Overview
- Documents cited by the Greens say former culture senator Joe Chialo personally cleared payouts from a €3.4 million pot in February, with roughly €2.65 million later reported for 14 projects.
- The files reference an internal 18-project "Stettner/Goiny list" that allegedly funneled selected beneficiaries to the culture administration, in some cases without complete applications or professional review.
- CDU leaders Dirk Stettner and Christian Goiny reject the accusations, and the culture administration characterizes contacts with governing factions as routine while saying directives from individual lawmakers are not known.
- The Greens say the process bypassed funding criteria and contravened Berlin’s budget law, while one €390,000 grant reportedly went to a group led by a CDU Lichterfelde colleague of Goiny.
- Alleged pressure on successor Sarah Wedl-Wilson included waiving required own funds for some projects, as Goiny counters that he intervened to prevent requests from stalling and that decisions rested with the administration; calls now focus on full clarification and potential scrutiny.