Mr Benitz, you wrote an open letter to Matthias Warnig, a close friend of Putin, and returned a donation of 5,000 euros.

Why?

Gustave parts

Business correspondent in Stuttgart.

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Michael Benitz: Because we can no longer justify accepting this money.

Mr. Warnig has been a citizen of our city for about 15 years and has been supporting our culture week with a donation for several years.

Since he has close ties to Putin and holds many posts in Russian companies, we can no longer accept any money that may have come from Putin's entourage.

We have asked Mr Warnig to distance himself and resign from his offices.

How did former Stasi officer Warnig, who is said to have worked with Putin during his Dresden KGB days, is considered a close confidant of Putin and managed Nord Stream 1 and 2, ended up in Staufen in the first place?

Mr. Warnig came to us in Staufen via Professor Mangold.

At that time he was chairman of the Eastern Committee of German Business and is still the Honorary Consul of Russia today.

Mr. Mangold has an estate in the Münstertal.

He is a patron of our city.

He supported us a lot;

he does it selflessly.

When Mr. Warnig was looking for a place to live in southern Germany, he came to Staufen.

It was only years later that we found out about Mr. Warnig's past.

But are you keeping up the relationship with Mr. Mangold?

Relations with Mr. Mangold are not affected by this.

From our point of view, Mr. Mangold is an honorable man.

He has distanced himself from the Russian government and expressed shock at the attack on Ukraine.

How often do you see Mr. Warnig?

I see him maybe once or twice a year in the cityscape.

Especially on the culture week: this is an annual event in autumn with beautiful cultural events.

He was often a guest there.

Did you talk to him about Putin?

There wasn't much to be expected.

But of course I talked to him about his work: we mainly talked about energy policy.

We acquired the energy networks and set up our own public utilities.

So I got interested in Nord Stream 1 and 2.

He told me what the stand is.

That was interesting information.

Have there been protests against Mr Warnig in the past few days?

I am not aware of any protests in front of the apartment building.

In the past two years, however, there have been more and more people who have questioned whether it is right to accept donations for the culture week.

It was a donation, not a sponsorship.

The names of the donors were always printed in the program booklet.

Some citizens questioned that.

But now it's all of a different quality.

You have to see it in a completely different light now.

You can no longer accept the money with a clear conscience.

What is the budget for the culture week?

In total, we receive around 40,000 euros in donations and sponsorship.

So Mr. Warnig's donation accounts for about one eighth.

The culture week still takes place.

Is Mr. Warnig in Staufen right now?

I do not know that.

So far, at least for the press, he has not been available.