Berlin - A German official resigned his vice-ministerial post at the Transport Ministry Wednesday after weeks of criticism of executive bonuses that are planned at one of Germany's biggest state-owned companies.

Matthias von Randow represented the ministry as a member of the supervisory board of Deutsche Bahn, the national railways company, which is set to privatize a one-quarter stake in its passenger and freight operations.

Amid worldwide anger at large bonuses for executives, many Germans have been critical of a generous bonus package promised by Bahn to executives when the company goes private.

The date of the flotation, which is opposed by left-of-centre Germans, has been delayed by the world stock markets slide. It had been scheduled for Tuesday this week.

The ministry said von Randow, 49, who voted for the bonuses, was stepping down. The civil servant did not receive a bonus himself, but he voted for bonuses for Bahn chief executive Hartmut Mehdorn and other managers.

German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee was furious that aide von Randow did not warn him of the plan. Government efforts to reverse the board decision have so far been in vain.

Critics were outraged that the bonuses would be paid, even if the yield from the flotation were only 3.5 billion euros, well short of the original 5-billion-euro target set by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The 24.9 per cent of DB Mobility Logistics is now expected to fetch only 3 billion euros.

Germany's opposition Free Democrat Party (FDP) demanded Wednesday that Tiefensee himself resign, saying that von Randow had been removed as a scapegoat.

German state-owned corporations normally pay top-level managers lower salaries than those at private companies.

Excessive pay for chief executives has been politically controversial in Germany for several years. (dpa)