Hungary, as I mentioned during the speech, are volunteering to help wherever they can. Our colleagues in Darmstadt and Gernsheim have donated 7 tons of urgently needed goods such as non-perishable food, hygiene articles, sleeping bags, bedsheets, and blankets, prams, and toys.
On top, we have donated 8 metric tons of non-perishable food and first aid kits. Most recently, we are offering jobs to Ukrainian refugees coming to Germany, having already hired in Healthcare the first one. Mr. Buhlmann, you inquired about Merck's priorities in business with Russia and whether profit or decency is the decisive factor. In this context, you also ask whether Merck might also incorporate a special experience from World War II in this respect. What I can say is that for us at Merck, it is devastating to see what is happening in Ukraine. I would repeat that we condemn the Russian invasion as well as any form of violence. Together with the global community, we are calling upon the Russian Federation to end this war immediately, to return to peaceful coexistence in the region.
As an organization, we have the moral obligation to advance human progress. This is why the health and well-being of people is at the center of what we do. We have an obligation. Nevertheless, we also hear calls to suspend our business with and in Russia with immediate effect. Rest assured that we fully understand the motivation for such calls. At the same time, we are providing personalized treatment for serious and life-threatening illnesses in Russia as well as elsewhere in the world. To suspend our activities, to suspend our Healthcare related business would mean abandoning our patients, and this is something that we cannot do. That's why we have restricted our business in Russia to supporting essential Healthcare related activities in order to continue to help patients in urgent need. With this, I will give the next question to Mr. Heinzel.
Thank you, Belén. Mr. Buhlmann, you asked about the acquisition of Exelead and expected sales and earnings potential. You also asked whether the next BioNTech could be based in Darmstadt or whether this would require a different kind of governance. Before responding to your question, we would just like to remind you that we acquired Exelead for $780 million in cash, also setting out a current plan for future investments in the company of up to EUR 500 million. These investments in Exelead are a key element for building a presence as an integrated contract developer and manufacturer for the entire mRNA value chain from pre-clinical tests through to marketing. Alongside our investments in lipids and mRNA synthesis, we are in a very good position to support our customers with the development and manufacturing of mRNA therapeutics.
However, these investments do not comprise an independent clinical program comprising drug candidates such as BioNTech has done. We anticipate that Exelead will generate net sales in the medium- to high double-digit million EUR area as well as an EBITDA pre in the low double-digit million EUR area. Please bear in mind that these figures represent full year estimates. The acquisition will only be consolidated in Merck's financial statements from the end of February onwards. Over a medium-term horizon, we expect double-digit sales growth alongside margin growth at least in line with the prevailing overall Life Science sector. The following questions will be answered by Marcus Kuhnert.
Let me start with an answer to a question about the format of the annual general meeting. A shareholder asked whether in future Merck would convene the annual general meeting as an in-person meeting to show appreciation to its minority shareholders. Overall, we recognize the benefits of a virtual annual general meeting compared to an in-person meeting, such as easier participation for shareholders facing travel challenges to the venue. Minority shareholders also benefit from these advantages.
We will continue to take the concerns for our shareholders into account as much as possible by optimizing the format of future events accordingly. The format in which the AGM for 2023 will be held is as yet undecided. In accordance with the current draft bill on future virtual annual general meetings, a majority of shareholders will ultimately resolve on the format for future AGMs. Before we turn to the question submitted by Mr. Povel, I hand back to Ms. Garijo.
Yes, Mr. Buhlmann. I think I missed one of your question because you asked about how we assess the role of Engine No. 1 and their future influence on management decisions. Here we continuously monitor the investor landscape as well as the proxy advisors activities. In this context, we also scrutinize changes in our own shareholder structure by way of a quarterly shareholder identification exercise. Hence, any involvement of potential activist shareholders or short sellers in our shares would not go unnoticed. On a general note, however, we notice that a growing number of capital market stakeholders are increasingly vocal in expressing their demands on companies. We generally endeavor to take the legitimate interest of our shareholders into account in managing the company, of course. Ultimately, we are all pursuing the same goal: robust company growth to create value, both financial and non-financial value.
This is why we have also set ambitious sustainability targets, which, for example, are linked to the Executive Board remuneration. With this, I hand back to Marcus.
We now turn to the questions submitted by Andreas Povel, representing the DSW, the German Association for the Protection of Security Holders. Mr. Povel, you asked about the impact of the pandemic and the geopolitical challenges on our supply chains. The pandemic has created challenges in terms of our supply chains, which were further exacerbated due to geopolitical tensions. This has led to higher costs for raw materials, logistics services, and energy. So far, Merck has been successful in maintaining business operations in all three sectors without any significant interruptions to supply. You also inquired about related efforts concerning the prices of energy and other raw materials, commodities, and hence on Merck's cost income ratio, as well as our inflation expectations given the wage price spiral. Availability of and delivery periods for raw materials and energy are currently stressed and very challenging.
In this connection, we're taking active measures to counter any significant price increases, for instance, by searching for alternative sources of energy. The high energy price levels are likely to stay with us for some time. We are not an extremely energy-intensive enterprise. In addition, we have fixed the prices for a substantial proportion of our power and gas needs. Accordingly, while the extreme spot market volatility has left visible traces on our income statement, this will not have any significant impact on our margins and profitability.
This is because we are implementing countermeasures, including price increases for our customers. You also inquired about our pricing power, the ability to pass on higher costs to our customers through higher prices. We are evaluating this issue, taking market circumstances and sector-specific requirements into account. We will adopt different approaches, depending on the business model and market conditions in each sector. The impact on margins will differ accordingly. The next question goes back to Belén Garijo.
Mr. Povel, you ask if the war has any impact on local production services in Ukraine or Russia. I mentioned already that Merck has limited business activities in Russia and minor business in Ukraine. We also have only minor business in Belarus. Our global crisis management team is continuously monitoring the potential impact for our employees, patients, and customers. Our primary goal is to ensure the continuous supply of medicines and products to patients and customers. We are, of course, doing this in compliance with any international sanctions in place. We have no local production facilities in Russia or Ukraine. Now, in our Healthcare business sector, overall, we have 13 clinical studies that have been enrolling patients in either Ukraine or Russia or both.
We are following up very closely on the situation and working on a case-by-case basis to ensure the safety and well-being of trial participants. All of our trials are conducted in multiple countries, and at this point, we are not planning to terminate any ongoing clinical trials, making every effort to fulfill our ethical obligation by remaining committed to provide support to already enrolled patients with the opportunity to continue their participations. Once again, we will continue to monitor the situation very closely, and we will take decisions on a case-by-case basis to ensure the safety and well-being of study participants. Marcus, over to you.
Mr. Povel, you asked about the share of Merck's sales generated in China. Our China business accounts for a share of just under 15% of Merck Group's total sales. You also asked about our supply chain strategy in China. Merck is well-positioned in China. We are investing heavily there to expand our local production capacities, so that we can offer reliable, high-quality products and services to our customers. This includes establishing a strong and resilient supply chain network. Regarding our supply chain management, we have a robust system in place which enables us to monitor, assess, and effectively mitigate any supply chain risks. We're currently facing challenges in China due to restrictions imposed as part of the Zero-COVID policy. However, we assume that this is only a temporary issue. We have not stopped production. Instead, we're using various alternatives to maintain a minimum level of production.
To safeguard stable supply chains for global production and to minimize the risk of supply shortages, we're constantly looking for alternative sources, both inside and outside China. This, however, is costly and time-consuming. Moreover, you asked how we intend to expand production in China going forward, especially in view of the semiconductor business. Our Electronics business sector intends to invest approximately CNY 1 billion. That is approximately EUR 130 million in China by 2025, with a focus on the Semiconductor business. We are investing in localizing the production and supply chain, as well as research and development, in order to participate in the potential of China's semiconductors sector. Mr. Povel, you asked about the perspectives and growth targets for Latin America and the Middle East and Africa.
Both regions have grown organically in recent years, and we assume that both regions will continue to grow moderately. Furthermore, Mr. Povel, you asked if Merck is taking action to de-globalize. Merck has a global production and distribution network. As we rely on special know-how, de-globalization is difficult to achieve, which is why Merck is not looking to achieve this right now. As part of our business continuity management, we continuously monitor global supply chain risks and reduce dependencies on single suppliers as far as possible. The following questions will come from Peter Guenter.
Povel, you asked about the sales target for the Healthcare pipeline. We continue to be committed to our guidance with respect to the range of sales from new products. However, given the continued weak market for high efficacy multiple sclerosis therapies, this is not getting any easier. The first quarter of 2022 has shown the segment of high efficacy MS therapies recovering more slowly than we had expected. Consequently, we see some headwinds in our Mavenclad performance, making it more difficult to reach the guided range for sales for new products. Mr. Povel, you submitted two questions concerning the development potential of our Healthcare business. Firstly, if Merck can grow its Healthcare business over the long term from its own resources without any acquisitions? Secondly, what options exist to secure research and development, R&D funding, to foster long-term growth?
Regarding your first question, Merck Healthcare covers the entire R&D value chain. Our creative research teams are constantly producing candidates for clinical development, with the majority of the molecules in our rich development pipeline coming from our own laboratories, including tepotinib and evobrutinib. However, we are well aware that we have to maintain focus and cannot cover all research areas. As a consequence, we are constantly looking for external bolt-on innovations that match our strategy. This can be new technologies or new drugs such as xevinapant or berzosertib. Whether we obtain a license or enter a development partnership depends on various factors. However, we might also consider acquisitions if they match our strategy, if they are affordable, and most importantly, if they generate value for Merck. Regarding your second question, Merck has a rich development pipeline. We are constantly assessing how we can maximize the value of these projects.
This includes examining if we can advance certain molecules on our own or if we can add value by cooperating with a partner. If and when a certain partnership makes sense, not only depends on financial criteria alone, but also on other aspects, such as the project stage or the expertise, as well as infrastructure a potential partner may bring. Sometimes this can also mean that we dispose of projects, especially if they are no longer matching our strategy, as was the case with our osteoarthritis portfolio. The proceeds will then contribute to our financial resources, which we can use to advance our pipeline. The next question goes to Matthias Heinzel.
Mr. Povel, you asked for how long Research Solutions and Applied Solutions will still serve as cash flow providers, and whether these two units might be held for disposal. Furthermore, you also asked whether Merck anticipates further panic buying or hoarding in 2022, and whether this will impact business planning. On your first question, while our Process Solutions business unit, now separated into Process Solutions and Life Science Services, are indeed key growth drivers for Life Science and Merck Group. Our Research Solutions and Applied Solutions units, now merged into Science & Lab Solutions, are more than just cash flow providers. Through Science & Lab Solutions, we are able to bring our core portfolio, including cell culture media, filtration systems, and chemicals, to a much broader customer base.
Participating across diagnostic, academic, and industrial markets diversifies our risk profile compared to a narrower process focus. Furthermore, there are high growth segments within the science and lab markets in which we set ourselves apart, such as high sensitivity protein detection and lateral flow membrane for diagnostic tests. Maintaining a strong and diverse science and lab business is an important part of our overall strategy and positioning us as a diversified player.
Regarding your second question, we have not experienced any panic buying behavior from our customers, but rather orders which have been placed much earlier compared to the actual customer demand, which was clearly linked to the overall tightness in the market. Customers who placed orders much earlier during the pandemic than they did before now seem to gradually return to normal order patterns as capacity increases and lead times shorten. Hence, we do not anticipate any panic buying within the framework of business planning. The next question will be answered by Mr. Kai Beckmann.
Mr. Povel, you noted that Versum Materials are the biggest growth engine for business division Electronics, and you asked how long the Display Solutions and Surface Solutions units would still serve as cash flow providers, and if these two units might be held for disposal. Display Solutions will still be impacted by the decline in the liquid crystals business over the next 3-4 years. Within this unit, however, we are also investing in innovative technologies such as OLED materials for display applications. We therefore expect the Display Solutions business unit to return to growth over the medium term. Surface Solutions was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but embarked on the path of recovery last year.
Initially, the recovery was driven by pigments, which the automotive industry uses for coating. In the cosmetics business, we expect the recovery to continue as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. In line with our portfolio management project, we regularly review which of our businesses still suit our portfolio well or to a lesser extent, as the case may be. We can assure you that we take this topic very seriously and make well-founded and systematic decisions regarding our portfolio. This also applies to Display and Surface Solutions. We do not exclude the scenario of a sale for any of our businesses in general, and therefore neither for Display nor Surface Solutions. Mr. Povel, you also asked about Versum's unique selling proposition on the semiconductor market and how long this position can be maintained or expanded, also taking China's aggressive AI strategy into account.
Versum Materials has been fully integrated into Merck's semiconductor business, and together they form the Semiconductor Solutions unit. This combined business makes Merck the leading manufacturer of semiconductor materials and equipment. Its broad portfolio, which covers all essential chip manufacturing steps, distinguishes Merck from all other manufacturers. The lion's share of the chip manufacturing process is currently taking place outside China. Given the investments announced by our customers, countries such as the U.S., South Korea, Taiwan, and Germany too, will maintain important roles in chip manufacturing. Merck is also continuing to invest in production capacities and research and development. We supply all important chip manufacturers worldwide, both inside and outside of China. In our view, Merck's global positioning in the semiconductor business is a clear competitive advantage. The next questions will be answered by Marcus Kuhnert.
Mr. Povel, you inquired about Merck's portfolio strategy. Merck is able to realize various benefits above and beyond a pure synergy calculation due to its conglomerate structure. We would like to highlight risk diversification and thus lower dependency on individual business cycles, as well as sustainable growth and an investment strategy tailored exactly to our targets. Currently, we have business areas in all three sectors which act as material growth drivers, the so-called Big Three. Specifically, these include our pipeline in Healthcare, the Process Solutions business unit in Life Science, and the Semiconductor Solutions business unit in Electronics. History shows that we live and breathe active capital allocation and portfolio management. Depending on the business strategy and market environment, the group has always kept the entire portfolio in mind when carrying out acquisitions and disposals. For example, the group has thus always had a focus on long-term value creation.
Merck generated strong operating results despite the challenges it faced in last year, which in our opinion confirmed the conglomerate structure's resilience. You also asked about the companies we use to benchmark our three business sectors. We have identified six to eight companies for each business sector. AstraZeneca and Biogen for Healthcare, Sartorius and Danaher for Life Science, and Entegris and 3M for Electronics, to name just a few. A comparison of our core KPIs demonstrates that we are competitive. Dear Mr. Povel, you asked how effective our foreign currency management proved in 2021, and wish to know the reason for our positive stance on foreign exchange developments. Our FX strategy aims to limit foreign exchange losses incurred on our anticipated 12-month cash flow in foreign currency, our so-called cash at risk, to no more than 5% of the previous year's figure.
The strategy is implemented through three layers, providing for individual hedge ranges and trigger points, driving hedge ratios of up to 90%. We were confronted with strong currency devaluation in 2020, and the trigger points to increase the hedge ratio to 90% were reached. As a result, we temporarily had a high level of hedges in place which remained in part until 2021. We once again achieved our goal in 2021, and were able to limit negative transactional cash flow effects to around 2%. Based on present currency market developments, and in particular, the strong U.S. dollar at currently 1.09, the average last year was 1.18, and the strong renminbi, Chinese, at currently 6.9, the average in 2021 was 7.63.
We are now expecting currency tailwinds compared to the previous year. We anticipate the market environment to remain volatile in 2022 due to current political and macroeconomic developments. We shall be closely monitoring it within the scope of our hedging strategy. I'll hand over to Mr. Büchele for the next answer.
Mr. Povel, you determined for DSW that while entrepreneurship is limited by sustainability, ESG is limited by company's ability to perform. End of quote. In this context, you asked how ESG is embedded in the Executive Board's targets and remuneration. We believe that sustainable entrepreneurship and profitable growth go hand in hand. We can remain competitive only by creating added value for society. Sustainability is therefore a firmly embedded remuneration component. As such, we consider the sustainability targets when determining the level of the performance factor for profit sharing, and will introduce an additional sustainability factor in our long-term incentive plan from fiscal year 2022 onwards. Answering the following questions will be Marcus Kuhnert.
Mr. Povel, you asked whether 2021's growth in earnings per share of 54% didn't justify an even stronger dividend increase than 32%. As you know, we pursue a sustainable dividend policy, provided the economic environment develops in a stable manner. The current dividend represents the minimum level for future dividend proposals. The dividend policy is also strongly aligned with the group's earnings development. As you stated, earnings per share rose by 54% year-on-year in 2021, as you pointed out correctly.
However, this is not only due to the positive business performance, but also to lower burdens from exceptional factors compared to the previous year. For example, expenses for restructuring measures were significantly lower. If one looks at earnings per share pre-exceptionals, this increased by 30% in 2021. Exceptional factors can generally fluctuate over time and distort the earnings development. It is the aim of our dividend policy to allow you, our shareholders, to participate in the underlying operational performance, increasing the dividend sustainability aspect. It is thus only logical that exceptional factors are not considered when determining the dividend proposal. We aim for a target corridor of 20%-25% of earnings per share pre-exceptionals. The so-called EPSP.
Our dividend proposal of EUR 1.85 per share for the fiscal year 2021 is within this corridor and corresponds, as you mentioned correctly, to an increase of 32% on the previous year. We would also like to note that the share price has performed very well year to date, more than 60%. The second component of the total shareholder return is something we should not lose sight of. Mr. Povel, on behalf of DSW, you are in favor of an in-person AGM format for the sake of upholding shareholders' rights and interest. In this context, you asked whether, when Merck will return to an in-person AGM. The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board have not yet decided if our next annual general meeting will be held in person or virtual format.
The decision also depends on the legal framework applicable at the time of the decision. As mentioned, we generally see the benefits virtual AGM offers. Mr. Povel, you asked what risks and opportunities will arise due to COVID-19 in 2022. For the current year, we expect our Life Science core business to be the main growth driver and our COVID-19 business to slightly dilute that growth. For Process Solutions, which has been split into Process Solutions and Life Science Services, we expect COVID-related sales of up to EUR 900 million in 2022, compared to approximately EUR 950 million in 2021. In other words, we consider EUR 900 million to be possible. Based on customer orders and our recent market assessment, this will likely be the upper end of the guidance range.
Uncertainty remains high, of course, as many variables have to be considered. For Research Solutions and Applied Solutions, which have been combined under Science & Lab Solutions, we are making the following assumptions for COVID-related sales. We expect COVID-related sales in Research Solutions to be below EUR 100 million in 2022, compared to almost EUR 200 million last year. While COVID-related sales in Applied Solutions have been negligible in the past and will most likely remain so in the future. On the other hand, any potential new variants will increase the risk of a limited or delayed availability of certain raw materials and services, in addition to the risk of production outages. We have established robust damage mitigation plans and are cooperating closely with our suppliers to minimize that impact.
In the meantime, our current global inventory levels are helping to avoid major raw material supply issues. In addition, China's Zero-COVID policy is presenting us with production distribution challenges in the affected areas in China. Nevertheless, we are able to maintain operations there. At some sites, however, local lockdowns force us to operate with reduced staff. In Healthcare, we see the largest risk and opportunities related to COVID-19 in 2022. In the high efficacy MS therapies treatment, should the COVID situation, however, materially deteriorate again in a similar manner to 2020, this could negatively impact our fertility business. But this does not appear likely at this point in time. The next questions will be answered by Mr. Matthias Heinzel.
Dear Mr. Povel, you asked about Merck's position in the supply of lipids to our partners BioNTech, Moderna, and others. Merck has more than a decade of experience in the development and syntheses of high-quality lipids. Hence, the company commands a relevant position on the CDMO market for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 therapeutics. We have entered into a strategic cooperation with BioNTech for the supply of lipids for the COVID-19 vaccine. Together, we were able to significantly boost the supply of lipids in order to cover the unprecedented demand for raw materials for COVID-19 vaccines and other therapeutics. The next questions go to Marcus Kuhnert.
Mr. Povel, you asked about Merck's prospects when the pandemic becomes endemic or epidemic. With regard to our Life Science business sector, we expect the substantial demand for our COVID-19 products to subside when the pandemic becomes endemic. This assumption is reflected in both our guidance for the current year and our midterm guidance.
For 2022, we expect total COVID-19 sales to be below EUR 1 billion, compared to approximately EUR 1.15 billion in last year. This, however, will be more than offset by the growth in our core business, as we expect strong organic growth for Life Science as a whole in the current year. Our midterm guidance of organic sales growth of 7%-10% between 2021 and 2025 is also based on the assumption that the COVID-19 business will significantly decline over time. In a base scenario, we assume that by 2025, COVID sales will only account for a fraction of what we observed last year. Please also note that sensitivity regarding various COVID assumptions is limited.
If COVID-related sales in 2025 reach the 2021 level, our midterm guidance would move up by 1 percentage point. If COVID-related sales in 2025 were zero, it would move down by 1 percentage point. In any case, we are confident of achieving positive organic sales growth each year until 2025, with our core business being the main growth driver. Looking at Healthcare, we see the biggest opportunity arising from an endemic stage as being an improved market situation for our high-efficacy MS therapy segment, which would immediately translate into higher Mavenclad sales. Dear Mr. Povel, in view of the fast deleveraging process, you asked about the perfect debt equity ratio.
Well, first of all, we do not manage our business based on the debt equity ratio, which is why we have not defined a perfect level for that ratio. The net debt to EBITDA pre and operating cash flow to debt ratios are essential indicators for Merck's level of debt and potential funding scope. Due to the strong deleveraging pursued in the fiscal year of 2021, the net debt to EBITDA pre-ratio is at a low 1.4x as year-end last year. The operating cash flow to debt indicators are also within range, in some instances at the upper end required for our current Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Scope's rating, thus offering us scope for strategic growth.
While we believe a net debt to EBITDA pre ratio of below 2 is adequate for Merck in the long term, this level can be temporarily exceeded to finance growth initiatives, for example, via acquisitions. Furthermore, Mr. Povel, in view of our higher financial flexibility for strategic growth, you asked about potential acquisition targets in the three sectors. While our communicated focus on bolt-on acquisitions continues to apply, enhanced financial flexibility associated with the faster deleveraging also allows us to consider larger acquisitions where opportunities arise. As a matter of principle, our portfolio puts us in an excellent position to continue to participate in growth trends which are relevant for us. Merck has been around as a highly active and very successful portfolio manager for a long time. Active portfolio management will remain an important element for our strategy.
We continuously evaluate our portfolio, weighing risks, opportunities, return profiles, and other parameters in different areas and investment opportunities. We ask for our understanding, however, that we cannot talk in advance about specific or potential acquisition targets. I'll hand over to Kai Beckmann.
We're asked to explain the net sales decline in Display Solutions from EUR 1.115 billion in 2020 to EUR 1.046 billion in 2021. The Display Solutions business unit mainly comprises business with liquid crystals, photoresists for display applications, as well as OLED materials. While the business with OLED materials and photoresists grew organically in 2021, it was unable to offset a decline seen in our liquid crystals business. Global production capacities for liquid crystals continued to shift further to China and away from Korea in the past year. The corresponding stronger competition had led to price and volume declines in our liquid crystals business. Now back to Marcus Kuhnert.
A question was posed regarding the breakdown of the other marketing and selling expenses item. This item comprises exceptional unit costs in marketing and sales functions, such as registration costs for our products and brands or payment services costs for payments received. Back to Kai Beckmann.
Referring to our press release dated October 7th, 2019, on the closing of the Versum acquisition, the question was posed as to whether we were still aiming to achieve the synergy effects of the Versum acquisition of EUR 75 million mentioned therein, expected as of 2022, and how high the synergy effect generated in 2021 had been. The 2020 cost synergy target for the Versum acquisition had been increased to EUR 85 million and was fully achieved already in 2021. A shareholder has posed a question concerning Versum's net sales and earnings contribution in 2021, and whether these figures were higher or lower than we had expected in 2019. The Versum company was fully integrated into the Merck Group and the Electronics business sector following its acquisition. Business activities were consolidated with Merck's semiconductor business. Together, they form the Semiconductor Solutions business unit.
Supporting group functions were merged with Merck's group functions. The firm Versum therefore no longer provides any separate financial reporting. We can, however, confirm that sales have developed in line with our initial expectations since the takeover. The following question will be answered by Belén Garijo.
Thank you. So now we turn to the question submitted by Mr. Schmidt from DSW. Mr. Schmidt, you ask about what impact the coronavirus pandemic had on our investment decisions during the fiscal year 2021. The answer is: the pandemic did not have material impact on our investment decisions during that fiscal year. None of the bigger growth projects were affected by delays or cost increases due to the pandemic. We were therefore able to execute on our growth strategy to the expected extent, despite the challenging environment. While our investment strategy for Healthcare and Electronics has not changed due to COVID-19, we perceive positive growth impulses in the Life Science business sector and of course, we will be after the opportunity of investing for growth, according to the conditions of that environment. Next question, back to Kai Beckmann.
Mr. Schmidt also wished to know our view on the semiconductor business, especially as regards increased demand, capacity bottlenecks, and rising commodity prices. We're seeing accelerated digitalization in many areas. Steadily increasing demand for semiconductors, is this likely in the long term? All major chip producers have announced massive investments and are extending their capacities.
It will, however, take at least one or two years until the first of these new factories actually deliver chips. For the time being, shortages are thus expected to continue in individual applications. High commodity, transport and energy prices are affecting all industries, and the chip industry is no exception. This will further boost chip prices, which have already risen sharply. As a result, we continue to expect strong growth in the semiconductor materials business, albeit at a more volatile pace due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current geopolitical situation. Back to Belén Garijo.
Mr. Schmidt, you ask about our growth forecast, considering the current geopolitical situation. We live in a very uncertain and volatile environment, as we have recognized several times this morning. Of course, in that context, we are closely monitoring the situation and adjust our forecasting models whenever this is necessary, based on the best understanding we gain from our business assumptions. The current geopolitical situation, as well as the resulting impact on supply chains, pricing, et cetera, remain highly volatile, I repeat, and not very easy to ascertain with 100% certainty. The development, therefore, of our financial performance indicator is subject to greater level of uncertainty than it was before the pandemic. I guess we need to be prepared for a long-term, uncertain, volatile environment for the next coming years. Mr. Beckmann is going to go through the next question.
Mr. Schmidt also asked how the Bright Future transformation program, shortened to two years, is being developed further. As part of our transformation program, Bright Future, Electronics has been repositioned and developed into a leading player in the global electronics materials market. On the occasion of our Capital Markets Day in September 2021, we announced the successful conclusion of our five-year transformation two years ahead of schedule and introduced our new growth program, Level Up. Within the scope of Level Up, Electronics is addressing four mutually reinforcing key priorities, scale, technologies, portfolio, and capabilities.
We're therefore investing in digital business models and data analysis competencies in innovation and research and in enhanced production capacities in close proximity to our customers, especially in the United States, Korea, Taiwan, and China. In addition, we will continue to evaluate external growth options made possible by potential targe ted bolt-on acquisitions. Next question goes to Marcus Kuhnert.
Mr. Schmidt, you asked how Executive Board and Supervisory Board assess the dividend policy and whether it wouldn't be more appropriate to increase the payout ratio from currently 20%-25% to 25%-30% of earnings per share in light of the results achieved in the past years. As you know, we pursue a sustainable dividend policy, provided the economic environment develops in a stable manner. The current dividend represents the minimum level for future dividend proposals. The dividend policy is also strongly aligned with the group's earnings development. We still aim for a target corridor of 20%-25% of earnings per share pre.
Overall, we believe that our dividend policy is a good fit for the group's excellent growth prospects and corresponding investment requirements, and as such, announced at our Capital Markets Day last year that we're targeting group sales of EUR 25 billion in 2025, and a corresponding significant CapEx increase. Moreover, we want to achieve profitable growth again in 2022. Merck forecasts strong organic growth of group sales and EBITDA pre compared with the previous year, driven by all three business sectors. Exchange rates should also provide a positive effect. It goes without saying that we would like you, our shareholders, to participate in the success. With this in mind, we will continue to pursue a sustainable dividend policy aligned with the group's earnings development. The next question goes back to Belén Garijo.
Mr. Schmidt, you asked about the status of the validation process required by the Science Based Targets initiative. Brief answer, in November 2021, we decided to join the Science Based Targets initiative and the validation process is still ongoing. As things currently stand, we are expecting the validation to be completed during Q2 2022. Mr. Büchele takes the next question.
Mr. Schmidt, you asked why we only included scope one and scope two emissions when extending the remuneration system by sustainability component for the reduction of our carbon footprint. One of the criteria for selecting remuneration-related key performance indicators is the Executive Board's ability to influence such indicators inside and outside the company. We're concentrating on scope one and two emissions for now because they are within our direct sphere of influence, whereas we have only limited control over scope three emissions, which are incurred mainly in the up- and downstream value chain. However, we are working on a comprehensive methodology to capture and measure these emissions. This methodology will have to be standardized over the entire value chain. The next two questions go to Markus Kuhnert. Mr. Schmidt, you also asked about the qualitative scope of the sustainability assessment to which we submit our suppliers.
We assess suppliers either based on information gained within audits or based on assessments comprising self-reported and publicly available information. The latter is provided by EcoVadis, an independent rating agency. EcoVadis assesses suppliers from more than 160 countries and 200 sectors across the categories of environment, labor and human rights, ethics, sustainable procurement. As part of our TFS membership, these assessments are valid for a period of three years. Dear Mr. Schmidt, you asked about the number of suppliers identified as relevant and the corresponding criteria. Relevant suppliers are either associated with certain country or sector risks or account for a larger part, at least 50%, of our procurement volume. For the risk assessment, we apply EcoVadis risk data to nearly the entire procurement volume, approximately 98%.
When calculating our procurement volume, we take into account procurement relevant suppliers, excluding, for example, expenses such as taxes and duties, as well as levies and memberships. Based on these criteria, we identified 1,071 relevant suppliers. The next question will be answered by Belén Garijo.
Mr. Schmidt, you asked about our targets, measures, and initiatives to advance the circular economy within the company. We have developed a waste scoring system to systematically track the environmental footprint of our waste disposal activities, as well as to promote the circular economy approach. Our goal is to reduce our waste score by 5% compared to 2016. With a 5.6 reduction compared to 2016, we already reached this goal in 2021, and we will try to keep this level for the remaining of the period. Our measures include preventing waste, either by developing new production processes or by optimizing existing ones. When prevention is not feasible, we do our best to recover materials or energy from the waste that we potentially create. One specific initiative is our solvent recycling program in Darmstadt.
In 2021, we expanded this program to include a variety of solvents from organic productions and raised the recycling rate of our production waste in Darmstadt from 8.6% to 16.4%, so we almost double our recycling rate. Another example is our innovative information management system for the circular economy, and by connecting all participant high quality secondary raw materials can be reintroduced into production. Mr. Büchele will answer the following question.
Mr. Schmidt, you asked if the circular economy topic could be considered for Executive Board remuneration. We have selected three key performance indicators for Executive Board remuneration, each of which stands for one of our three sustainability goals and has particular influence over them. Notwithstanding this, we are working on different initiatives to implement the circular economy. A key performance indicator related to circular economy would generally be conceivable. The next question will be answered by Marcus Kuhnert.
Mr. Schmidt, you asked about the purpose of the capital increase proposed today and whether we have any plans for appropriation of the funds. As you know, the Executive Board has not yet made use of the authorized capital 2017, which is set to be canceled and then to be replaced by new authorized capital in the same amount.
The proposed authorized capital 2022 would allow the Executive Board to adjust the company's equity base within the limits mentioned in agenda item 9 to business-related and legal requirements at any time, and to act swiftly and flexibly in the company's interests. To ensure this, the company must always have the necessary instruments at its disposal to raise capital, irrespective of any specific plans to use it. Since decisions to cover capital requirements usually have to be made at short notice, it is important that a company neither has to wait for the next ordinary annual general meeting, nor is forced to convene an extraordinary general meeting. Turning to your question as to whether we have plans for the appropriation of these funds, we would like to inform you that we currently do not have any specific plans to make use of the authorizations.
Mr. Schmidt, you asked how we prioritize deleveraging vis-a-vis shareholder participation. As you know, we have consistently and swiftly reduced net financial debt since our last large acquisition, Versum, but at the same time growing profitability. Therefore, our debt ratio, in other words, the ratio of net financial liabilities to EBITDA pre, was reduced by 50% at the end of fiscal 2021 when compared to the end of fiscal 2019. That is a factor of 1.4. That was half. This positive development significantly increased our financial flexibility. As announced at our capital markets day last September, we're thus planning to increase total investments between 2021 and 2025 by more than 50% compared with the period from 2016 to 2020.
We will initially focus on organic growth initiatives for property, plant, and equipment. Mainly for new production facilities and for research and development. To reinforce our organic growth efforts, we are also aiming for targeted bolt-on acquisitions and in-licensing. The acquisitions of AmpTec and Exelead and the in-licensing agreement with the development and commercialization of xevinapant serve as good examples from the recent past. We will continue to pursue small to medium-sized transactions of this kind and do not rule out a larger transaction in the future in the event that an attractive opportunity arises. All in all, our strategy is consistently geared towards profitable growth and sustainable value creation, and we are confident that in the business areas relevant for us, abundant investment opportunities will arise as a result in the next years.
We continuously monitor and analyze our market environment and would be prepared to adjust our dividend policy in line with efficient capital allocation if necessary. However, in light of the excellent growth prospects in all three business sectors and corresponding investment requirements, we currently do not see any need for adjustment. The following questions will be answered by Mr. Büchele.
Dear Mr. Schmidt, you asked about the intensity of the supervisory board's considerations with active succession planning for the 2024 annual general meeting, and how specific such considerations are. Six members of the supervisory board of Merck KGaA will be newly elected at the annual general meeting in 2024. Preparations for these elections include analysis of legal requirements, the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code, as well as investor requirements concerning the independence and the skills and expertise profile of individual candidates and the entire supervisory board.
The Nomination Committee and the Plenary Meeting of the Supervisory Board will discuss specific candidates in due course. Mr. Schmidt, you also asked whether there are already considerations for internal or external candidates as successor to the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board. No, the Supervisory Board will resolve on electing its chairperson following the new elections in 2024. Mr. Schmidt, you inquired about the Supervisory Board's stance regarding the introduction of a staggered board at the 2024 Annual General Meeting. As mentioned before, current preparations for Supervisory Board elections in 2024 include an analysis of investor requirements. This also includes the advantages and disadvantages of staggered terms of office for Supervisory Board members. At this time, neither the Nomination Committee nor the Supervisory Board have adopted any resolution in this respect. The next questions will be answered by Marcus Kuhnert.
Mr. Schmidt, you asked whether the annual general meeting in 2023 will be held in person. The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board have not yet decided on the format of the AGM in 2023. As mentioned before, we perceive the benefits of the virtual AGM format. In any case, we will endeavor to match investors' requirements regarding the virtual format in the best way possible. Besides, I would like to refer to the previous answers concerning the topic of the virtual AGM. Mr. Gäbler, you asked how many participants had dialed in at the start of the virtual AGM and at the end of the CEO speech, compared to the number of persons present at last year's virtual AGM and the last in-person AGM.
At the beginning of this year's virtual AGM, around 500 visitors took part in our event online, and at the end of the CEO speech, there were just a few more. Last year, there were 500 at the beginning and 650 at the end of the speech. We would also refer to the fact that the chairman of the meeting has already provided information about the shareholders present under the item register of attendees, current presence. The chairman of the meeting will once again announce the current presence of shareholders when polls are closed. Around 1,000 users followed the live broadcast of the virtual AGM last year via the Internet. At the time of passing resolutions, around 89.7 million shares were represented, equaling a share of 69.38% of the 129.2 million shares issued.
At the last in-person AGM in 2019 at Jahrhunderthalle Frankfurt, approximately 1,400 people were present, of which 1,063 limited liability shareholders. At the time of passing resolutions, around 86.5 million shares were represented, equaling a share of 66.96% of the around 129.2 million shares issued. Furthermore, you inquired about the costs for the virtual AGM, requesting a breakdown of the largest items. We expect costs of around EUR 550,000. The largest cost items are IT infrastructure, and event equipment, which together account for around 80% of total costs. You also asked whether all members of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board will attend the full duration of the virtual AGM. Yes.
As the Chairman of the meeting explained at the beginning of the AGM, all members of the Executive Board attend the meeting in person. The members of the Supervisory Board will attend the full meeting virtually. Dear Mr. Gäbler, you asked how many questions by how many shareholders the company has received for the virtual annual general meeting. Including this question, we have received a total of 124 questions by nine shareholders and/or shareholder representatives ahead of the annual general meeting. Of this amount, seven questions by four shareholders and/or shareholder representatives concern the digital format of the AGM. Mr. Gäbler, you asked whether the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board have discussed the security of the software used for the annual general meeting, especially after it had received a poor rating.
The annual general meeting is organized by a multidisciplinary team, which also includes IT specialists. The software deployed for the AGM is regularly tested for possible security issues by these specialists. Our AGM service provider conducts penetration security tests on a regular basis, for example, on the investor portal, and has assured us that there are no security issues. Now I hand over to Belén Garijo.
Mr. Gäbler, you ask about staff fluctuations in the group during the year under review and in the previous year. Fluctuation within the group amounted to 10.8% in the year under review, after 9.11% the year before. Within Germany, it was 8.06% in 2020 and 4.06% in 2021, so almost half. The figures for China and the U.S., the two largest markets, were as follows: fluctuation in China amounted to 15.9% in 2020 and 18.4% in 2021. In the U.S., it stood at 9.76% in 2020 and 15.5% in 2021. The figures for Germany include 4.2% of staff who left Merck voluntarily.
The share in 2020 and the share in 2021 was 2.94. 0.56, so almost 0.6% of the employees in Germany left the company due to retirement in 2020, and in 2021, that equivalent figure was 0.27%. Involuntary redundancies totaled 3.86% in 2020 and 1.1% in 2021. We employ currently 1,100, so 1,126 people aged above 50 and 1,542 people over 55 years. Globally, the group employs 6,669 people aged over 50 and 8,393 over 55 years. The average length of service globally and at the group level was 9.46 years in the year under review in 2021.
Dear Mr. Gäbler, you also inquired about the number of employees in Germany with certain salary brackets. In 2021, the company employed 971 team members in Germany with a fixed salary between EUR 120,000 and EUR 249,000. The previous year's figure was 884. Thirty-two employees had a fixed salary between EUR 250,000 and EUR 499,000 after 33 in the previous year, so almost no variation, same number of employees. Outside of the Executive Board, only 4 employees had a fixed salary over EUR 500,000 in 2021 after 5 in the previous year, so one less. There are no group employees within Germany except vocational trainees and interns working full-time below or at the minimum wage of EUR 12, EUR 12 per hour planned for introduction in 2022.
The gross hourly wage of the lowest paid full-time employee within Germany was EUR 14.12 in the year 2021. There were 69 full-time employees within Germany with a gross monthly wage below EUR 3,000 in the year under review, 2021. The next question will be answered by Mr. Kuhnert.
Mr. Gäbler, you inquired about the amount of negative interest charged in Germany and Europe during the year under review. In 2021, we incurred EUR 5,337,909.94 in expenses for negative interest in Germany. We were not charged any negative interest in other European countries due to an automatic cash pooling process in place, whereby liquidity is transferred from subsidiaries' bank accounts to an account with Merck's central in-house bank in Germany. Now I'll hand over to Mr. Büchele to answer the next question. Mr. Gäbler, you asked whether the supervisory board would like to clearly improve in 2022 compared to the previous year. There are no plans for a fundamental change in the way the supervisory board works in the fiscal year 2022.
The supervisory board will continue to properly execute its duties in 2021, in accordance with the law as well as the company's Articles of Association and rules of procedure. In particular, the supervisory board will monitor the work of the executive board diligently and regularly.
Dear Mr. Gäbler, you ask what the Executive Board intends to do much better in 2022 than in 2021. Moreover, you ask what, aside from COVID-19 and the impact of the war in Ukraine, will be the major challenges for the company in 2022. The Executive Board will always aim to continue to improve as a team and as a high-performing team. As a company, we aim to expand our science and technology leadership and mobilize Merck for long-term efficient growth through focused and disciplined capital allocation, for which the Executive Board is responsible. Our new medium-term growth target, as I mentioned during the introduction, is summarized as 25 by 25. That means we are aiming to deliver around EUR 25 billion in group sales by 2025, and we need to continue to enable and prepare the company to deliver on that.
In our Life Science business sector, led by Matthias Heinzel, we will continue to strengthen our core business in 2022 while further expanding into high growth segments, as he explained. This include CDMO activities, so contract development and manufacturing organizations for mRNA technologies, viral vector and high potency active pharmaceutical ingredients. In Healthcare, led by Peter Guenter, serving patient and focusing on high unmet medical need will be guiding our strategy and our decisions. We aspire to become a global specialty innovator. The transformation of our Electronics business, managed by Kai Beckmann, has created one of the most relevant suppliers of materials and solutions for the semiconductor and display industry. We are on track to further expand our position. Together and across sectors, we view sustainability as a major challenge to society.
The uncertainty of the environment is also one of the challenges I mentioned before. Thus, we will emphasize sustainability throughout our value chains and have formulated ambitious goals for this. To step up our sustainability efforts, we introduce concrete targets for re-reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, and waste in 2021. These goals complement our ambitious sustainability strategy, which we presented at the end of 2020 during our Capital Markets Day. It is also integrated into the compensation of the Executive Board will, with well-defined sustainability targets, including in the non-financial performance criteria. The next question goes to Mr. Kuhnert.
Mr. Gäbler, you asked about our largest damage in 2021 and whether this was covered by insurance. In 2021, our total damages were low. Merck's largest damage of the year under review was water damage caused by fire in this rather, the sprinkler system at our site in Carlsbad, California, U.S. The total damage overall was $3,407,152. The subsidiary's deductible, as agreed in the insurance policy, was $1,226,370. The residual damage of $2,180,782 was ultimately borne by Merck Group's own reinsurance company. That is, economically, the damage was fully borne by Merck Group.
Mr. Gäbler, you asked about the load factors at our site in the fiscal year 2021. As a global company with three business sectors, we dispose of numerous production facilities. Listing the individual load factors would take up too much time within the scope of this event. We can, however, make the following general comments on capacity utilization. As our operating results show, 2021 was a very good year for Merck in terms of business and production. The problems caused by global supply chain disruptions within the course of the COVID-19 pandemic also presented our company with numerous challenges last year. We successfully faced these challenges and were able to balance capacity utilization correspondingly.
Mr. Gäbler, you also asked why the Executive Board has convened a virtual annual general meeting again and whether an in-person format had been considered. When the Executive Board and Supervisory Board had to make the decision, incidence levels were strongly increasing once again, and an end of physical distancing measures was not in sight. The hygiene concept for participants and associated increased personnel expenses, as well as an uncertain number of potential absences, was another factor speaking against an in-person event. In our review, the number of uncertainty factors was, thus, too high to convene an in-person AGM for 2022. Mr. Gäbler, you also asked if we believe that Deutsche Telekom did not comply with its duty to protect the participant at its in-person AGM on April 7th of this year.
We cannot comment on the hygiene concept and protective measures implemented by Deutsche Telekom for its annual general meeting. You also asked how many people had attended our last in-person AGM. We already answered these questions. 1,063 limited liability shareholders attended our last in-person AGM in 2019. Now, Mr. Büchele will ask the next question.
Mr. Gäbler, you asked which conclusions did Merck draw from the letter by the German Federal Ministry of Finance dated July 8 of last year regarding the qualification of supervisory board members as entrepreneurs. Merck has fully applied the provisions stipulated in the BMF letter dated July 8th, 2021 regarding the qualification of supervisory board members as entrepreneurs. Meaning that the VAT treatment of supervisory board remuneration, as set out by the tax authorities, will be applied as of 2021.
Hereto, Supervisory Board remuneration was fully settled under pre-representational value added tax pursuant to the tax authority's previous legal position. Merck deducted VAT as input tax. From now on, the qualification as an entrepreneur will be individually reviewed for each Supervisory Board mandate. Merck will only settle remuneration of the ET and apply the respective input tax reduction if the criteria established by the tax authorities are fulfilled. Now, Mr. Marcus Kuhnert will answer the next question.
Mr. Gäbler, you also asked whether the comprehensive disclosure of Executive Board and Supervisory Board remunerations commensurate. We disclose Executive Board and Supervisory Board remuneration in the Remuneration Report in line with current legal provisions and recommendations. We also take consideration for our shareholders' wish for enhanced transparency in this respect. Disclosure with this level of details complements also detailed reporting on our operating business. Back to Mr. Büchele.
Mr. Gäbler, you asked if the publication of the agenda in the German Federal Gazette was checked as to its readability, stating that especially the tables on Executive Board remuneration were barely legible. The company checked the publication of the agenda in the German Federal Gazette as to its readability. In addition, readers can adjust the font size to their individual needs by zooming in on the page. The same applies to the publications on our AGM website. Mr. Gäbler, you asked who determines the individual targets for Executive Board remunerations, reviews target achievement, and to what extent external providers are consulted and at which costs. You also wish to know whether the remuneration figures are calculated internally or with the help of external specialists, and whether the calculation is transparent for Executive Board and Supervisory Board members.
At our company, unlike at publicly listed German stock corporations, it is not the Supervisory Board, but the Board of Partners of E. Merck KG that is responsible for designing and reviewing the remuneration system and deciding on the amount and composition of remuneration received by the Executive Board members. The Board of Partners has assigned this task to its Personnel Committee, which ensures compliance with the remuneration system and its specific application, for example, regarding determination of targets and target achievement and the resolution on the respective payouts. The figures are determined internally and then reviewed by external auditors. There is no separate cost allocation for the calculation and audit of the Executive Board remuneration. Executive Board and Supervisory Board members can work out their remuneration themselves based on the remuneration systems and individual contractual stipulations. The next question will go to Mr. Marcus Kuhnert.
Mr. Gäbler, you asked to what extent each share is currently backed by equity and encumbered with liabilities. At the end of fiscal year 2021, the group's equity ratio was 47%. Accordingly, the debt ratio was 53%. In absolute figures, given aggregate capital of EUR 45.4 billion at the end of fiscal year 2021, and a theoretical number of 434.8 million shares, each share is backed by approximately EUR 49. The exact figure is EUR 49 and EUR 0.08 . With a debt burden of around EUR 55 per share, the exact figure is EUR 55.08. Mr. Gäbler, you also asked about our most successful products in 2021 across various categories, including their quantities and contribution margins. Please understand that we do not publish any quantities and contribution margins at the product level.
In terms of sales, the best performance was achieved by Erbitux, which saw organic growth of +12%, Rebif, despite an organic decline of -14%, and Glucophage with an organic decline of -4%. In Germany, the best performers were Rebif, with an organic decline of -1%, Mavenclad with an organic decline of -5%, and Erbitux with an organic growth of +18%. In Europe, the best performers were Erbitux, +9% organic growth, Rebif, +12% organic growth, and Glucophage with an organic decline of -40%. The next questions will be answered by Belén Garijo.
Mr. Gäbler, you are asking about the share of sales and earnings in the reporting year from Russia and possibly Belarus, and about the role of Russia for us in the medium and long term. Russia and Belarus together accounted for less than 2% of the Merck Group's consolidated net sales during the financial year 2021. We ask for your understanding that we don't publish earnings contributions from individual countries. Regarding the long-term perspective and what is the role of Russia and Belarus, first of all, I can only repeat what I said already. We will continue to support patients in the affected region with essential medicines and essential Healthcare-related activities. We will make sure that we strictly comply with all the international sanctions and obviously we will reassess our current positions as the situation evolves and develops.
Russia and Belarus play a very, very minor role in our medium and long-term outlook. Mr. Gäbler, you ask about the procurement and sales volume of the past two years in Taiwan and China, and about the implications should Merck withdraw from the Chinese market. Turning to China, we generated net sales of EUR 2.2 billion in 2020 and EUR 2.5 billion in 2021. Procurement cost for raw materials from China amounted to EUR 239 million in 2020 and EUR 356 million in 2021. Net sales generated in Taiwan amounted to EUR 893 million in 2020 and EUR 912 million in 2021. While procurement costs from raw materials from Taiwan achieved EUR 71 million in 2020 and went to EUR 95 million in 2021.
As mentioned repeatedly, we live in an uncertain world, and geopolitical influences are an important factor for global companies like Merck and many others. We firmly believe that in a free global economic order and the benefits associated for societies. However, Merck also recognizes every country's right to determine its own economic policy. As a science and technology group, we are very well-positioned in China and cooperate closely with our customers at local level. Many of our customers develop medicines and other products that provide great benefits to China and the rest of the world. As a purpose-driven company, we will continue to be there for our patients around the world with our essential medicines and products. At the same time, we continuously evaluate the implications of today's and tomorrow's geopolitical challenges.
We follow the stringent principles embedded in our values and believe that profitability goes hand in hand with ethical standards. Mr. Gäbler, you wish to know in how many countries with non-democratic governments our company is active. As a globally active technology enterprise, our motivation and focus is in improving people's life. To this end, we conduct research and development together with our customers, suppliers, and partners around the world. This is always done in accordance with very strict international rules and codes of conduct. For example, we have been a signatory of the UN Global Compact since 2005. Within our sphere of influence, we work on implementing the 10 principles covering human rights, labor standards, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. Our actions are governed by numerous internal guidelines, such as our human rights charter and our code of conduct.
The next question is going to be taken by Dr. Kuhnert.
Mr. Gäbler, you asked about our electricity consumption and requested a forecast for 2022. Merck is not an extremely energy-intensive enterprise. Nevertheless, we need electricity, oil, and especially natural gas, and we will have to bear higher energy costs this year. In fiscal 2021, Merck KGaA's consumption amounted to 64 GWh. Our energy intensity relative to sales totaled 0.12 kWh per euro in 2021. At our production sites, we have hedged two-thirds of electricity and natural gas prices at relatively favorable conditions for the long term in 2022, and only one-third depends on the currently extremely volatile and expensive spot market. Given the price development, we expect a cost increase in the low double-digit million EUR range for the year 2022.
As a rule, we will try to pass on increases in raw material and energy prices to our customers, especially at Life Science and Electronics, where prices are not fixed. Back to Belén Garijo.
Mr. Gäbler, you asked about the approximate square footage that could be used for photovoltaic installations at our German facilities. We are currently in the process of analyzing photovoltaic capacity at our German and other selected European sites. Besides the roof area, we are also looking at technical circumstances, such as the load-bearing capacity of rooftops. We don't currently have information concerning the total area which could be used. You also asked about the specific plans for the current fiscal year. We plan to install two new photovoltaic systems at our Darmstadt site this year. Together, they are expected to have an aggregate peak generation capacity of 760 kW. Finally, you inquired about our most important sustainability target in this context. Our most important target in connection with photovoltaics is to achieve climate neutrality by 2040.
Renewable energy plays a key role in this regard, and of course, this also includes generating carbon neutral power from solar energy. Mr. Gäbler, you asked how many fathers took parental leave during the year under review and for what average period of time. During 2021, a total of 103 fathers took parental leave within Merck KGaA. The total number for all domestic entities was 159. The average term of parental leave was 54 days. Moreover, you asked about the oldest staff member who took parental leave during the year under review, and this person was 50 years old. Furthermore, you expressed interest in the share of male executive who have taken parental leave during the year under review, and the share was 4.4%.
Mr. Gäbler, you asked how many reports were submitted to the whistleblowing system in the year under review, and whether this system is set up internally or externally. Moreover, you ask which conclusions were drawn from the reports. In fiscal 2021, we received more than 200 reports through our whistleblowing system, SpeakUp Line. This system is open globally to internal as well as external whistleblowers. It is provided by an external service provider. We follow up on all reports according to our internal guidelines and examine whether internal or external regulations have been violated. Based on the result of this examination, appropriate disciplinary measures, such as warning notice or termination of employment, can be taken against employees who may have committed violations.
If in the course of the examination we find deep-seated causes that may lead to further violations, we take also, in addition, corrective or preventive measures. Where necessary, appropriate measures were also taken in fiscal year 2021. The next question will be taken by Mr. Kuhnert.
Dear Mr. Gäbler. Thank you, Mr. Gäbler. You asked the following questions: By what percentage have the costs of raw materials and logistics costs increased in the year under review and in the current year, 2022? To what extent were you able to pass on higher raw materials and logistics costs to prices? 2021 painted a very heterogeneous picture for Merck's raw materials costs. While some products saw marked price increases due to critical availability, we were able to continue agreeing on more favorable purchase prices with our suppliers as far as other raw materials were concerned. The effects were more or less balanced last year. Price increases for a range of raw materials and logistics services vary according to the business sector concerned and the approaches of logistics supply chains for air and sea freight, over land freight and storage.
Logistics costs increased by 11% year-on-year in the year under review, with another 18% increase in the first quarter of 2022. In the current year, 2022, we're seeing clearly higher inflation overall, and hence higher raw materials prices across the board, which we need to digest. In this regard, we have created extensive transparency internally to allow us to plausibly translate higher costs into own price increases vis-à-vis our customers wherever this is possible. Each business sector pursues its own specific approach in this context. All business sectors are in close dialogue with their customers, discussing the tense situation and outlining current challenges in procurement and logistics for our products. This also involves discussions about price increases.
As a rule, we will try to pass on increases in raw materials, prices and logistics costs to our customers, especially at Life Science and Electronics, where prices have not been fixed. Mr. Gäbler, you asked about the amount of raw materials purchased from Russia in 2020 and 2021, broken down into A, oil; B, gas; C, coal; and D, other. You also wanted to know whether, and in what time, we can substitute these purchases from alternative sources. We obtain energy in all countries from the networks of public utility companies, not directly from Russia. However, it is a well-known fact that a share of Russian gas is very high in Germany, for example, meaning that at Merck, we have a corresponding dependency on Russia. While oil and coal are not particularly important to Merck, the supply of gas is decisive.
We constantly evaluate alternative sources, analyzing both short and long-term solutions. Right now, we have established a task force that is developing emergency plans for all locations, setting out how we would deal with lower quantities of gas in an emergency. Mr. Gäbler, you asked about further supply and service relationships with Russia and about our related emergency planning should deliveries of raw materials fail. Indeed, we purchase numerous raw materials from Russia, but none in particularly large volumes. Our aggregate imports from Russia amounted to approximately EUR 14 million in 2021. Following in-depth analysis, we determined that we can procure many of these raw materials from other suppliers located in other countries. However, on top of this, there is a possibility that bottlenecks due to products from Russia may occur in relation to procurement from upstream suppliers in our supply chain.
Far, we have not yet detected any disruptions in our supply chains. You also inquired about the economic consequences for the company. Essentially, shortage of special materials from Russia will lead to further price increases, an effect which we actively attempt to minimize through intensive negotiations with our suppliers. Mr. Gäbler, you asked what portion of raw materials procured from Russia to date is used. A, for manufacturing products, B, as energy used for product manufacturing, and C, for heating. Where is potential for further savings? Raw materials are primarily used to create our own products. We predominantly use gas supplied by national utilities to generate steam at our sites, which is necessary to operate our plants. There is some leeway, for example, to use oil rather than gas in order to generate steam.
Mr. Gäbler, you asked, "For how many days would you be able to maintain material production using existing inventories?" That depends on the specific situation in an emergency. In case of emergency, we'll use our entire production infrastructure in Europe, but also in the U.S. and Asia, to be able to continue manufacturing our products. You also inquired about inventories, for example, in terms of gas. We obtain our gas supplies from national suppliers that rely on their inventories. At Merck, we do not have any gas storage facilities. Mr. Gäbler, you asked what products are currently affected by supply problems or significantly longer delivery periods, and whether we would be facing corresponding contractual penalties. At present, we see some supply bottlenecks or delays in the delivery of construction materials for investment projects. This also affects semiconductors required by our suppliers of machinery.
This leads to current delays, but not to any more serious consequences. Mr. Gäbler, you asked, "Is there a threat of failure in the supply of medicines? How do you deal with this issue?" We cooperate closely with our suppliers and distribution partners. Based on our assessment of the current situation, we do not currently perceive any impending threat of failure in the supply of medicines. Mr. Gäbler, you inquired about the number of entities on the list of shareholdings, how many entities thereof have operating activities, and how many posted a loss. The list of shareholdings in the consolidated financial statements as of December 31st, 2021 including the parent company, 445 entities. Thereof, 317 were fully consolidated subsidiaries and included in the consolidated financial statement.
Of these subsidiaries, 192 had operating activities in the sense of generating sales revenues, and 70 posted negative results after taxes in accordance with IFRS and were, thus, loss-making. You also asked to what extent the streamlining of the group structure might be sensible in this respect. Indeed, we always strive to streamline the group structure wherever possible, liquidating companies if they are no longer needed. In fact, we were able to liquidate 10 companies in 2021. The total number for the past five years is even 101. Mr. Gäbler, you, moreover, asked for a sales and earnings guidance for the current fiscal year. As you already mentioned in your question, it is not easy to make an exact forecast given the geopolitical situation. We're closely monitoring the situation and have adjusted our forecasting models to the current situation.
The current geopolitical situation and resulting impact on supply chains, pricing, et cetera, remain highly volatile and hard to assess. The development of our financial indicators is, thus, subject to greater uncertainty. Our latest guidance was communicated in March and provides for b oth sales and earnings, that's EBITDA pre, a strong organic growth for the year 2022. As usual, the first quantitative guidance will be published along with our Q1 financial statements in May. I hand over to Belén Garijo.
Mr. Gäbler, you asked us about the biggest issue and the greatest achievement. As you can imagine, given the size of our company and the multiple achievements of 2021, it's difficult to pinpoint any single event. When I think of successes and issues, the COVID-19 pandemic immediately comes to mind. That was challenging, not only from a business perspective, but also from the leadership perspective and from the human angle. Our people are fatigued. We have been operating the business during the pandemic for the last two years successfully, and we managed these challenges very well. Production continued, many colleagues were able to work from home. We stayed very focused and engaged during this period.
Our products and services have made possible for us to excel in many areas of scientific research and biotechnological production worldwide. One example is our strategic partnership with BioNTech, where we announced in February 2021, as I mentioned already, that we would accelerate the supply of much needed custom lipids, essential component for manufacturing, BioNTech's Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Over the course of the pandemic, so far, we have supported many vaccine developers as well as numerous other customers with solutions for research tools, and we have delivered on our two key priorities. One, protecting our employees, safe and engaged, and delivering on our business goals. We are very proud of that. The next question goes back to Mr. Kuhnert.
Hey, Gäbler. Mr. Gäbler, you also asked whether the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board have already concerned themselves with the draft bill on future virtual annual general meetings and whether they would use the options provided by that bill. Furthermore, you asked whether Merck KGaA would return to holding its AGM in person, enhanced by virtual elements, as is already possible under the German Stock Corporation Act today. As mentioned before, we perceive the benefits of the virtual AGM format. The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board have not yet decided on the format of the AGM in 2023. Besides, I would like to refer to the previous answers concerning this topic. We now turn to the questions submitted by Ms. Marion Kostinek, Chairperson of Investors Communications Group. You asked about the development of trade tax at Merck.
Trade tax payments by Merck for 2021 were slightly higher than in previous years, owing to the good operating result. For fiscal 2022, we expect trade tax payments to remain at this level, also owing to the good business situation. I hand over to Peter Guenter.
Ms. Kostinek, you asked about the agreement with GSK in the Healthcare business sector. The objective of the global strategic alliance with GSK was the joint development and marketing of bintrafusp alfa. We reached an amicable agreement to end the partnership on bintrafusp alfa, effective September 30, 2021. The decision was based on the clinical trial data generated until then, most notably the results of the INTR@PID Lung 037 study, which had already been reported at the time, which did not replicate the encouraging data observed in earlier studies. Furthermore, you ask whether the emphasis or focus in terms of research and development will change going forward. The Healthcare business sector will continue to focus its research and development efforts on the areas of oncology, MS, and immunology. An additional question referred to the research budget. The research budget is by nature subject to fluctuations.
Strategically speaking, internal development, in- and out- licensing, including partnerships, but also acquisitions, will continue to form part of the instruments we use. I give it back to Marcus Kuhnert.
Ms. Kostinek, you also asked if the strong performance seen in fiscal 2021 was achieved organically, and how this was consistent with the negative margin development in the Healthcare business sector. It is correct that the strong performance last year was achieved via organic growth. The EBITDA and the EBITDA pre-decline in Healthcare was more than offset by strong operational performance in the Life Science and Electronics business sectors. This led to a very successful fiscal 2021 for the group. I'll hand over to Mr. Beckmann.
Ms. Kostinek, you're referring to a Handelsblatt report dated March 8, 2022, and to the fact that Merck has allegedly announced in December 2021 that it would invest around $1 billion in its electronic materials business for clients of the chip industry.
You also asked if these plans had now been specified and how we were going to finance these investments. We had already announced in September 2021, within the scope of our Level Up growth program, that we were aiming to invest more than EUR 3 billion globally in innovation and in the expansion of our production capacities in the Electronics business sector over the next five years. As announced in December 2021 and reiterated by Handelsblatt newspaper, we are targeting total investments of more than $100 billion in the U.S. alone. We have specified our plans insofar as we have also communicated that we are planning to invest around EUR 600 billion in Korea, around EUR 500 million in Taiwan, and more than EUR 100 million in China. We're trying to finance these investments here on the side from our local cash flow. Back to Mr. Kuh nert.
Ms. Kostinek asked about the development of the net financial debt in fiscal 2021, the development of the interest rate level of the net financial liabilities, as well as about interest rate hedges. Thanks to the very strong cash flows in the fiscal year under review, net financial debt was significantly reduced by EUR 2 billion from EUR 10.8 billion- EUR 8.8 billion. The average interest rate level of financial liabilities increased slightly from 1.57%- 1.74% in the fiscal year under review, as primarily only short-term variable rate, and thus low interest rate financial liabilities could be redeemed. Our financial liabilities almost exclusively comprise bonds issued.
All of our bonds are fixed rate bonds, some of them with a term until 2031. With a view to the existing financial liabilities, we have therefore been able to secure the attractive interest rate of the previous 14 years ahead. We have not entered into any interest rate hedges beyond that.
Ms. Kostinek, you asked about the importance of women in leadership positions for our business success and how we attract qualified women to our company. Within the framework of our diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy, we have a very solid plan that is linked to our talent management strategy, and that we are progressing with tremendous ambition. We have addressed unconscious biases. We are very, very focused on linking diversity and inclusion with our talent acquisition, our talent retention, and our talent development. Most importantly, we are making diversity, equity, and inclusion a key leadership attribute, and behavior, and priority. Each and every senior manager of the company is incentivized with progress in this front.
Today, we have 36% of female in leadership positions, and our aspiration is to achieve gender parity by 2030. Next question goes back to Marcus Kuhnert.
We now come to the questions from Mr. Kienle of the Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger. Mr. Kienle, you asked whether the company earned its capital costs on group and segment level in the fiscal year under review. In the fiscal year under review, the group's return on assets exceeded its capital costs. Please understand that we do not publish the return on assets of the individual sectors. We consider ourselves as an integrated group and therefore take portfolio financials as its group level. Mr. Kienle, you asked whether company supply chains have already been compromised, and if so, which segments or products are most affected. So far, Merck has been successful in maintaining business operation in all three sectors without any significant interruptions to supply. We are currently scrutinizing our supply chains very intensely. So far, we have successfully mastered bottlenecks and critical availability issues regarding numerous products.
Further, you asked whether the various diverse geopolitical tensions will lead to our supply chains being restructured. We are in close dialogue with our suppliers in order to master these supply chains challenges and to jointly identify alternative solutions as well as procurement sources or countries. As a matter of principle, we always endeavor to minimize procurement risk for the products we need to purchase by qualifying various suppliers wherever this is possible and viable. Mr. Kienle, you also asked the following question: In your view, taking the risk into consideration, does globalization offer net benefits, especially when looking at global supply chains? The challenge is in simultaneously evaluating supply chains on an ongoing basis while searching for alternative solutions, be it secondary or regional sources. On a general note, the global flow of goods is one of the pillars of our procurement policy.
Yes, positive aspects outweigh the risks. Yet, at the same time, we also try to identify local or regional products or suppliers for local production sites to the extent possible. You asked about the extent to which Merck KGaA depends on Russian commodities, especially Russian gas. The share of imports from Russia is manageable. We purchase numerous raw materials which, following in-depth analysis, we can also procure from other suppliers located in other countries to a large extent. Looking at gas, there's a certain level of dependency, as is the case with other companies. However, Merck is not an extremely energy-intensive enterprise, as was already stated. Furthermore, you raised the question for which precursor products or raw materials there are dependencies vis-à-vis crisis-ridden countries.
Given the complex supply chain environment and the volatile markets, we continuously assess the current situation in order to search for alternative solutions. Since the volumes purchased from countries in crisis, such as Russia or Ukraine, are manageable, dependencies are thus also limited. You also asked whether we were able to pass on price increases to customers, or whether high prices for raw materials, supplies and consumables, as well as precursor products, burden margins and earnings. 2021 painted a very heterogeneous picture for Merck's raw material costs. While some products saw marked price increases due to critical availability, we were able to continue agreeing on more favorable raw material prices with our suppliers as far as other products were concerned. The effects were more or less balanced last year.
In the current year, 2022, we are seeing clearly higher inflation overall, and hence higher raw material prices across the board, which we need to digest. In this regard, we have created extensive transparency internally to allow us to plausibly translate higher costs into own price increases vis-à-vis our customers, wherever this is possible. Mr. Kienle, you inquired about the impact of a gas or energy embargo against Russia on the development of sales and earnings during the current fiscal year. This is difficult to evaluate. In case of emergency, we will use our entire production infrastructure in Europe, but also in the U.S. and Asia, to be able to continue manufacturing our products. You asked whether we have incorporated globalization risks, and if so, which parameter reflects these. Perhaps the cost of capital.
To date, we have not introduced or adjusted any special parameters at group level. However, we have included certain risk factors at country level, and we permanently analyze global changes. Globalization is only one aspect. However, the belligerent intervention and the peaceful coexistence of states increases risk by orders of magnitude if there are dependencies within trading relationships. Mr. Kienle, you inquired about the measures we have taken to reduce dependencies regarding raw materials. To ensure an uninterrupted supply chain and minimize the risk of supply shortage, we are constantly looking for secondary or alternative sources in other countries as well. You also asked whether we are able to diversify all dependencies and/or find alternatives to the substitute supplies. Since Merck manages three very diverse business sectors, the approaches taken in each sector are also devised.
With a dynamic business model, such as in Life Science, short-term adjustments like identifying secondary sources can be implemented faster than in the regulated Healthcare business environment. Now I hand over back to Belén Garijo.
Mr. Kienle, you asked about the allocation of the planned investment of EUR 30 billion until 2025 to the individual segments, and whether the focus is on organic growth or growth driven by acquisitions. As I mentioned during the introduction, our big three segments, Process Solutions, new Healthcare pipeline, as well as Semiconductor Solutions, will be the business with the most promising growth potential in our view. To those three businesses, we plan to allocate more than 70% of the investment that we have announced of EUR 30 billion until 2025. In this context, our investment will focus on organic, driving organic growth. In addition, of course, we will continue to evaluate alternative growth options driven by acquisitions, and we will consider these opportunities if we identify options that will create value for the group. The next question will go to Dr. Heinzel.
Mr. Kienle, you asked about the potential of mRNA vaccines and application areas outside of COVID-19. Moreover, you asked about the sales and earnings potential we see for these vaccines in the next three years ahead. Lastly, you asked what exactly the acquired company, Exelead, does. mRNA has several advantages over traditional vaccines. For example, the development and production process of mRNA vaccines can be materially accelerated. Additionally, the adjuvant effect of mRNA can increase the effect of vaccines. For this reason, numerous manufacturers of vaccines have started developing mRNA vaccines, especially those that must be newly engineered every year, such as vaccines against influenza. What is more, mRNA can combine different vaccines into one single agent. For example, a combination of an influenza and COVID-19. That's a further development we are monitoring.
Lastly, cancer vaccines offer potential as well, as they are partly developed in a personalized manner for each patient, so they're developed for every single patient. We therefore expect significant long-term potential from our investments into the mRNA value chain. Exelead is a contract development and manufacturing company specialized in pegylated products and complex injectable formulation in the field of biotechnology. This includes, among other things, so-called lipid nanoparticles, LNPs that serve as drug carriers. This so-called drug delivery technology is a key component for mRNA vaccines and therapeutics that are used for COVID-19 and many other indications. The company has experience in all stages of the development of lipid nanoparticle formulations. That is from the pre-clinical development stage to the commercial contract manufacturing, including fill and finish activities. Now I hand over to my colleague, Peter.
Mr. Kienle, you also ask about the key reasons for the decline in income and margins in Healthcare. As already mentioned by Marcus Kuhnert, the decrease in EBITDA pre and EBITDA pre-margin in fiscal 2021 was primarily due to the income in the previous year from the reversal of provisions for potential damages in connection with the patent dispute with Biogen in the U.S. The reversal of provisions in fiscal 2020 amounted to EUR 365 million. You also ask what sustainable margin target the Healthcare business sector aims to achieve. The EBITDA pre-margin will fluctuate within a certain range over time, which is why we do not target a specific figure. However, we still strive to maintain a competitive margin, just as we managed to do in recent years. In this context, continuous cost discipline will be a major lever.
In the long term, new product launches will have a positive impact. I give it further to Mr. Büchele.
Büchele. Mr. Kienle, you also asked about the relevance of sustainability over the past years and about the triggers which have led to rerating sustainability as an integral part of Merck's entrepreneurial activities. The company has been extensively reporting on sustainability core topics for many years. In addition, sustainability has always played a role in the supervisory board's considerations since 2017. The rapidly growing challenges facing society and the environment have turned sustainability into a critical success factor. We are convinced that Merck can help meet global challenges and create long-term value for society through innovative and high-quality products, thus securing our competitive edge and financial performance. This is why we embedded the topic of sustainability in our group strategy as an essential component, set ourselves three strategic sustainability goals, and enshrine sustainability even more firmly in the remuneration system for the members of the Executive Board.
Mr. Kienle, you also asked about the criteria on which Deloitte, according to the audit committee, had outperformed its competitors in the request for tender regarding auditing for fiscal 2023. The criteria according to which we evaluated candidates included not only general qualifications, but also the terms of the offer, the auditing team, the audit approach, the quality and presentation of the offer, and the focus on Merck. In an overall assessment, Deloitte outperformed its competitor in all categories except terms of the offer. The competitor was EY. Mr. Kienle, you inquired about the rules concerning non-audit services provided by the auditor at Merck. The list of permitted non-audit services applies in general and is defined in a policy which is applicable throughout the group. It is not an ad hoc list, but is reviewed on a recurring basis.
Last year, there have been amendments to reflect the changed statutory regulations. In the course of this revision, we partly went beyond statutory minimum requirements and prohibited certain non-audit services, the rendition of which would in principle be permitted according to the statutory requirements. The list of permitted non-audit services primarily includes other audit services, such as audits of financial statements and audits throughout the year that are not required by law, the audit of non-financial reporting, audit-related services that are legally or contractually required or required for capital market purposes, as well as certain advisory services in the areas of quality assurance and compliance with statutory requirements. I return to Mr. Guenter.
A question submitted by Mrs. Zimmermann from Deka Invest. Dear Mrs. Zimmermann, you asked about the targets for pipeline products and why these were missed in the past. Your question probably refers to the revised target for sales with new products. This was due, among other factors, to the fact that planned expansion for applications of Bavencio could not be realized to the extent we hoped for, given that not all admission studies have been successful. On top of this, the global coronavirus pandemic meant that both Mavenclad and Bavencio were launched in a challenging market environment. This affected the segment of high-efficacy MS therapies in particular, as already discussed, previously. A further question concerned how we will deal with patent expirations from 2026 onwards.
Well, we counter patent expirations through targeted R&D activities in the therapeutic areas that are affected, and a very good example is, of course, evobrutinib in the treatment of MS. In some cases, we supplement the pipeline through targeted in-licensing of products. Yet, as Merck has demonstrated in the past, products not protected by patents may in fact continue contributing to sales growth, thanks to smart lifecycle management. You also inquired about the pipeline and its prospects for success. We consider our pipeline to be well-positioned with four candidates in late-stage clinical development. Evobrutinib and xevinapant are projects offering very high potential, and patisiran is another candidate in our early-stage pipeline offering first-in-class potential. In addition, our early-stage pipeline includes several oncology projects. One of the further questions you submitted refer to the impact of the war in Ukraine on the evobrutinib study, also looking at competitor Sanofi.
First of all, the safety and continued treatment of patients in the affected areas is our primary concern. If necessary, we will flexibly respond to the situation regarding the evobrutinib studies. To this end, we are in close contact with all relevant parties, especially with investigators as well as the corresponding regulatory authorities. Since we do not have any detailed information on progress with competitor studies, we cannot comment on the timing factor. Of course, we endeavor to get evobrutinib approved as early as possible, not least in the interest of patients. You also asked how Merck wants to withstand competition in the Healthcare business sector and what growth rates can be expected. A great strength of our portfolio is the balanced mix of tried and tested medicines and innovative products.
Doctors and patients alike put their trust in our established products, which has enabled continuous growth over the past years. We anticipate further growth with our most recently approved products Mavenclad, Bavencio and Tepmetko. The objective of all our pipeline projects is to achieve significant therapeutic progress in the respective therapeutic areas. If we succeed in demonstrating the postulated effects, we expect corresponding demand from patients and professionals. In summary, we continue to expect solid growth with a medium-term sales compounded annual growth rate in the mid-single digits percentage range. Mrs. Zimmermann, you also asked about how we assess our position in key markets and how we ensure sufficient investment to establish innovative products in the market. With our products, we regularly hold leading positions in the different markets and segments. In some cases, we are even global market leaders, for example, in the segment for the fertility products.
We therefore believe we are generally well-positioned. In order to maintain a sustainable player in the future, we continue to invest a significant proportion of our income in R&D of innovative pharmaceuticals. In this context, we pursue a focused R&D strategy and consciously concentrate on the promising segments in immunology, neurology and oncology. The next question goes to my colleague, Matthias Heinzel.
Mrs. Zimmermann, you asked whether we expect the market entry of further competitors, e.g., from China in the Life Science business sector and how we will deal with that. We consider ourselves as a very well-positioned top three player in the rapidly growing Life Science industry. In this context, we are supported by our stronger focus on the Process Solutions business and pharma customers as a main driver compared to our competitors. Our comprehensive holistic range of upstream and downstream products and our strong services business are further competitive advantages. Only few companies are able to offer such a broad range of products and services. We closely monitor the market as well as the entry of new competitors. However, we're convinced that we have a sustainable competitive advantage which we will be able to maintain thanks to our innovative power or market access and our global presence.
Mrs. Zimmermann, you asked to what extent our targets imply a normalization of pandemic-related demand. We explained when answering another question in this context, we expect the substantial demand for COVID-19 products in our Life Science business sector to subside when the pandemic becomes endemic. This assumption is reflected in both our 2022 guidance and our midterm guidance. For 2022, we expect total COVID-19 related sales to be below EUR 1 billion compared to approximately EUR 1.15 billion in 2021. This, however, will be more than offset by the growth in our core business as we expect strong organic growth for Life Science as a whole in the current year. Our midterm guidance of organic sales growth of 7%-10% between 2021 and 2025 is also based on the assumption that the COVID-19 business will significantly decline over time.
In a base scenario, we assume that by 2025, COVID-19 related sales will only account for a fraction of what we observed last year. Please also note that sensitivity to different assumptions regarding COVID-19 is limited. If COVID-19 related sales in 2025 reached the 2021 level, our midterm guidance would move up by 1 percentage point. If COVID-19 related sales in 2025 were zero, it would move down by 1 percentage point. In any case, we are confident of achieving positive organic sales growth each year until 2025, with our core business being the main growth driver. I hand over to Mr. Kuhnert.
Mrs. Zimmermann, you ask about the impact of the pandemic on our cost base and operating model. Due to the pandemic, we could significantly reduce our marketing and selling costs, especially travel and event-related costs.
We will keep our strict focus on costs and try to maintain COVID-related savings in the future, e.g., through digital event formats. Due to our strict cost management focus and our positive growth forecast, we expect our costs to keep growing less quickly than our sales. I hand over to Mr. Beckmann.
Mrs. Zimmermann, you asked how we assess the risks related to the Zero-COVID strategy pursued by some Asian countries, especially the potential impact of persisting COVID-related disruptions on the semiconductor supply chain. The Zero-COVID strategy in some Asian countries repeatedly leads to heavy local restrictions, up to complete lockdowns, as recently seen in Shanghai. Their impact on the supply chain heavily depends on where exactly the restrictions are imposed and for how long. Restrictions at harbors and airports, but also the limited availability of transportation capacities and personnel, are a growing challenge.
We're checking our inventories and supply our customers wherever, and if necessary, from other Merck sites. We are closely monitoring the situation, and our local management is in touch with the relevant authorities to ensure that the production, distribution, and transport of imported materials are not disrupted. In case of heavy restrictions, such as a lockdown, the financial impact on Electronics is not that significant if the restrictions last less than one month. However, if they last longer or are expanded to other areas, they will certainly become significant. The next two questions will be answered by Belén Garijo.
Mrs. Zimmermann, you also ask about our comprehensive capital investment strategy and to what extent we are willing to invest in Healthcare and E lectronics in terms of M&A. First of all, let me tell you that our capital investment strategy is based on a systematic portfolio management and a capital allocation process, which is extremely rigorous and very well established. First of all, our three sectors compete for capital and the trade-offs, and the decision-making will be done not only at sector level, but rather at what we call portfolio unit. This process is assigning to each of our business a specific portfolio role based on their respective markets and our competitive position, obviously our right to win.
Our capital allocation strategy aims at first prioritizing in businesses with the most promising growth potential, which we have identified already in our strategic planning as those with the most promising growth potential. These are what we call our big three businesses: Process Solutions, Healthcare pipeline, and Semiconductor Solutions. This is the way by default, therefore, we are of course, willing to invest in Healthcare and Electronics in terms of, M&A or in l icense if value-creating opportunities are identified. Mrs. Zimmermann, you ask if we intend to stick with the single-use technology or if we are looking for more environmentally friendly procedures. In contrast to conventional production in a stainless steel production facilities, the single-use technology reduces the use of chemical detergents, water, and steam for sterilization.
With a multi-use approach, these aspects can contribute to a significant CO2 footprint. This is not the case for the single-use approach. Regarding the recycling of plastic single-use materials, we are obviously in touch with our customers and recycling companies to continue to progress ecologically viable recycling and upcycling solutions. Ideas on how we can improve the sustainability of single-use materials, such as through the use of recycled plastics, will contribute to our general product development process. With this, the last question goes to Mr. Büchele.
Mrs. Zimmermann, you asked us to explain the newly defined ESG targets for management remuneration and their impact on management remuneration. Aside from ESG-related bonus, among those criteria used to adapt the profit participation, a sustainability factor has been introduced for the 2022 long-term incentive tranche. We have selected three key performance indicators, each of which stands for one of our three sustainability goals and has particular influence over them. The performance criterion dedicated to human progress measures how many people in the world have been treated with our company's Healthcare products. Creating sustainable value chains measures how much the share of suppliers with a sustainability rating has increased, both in terms of their number and their share of the purchase volume.
On our way to climate neutrality, we aim to reduce both direct and indirect emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to 2020. The selected indicators are published as part of our reporting and reviewed independently. All in all, the sustainability factor increases or reduces the target achievement level for the long-term incentive tranche by up to 20%. I return to Belén Garijo.
Thank you very much. Dear Mr. Büchele, dear members of the Executive Board. Thank you very, very much for the transparency and for the rigorous approach to the question and answer, to the very complete responses to the questions asked by the shareholders. With this, I think we have to take a break. Back to you.
No. First I have to.
You have to finish.
Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, we have comprehensively answered all the questions that reached us prior to the annual general meeting via the investor portal. You now have a further 10 minutes to submit your follow-up questions via the investor portal. This function will no longer be available as of 1:40 P.M. If you have not yet submitted your follow-up questions, I kindly ask you to do so. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now make a break to process the follow-up questions. A break of around 30 minutes. The break will end approximately at 2:00 P.M. I will let you know in case the break needs to be extended due to the number of follow-up questions. I will announce that at 2:00 P.M. Thank you very much. We take the break and interrupt.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will continue today's annual general meeting of Merck KGaA. During the break, no follow-up questions have been submitted, so we hereby end the round of questions. We will now start voting on agenda items 2 to 9. The agenda items will now be displayed again on your screens as a short version. Until 2:07 P.M., you have the opportunity to issue or change proxies and instructions to the company's proxies via the investor portal or to exercise your voting rights online by absentee voting. If you still wish to make use of this option, we now ask you to do so without delay. If within the specified time you will not do that, the portal will be closed. We will close the portal at 2:08 P.M.
Following this, the company's proxies will vote in accordance with your instructions by approving the votes stored in the system. The absentee votes received by the deadline have already been stored in the system. Statutory exclusions of voting rights for members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board have been observed. The notary will monitor the voting process. Resolutions on agenda items 2 to 8 are passed by a simple majority of the votes cast. The resolution on agenda item 9 additionally requires a majority of at least three-quarters of the share capital represented at the time the resolution is adopted. We will now begin the voting. The exact wording of the proposed resolution, which is solely relevant for the vote, is contained in the notice of the meeting published in the Federal Gazette on March 9th, 2022.
I would ask the company's proxies to prepare to release the votes stored in the system and thus to vote on the individual agenda items in accordance with the shareholders' instructions. As announced, we will close the portal at 2:08 P.M. and will close the possibility to issue a change of proxy instructions to the company's proxies via the investor portal or to exercise your voting rights online by absentee voting. We will wait briefly for the time to close the portal. Ladies and gentlemen, it is 2:08 P.M . I now hereby order that voting on the agenda items be closed. Voting online by absentee voting and the issuing of proxies and instructions to the company's proxies are no longer possible from now on. I instruct the technical department to take this into account accordingly and ask the notary to make a note of this.
I now ask the proxies to release the votes stored in the system and thus to vote in accordance with the shareholders' instructions on the individual agenda items. The company's proxies have just released the votes stored in the system in accordance with the shareholders' instructions on the individual agenda items. The absentee votes have already been stored in the system, as mentioned before. All votes have thus been cast. I hereby close the voting on the agenda. The determination of the voting results on agenda items 2 to 9 , which is now taking place under notarial supervision, will take some time. We will therefore take an approximately 30-minute break until around 2:14 P.M . I hereby interrupt the AGM.
Dear ladies and gentlemen, the annual general meeting will now continue. I now have the voting results on agenda items 2 to 9 that are displayed on the monitors. I will now read out the extensive voting results. The detailed voting results will be shown while they are read out and submitted to the notary for inclusion in the minutes. In addition, they will be published in detail on the company's website after today's AGM. The following results pertaining to agenda items 2 to 9 relate in each case to the management's proposed resolution as published in the invitation to the annual general meeting on March 9th, 2022 in the Federal Gazette. Dear ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to first announce the current presence. You can follow this information on your screens.
Out of the share capital in the amount of EUR 168,014,927.60, divided into 129,242,252 no par value shares. 90,655,933 no par shares are represented with the same amount of votes. This corresponds to 70.15% of the share capital. On top of this, absentee votes were received for 247,298 no par shares. This corresponds to 0.19% of the share capital. Now on the results. Agenda item 2 , the adoption of the financial annual fiscal statements for fiscal year 2021. 90,108,859 yes votes.
This is 99.83% and 150,990 votes for no. That's 0.17%. Item 2 is adopted. The third item, resolution on the appropriation of net retained profit for fiscal year 2021. 90,556,691 yes votes. That's 99.78% and 196,334 no votes corresponds to 0.22%. The third agenda item is also adopted with the necessary majority. Item 4, resolution on the approval of the actions of the executive board for fiscal 2021. 88,595,810 yes. That's 99.38%.
555,396 votes no, 0.62%. Thus, the item, agenda item 4 is also adopted with the necessary majority. Agenda item 5, resolution on the approval of the actions of the supervisory board for fiscal year 2021. 77,977,884 yes votes, that's 89.36%. 9,261,840 no votes, that's 10.64%. The agenda item 5 is also adopted with the necessary majority. Item 6, resolution on the election of the auditor for fiscal 2022. The auditor for the intermediate management report of the group audit on June 13th, 2020. 78,853,347 yes votes.
That's 89.66%. 9,090,026 votes no. That's 10.34%. The sixth agenda item is also adopted with the necessary majority. The result of agenda item 7, the resolution of the approval of the election of the auditor for fiscal year 2023, and the auditor for the review of the short financial report and the intermediate report on June 30th, 2023. 90,030,565 votes yes. That's 99.33%. 606,652 no votes. That's 0.67%, and agenda item 7 has also been adopted with the necessary majority. The 8th item, resolution on the approval of the compensation report for 2021. 72,021,033 votes yes.
That's 84.73%. 12,978,394 votes no. That's 15.27%, and agenda item 8 has also been adopted with the required majority. The result of agenda item number 9, resolution of the cancellation of the current authorized capital and the creation of new authorized capital with the possibility to exclude subscription rights and the corresponding amendment of the articles of association. 73,655,869 yes votes. That's 85.5%. 12,495,437 no votes. That's 15.5%. In this manner, agenda item number 9 and the corresponding has been adopted with the corresponding majority. Dear ladies and gentlemen, this way all items of the agenda have been completed.
I would like to thank you once again for your participation in today's virtual annual general meeting and your interest in the work and development of our company. Finally, my special thanks go to the employees of the company who have contributed to the success of this annual general meeting. I look forward to seeing you again in good health at the Merck Annual General Meeting next year, and now I'm closing our meeting. Goodbye.