Berlin: Meeting between Vonovia and the Left fails at short notice

The two parties accuse each other of being to blame for the failure. According to the Left, Vonovia rejected the participation of an independent journalist and insisted on a conversation behind closed doors. Pantisano accused the housing company of “breaking” an existing agreement. »We don't do backroom politics. We are not the CDU,” he said.

Dispute over a journalist

Left party leader Heidi Reichinnek also claimed on Tuesday that Vonovia had let the “long-agreed date” fail. “The large housing companies continue to squeeze tenants for returns,” said Reichinnek in Berlin. "It's not surprising that Vonovia and the boss don't want to face this problem publicly." At first they tried to break up the conversation because of a dispute about the appropriate location, claims Reichinnek. Then they refused to provide journalistic support - even though they had agreed to this beforehand.

The housing group contradicts this representation. A Vonovia spokeswoman told SPIEGEL that they did not agree to journalistic coverage of the confidential conversation from the start. "Of course, both sides could have spoken publicly about the exchange afterwards." They were not informed about the Left's cancellation, but found out about it from the journalist who was supposed to take part in the conversation at the Left's request.

The Left repeatedly expresses strong criticism of Vonovia's actions. In September, Pantisano spoke of “organized crime, rent mafia” with regard to Vonovia.

Both sides said they remained willing to talk.