Vienna's Foreign and Bilateral Relations

Italian SNAM to Acquire TAG Gas Pipeline for EUR 505 Mln

The Italian gas pipeline operator SNAM is going to buy the alpine Trans-Austria-Gasleitung GmbH (TAG), a pipeline running through Austria and the Alps. The price of the pipeline stretch amounts to EUR 505 million, Italian media reports. Austria’s listed oil and gas group OMV holds an 11-percent stake in TAG.

September 15, 2014

Investment Opportunities: Moscow - Viennese Economic Talks in Vienna

Within the framework of the "Moscow Days in Vienna", an Economic Forum on economic, investment and technological cooperation "Moscow - Vienna 2014 Synergy - New Opportunities for Growth" was held in the Chamber of Commerce of Vienna.

September 11, 2014

Strabag to Build Koscierzyna Bypass in Poland for EUR 40 Mln

A consortium of Strabag Poland and its subsidiary Heilit+Woerner has been awarded the design-and-build contract for a 7.6 km bypass around the city of Kościerzyna in northern Poland. The 7.6 km carriageway includes various civil engineering structures and environmental protection measures. The contract has a value of about € 40 million (PLN 165 million).

September 11, 2014

Poland's Donald Tusk to Become European Council President

Current council president Herman Van Rompuy tweeted the announcement from the EU summit. Mr Tusk, Poland's centre-right prime minister since 2007, will become the European Council's president. Italy's Federica Mogherini, a centre-left politician and foreign minister will replace the UK's Catherine Ashton as EU foreign policy chief.

August 30, 2014

EANS-Total Voting Rights: Atrium European Real Estate Limited / Releaseaccording to article 93 BörseG with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution

Atrium European Real Estate Limited AG hereby announces that at the end of the month August 2014 the number of voting rights amounts to a total of 375350201 voting rights. The stated capital is now EUR 2717319298. The change of total voting rights is effective as of 29.08.2014.

August 29, 2014

Investkredit Funding Ltd. / Half Yearly Report

Investkredit Funding Ltd. is declaring the following financial reports below.

August 29, 2014

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird Visits Austria and The Balkans

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced that he will visit Croatia, Serbia and Albania. The visit to the Balkans comes after Baird spoke about Ukraine and other global security issues at a high-level forum in Salzburg, organized by the International Peace Institute and the Salzburg Global Seminar.

August 27, 2014

Signa Buys Karstadt for €1

Austria's Signa Holding takes over struggling German department store chain Karstadt. Signa acquires a 100 per cent stake in Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH from Berggruen Holdings. Berggruen Holdings is going to withdraw from Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH, Karstadt Premium and Karstadt Sports as well as from from each property. The deal ends weeks of speculation over the company's future after the CEO left in July. Rene Benko will pay just €1 for the department store chain. Karstadt operates more than 80 stores across Germany and employs more than 17.000 people.

August 15, 2014

Atrium European Real Estate Limited / Half Yearly Report

Atrium European Real Estate Limited is declaring the following financial reports.

August 14, 2014

Atrium European Real Estate Limited / FIRST HALF RESULTS REFLECTCONTINUED OPERATIONAL PROGRESS WITH GROWTH IN BOTH GROSS AND NET RENTAL INCOME

Atrium European Real Estate Limited, a leading owner, operator and developer of retail real estate and shopping centres in Central and Eastern Europe, announces its interim results for the second quarter and six months ended 30 June 2014.

August 14, 2014

Analysis: The Brenner Base Tunnel

The Brenner Base Tunnel is a planned 55-kilometre long railway tunnel through the base of the Brenner massif. It will run from Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof in Austria to Franzensfeste (Fortezza) in Italy, replacing part of the current Brenner railway. The line is part of Line 1, the Berlin to Palermo route, of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T).

August 11, 2014

Immofinanz: Net Profit for 2013/14 at EUR 180 Mln, Property Sales Top EUR 1 Bln

Immofinanz Group announces net profit totalling EUR 180.4 million for 2013/14, for a year-on-year increase of 62.8%. Rental income was lower as a result of the extensive, planned property sales. The delayed completion of the GOODZONE shopping center in Moscow prevented the full recovery of this decline during the past year. Rental income amounted to EUR 506.7 million (-7.2%) and results of operations totalled EUR 319.2 million (-19.5%). In like-for-like comparison (i.e. after an adjustment for new acquisitions, completions and sales), rental income was generally stable (-1.3% to EUR 472.7 million). Property sales set a new record at roughly EUR 1 billion.

August 4, 2014

Atrium European Real Estate Limited / Notice of second quarter andhalf year results

Atrium European Real Estate Limited (VSE/Euronext: ATRS), a leading owner, operator and developer of shopping centres and retail real estate in Central and Eastern Europe, will announce results for the quarter ended 30 June 2014, on Thursday 14 August 2014.

August 4, 2014

Event: 21st Austria & Advantage Austria: Re-Think Central and Eastern Europe - An Austrian Perspective

On September 23, 2014, 21st Austria and Advantage Austria UK will host a panel discussion at the City of London's Gherkin skyscraper. Herbert Stepic, former CEO of RBI Raiffeisen Bank International and Georg Karabaczek, Austrian Trade Commissioner for the UK will focuse on the topic "Re-Think Central and Eastern Europe: An Austrian Perspective on Diversity in Performance, Challenges and Avenues of Growth". Panellists also include Pasquale Diana, Mario Holzner and Eduard Zehetner.

August 1, 2014

Miba Expands Production Facilities in the US

Automotive supplier Miba Sinter USA, LLC, is opening new production facilities in Ohio. The extension will create 100 new jobs in the next three years and represents an investment of USD 8 million.

August 1, 2014

Reinhold Krammer Inaugurated as Austrian Honorary Consul in Chicago

Consul General Georg Heindl was very pleased to inaugurate Mr. Reinhold Frank (Rein) Krammer, a business lawyer whose parents immigrated from Austria to Chicago, as first Austrian Honorary Consul for Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

August 1, 2014

Pfizer's Agreement To Acquire Baxter’s Portfolio Of Marketed Vaccines Includes Facility in Austria

Pfizer Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Baxter International Inc.’s portfolio of marketed vaccines for $635 million. As part of the transaction, Pfizer will also acquire a portion of Baxter’s facility in Orth, Austria, where these vaccines are manufactured.

August 1, 2014

Austrian Doka Provides Formwork Solutions for Tallest Residential Building in NYC

Located on what is dubbed as “Billionaire’s Row,” 432 Park Avenue is a 90-foot by 90-foot square luxury condo building being erected 1,398 feet (426m) high. When complete, it will be the tallest residential building in New York City and in the Western Hemisphere. “This building will be a landmark…rising out of Midtown like a pencil sticking up in the air twice as high as anything else in the neighborhood,” says Antonio Rodrigues, President of Roger & Sons Concrete, Inc., the contractor for the project.

August 1, 2014

EANS-Total Voting Rights: Atrium European Real Estate Limited / Releaseaccording to article 93 BörseG with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution

Atrium European Real Estate Limited AG hereby announces that at the end of the month July 2014 the number of voting rights amounts to a total of 375286601 voting rights. The stated capital is now EUR 2717040086. The change of total voting rights is effective as of 31.07.2014.

July 31, 2014

Volksbank Romania Sells EUR 495 Million NPL Real Estate Portfolio

Volksbank Romania has reduced its non-performing loans portfolio (NPLs) through the sale of a NPL real estate portfolio with an aggregate volume of € 495 million. The Bank has sold the large-volume real estate financing commitments to an international investors consortium composed of Deutsche Bank, AnaCap Financial Partners LLP, H.I.G Capital International Advisers and APS Holding SE. With this transaction, Volksbank Romania has reduced its NPL portfolio to a NPL ratio of below 8%, below the average in Romania's banking system.

July 28, 2014

Water Management Company Wabag to Shift Operations from Austria to India

VA Tech Wabag, a water and wastewater management company, will increasingly operate its overseas businesses out of India to take advantage of lower costs and higher margins, according to Rajiv Mittal, Managing Director of the Chennai-based multinational.

July 28, 2014

Indian Bajaj Auto Helps Plot KTM its Global Comeback

One in 5 of Austrian company's bikes are made in Pune, for a big cost advantage, enabling it to take market share from rivals.

July 25, 2014

OMV Petrom Finalizes Modernization of Petrobrazi Refinery

OMV Petrom, the largest oil and gas producer in South-Eastern Europe, has announced the successful finalization of the modernization process of Petrobrazi refinery, performed during 2010-2014. Total investment in the modernization process amounted to around EUR 600 mln. The main target of the investment program was to increase competitiveness. OMV Petrom is now able to process the entire Romanian crude production of OMV Petrom in a single refinery.

July 24, 2014

Efkon Signs Vehicle-Tracking-Devices Deal with Indian Oil Corporation

Continuing the winning streak in the VTS (Vehicle-Tracking-Devices) business, Efkon India again was successful in winning 4 tenders for vehicle tracking systems. The Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. ordered a total amount of 6631 devices which equals an order intake of € 1,4 Mio.

July 24, 2014

Poland: Strabag to Construct S7 Section “Trasa Nowohucka” in Kraków Worth € 130 Million

A consortium comprising Strabag Sp. z o.o. and Heilit+Woerner Sp. z o.o, two subsidiaries of Austrian listed company Strabag SE, has signed a contract for the construction of a stretch of the planned S7 expressway in the east of Kraków, called “Trasa Nowohucka”, which will run between Rybitwy and Igołomska.

July 24, 2014

Tengelmann to Launch Online Gardening DIY Chain in Austria

The German online gardening DIY chain GartenXXL, a subsidiary of the Tengelmann group, is setting up in Austria. The range of offered products includes over 20,000 products from brands such as Gardena, Fiskars, Bosch or Kettler. The products shall be offered via gartenxxl.at. After successful launching in Austria, GartenXXL intends to expand to other countries in CEE/CESEE.

July 22, 2014

Wienerberger Increases Capacity in the UK

Rising demand in the UK made it necessary for Wienerberger to initiated measures to increase its capacity. Around 200 million more bricks per annum will be produced by re-activating mothballed factories, investing in technology upgrades, adding shifts and new jobs throughout its UK operations, and importing from the continent. Earnings contribution from re-activated plants will be reflected in 2015 results

July 17, 2014

Strabag to Build Outfall Tunnel in Canada

Publicly-listed construction group Strabag has secured a new contract in Canada: In its winning tender, the company agreed to build the Mid-Halton Outfall Tunnel for CAD 79 million (approx. EUR 54 million). The project centres on the excavation of two 60 m deep shafts and a 6.3 km rock-bored tunnel that is designed to carry treated effluent water from the water treatment plant in Oakville into Lake Ontario.

July 17, 2014

Oleg Deripaska's Basic Element Raises Stake in Strabag to Over 25 Percent

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska's option to increase his stake in Austrian construction group Strabag SE to 25 percent plus one share (a blocking minority stake) has been exercised.

July 16, 2014

Strabag to Build Steel Plant in Russia for € 300 Million

Publicly listed construction group Strabag SE has been contracted by Russia’s Tula-Steel Company to build a steel production and rolling mill in Tula, some 200 km south of Moscow. The industrial complex will be constructed in close vicinity to Tulachermet’s existing iron mill. The contract value is € 300 million. Construction of the project will begin in autumn 2014 and is expected to be completed within 36 months. Also today, BWB the Austrian antitrust authority has approved the acquisition of a total of 25% in Strabag by Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch.

July 14, 2014

Atrium European Real Estate Limited / ATRIUM ANNOUNCES SENIOR MANAGEMENT CHANGES

July 14, 2014

German Investment: New EUR 140 Mln Data Center for the City of Vienna

A 140 million Euro investment from Frankfurt based e-shelter strengthens Vienna as an international ICT center.

July 3, 2014

Country Analysis: The Tax Haven of Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world when adjusted by purchasing power parity. Liechtenstein is the smallest yet the richest (by measure of GDP per capita) German-speaking country and the only country to lie entirely in the Alps. Since the late 1970s it used its low corporate tax rates to draw many companies to the country becoming one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

July 1, 2014

Analysis: Telecom Liechtenstein AG

Telecom Liechtenstein AG ist eine Aktiengesellschaft liechtensteinischen Rechts mit Sitz in Vaduz. Die TLI war bisher zu 100 % im Eigentum des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Nun hat A1 Telekom Austria (mit Mobilkom Liechtenstein) 24.9 Prozent der Anteile übernommen.

July 1, 2014

BUWOG Closes Acquisition of DGAG Portfolio

The BUWOG Group has closed its acquisition of approx. 18,000 units in Northwestern Germany after antitrust clearance by the German Cartel Office and completion of further conditions precedent according to schedule.

June 30, 2014

EANS-Total Voting Rights: Atrium European Real Estate Limited / Release according to article 93 BörseG with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution

June 30, 2014

EBRD Provides €20 Mio Loan to Slovakia for Sustainable Energy Projects

The EBRD is deepening its support for sustainable energy investments in the Slovak Republic with a €20m loan to Slovenska Sporitelna, a.s. (SLSP), one of the country’s leading banks. The funds will be on-lent to private companies for renewable energy projects and energy efficiency in industry and buildings.

June 16, 2014

EBRD Committed to Moldova as the Country Moves Towards Greater Regional Integration

“The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) stands ready to support Moldovan companies and foreign investors in Moldova as the country moves towards even greater regional integration,” said András Simor, EBRD Vice President for Policy, during his visit to Chisinau.

June 14, 2014

VIG Considers to Delist from Warsaw Stock Exchange

Listed insurer VIG is considering delisting from the Warsaw Stock Exchange, should it decide to merge with the Vienna bourse, CEO Peter Hagen told news agency Reuters in an interview.

June 12, 2014

Deripaska to Raise his Stake in Strabag to 25%

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska plans to raise his stake in construction company Strabag to 25% from 19.4%.

June 12, 2014

Atrium European Real Estate Limited / UPDATE TO DIVIDEND RECORD DATE

June 11, 2014

AmCham Austria: Lessing Has Been Elected New President

Mr. Norbert B. Lessing takes over the job of the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Austria from Mr. Felix Thun-Hohenstein.

June 10, 2014

Analysis: Bilateral Trade and Investments Between Turkey and Austria Decreased Slightly

According to the office of the Commercial Counsellor of the Turkish Embassy in Vienna, Austria is Turkey’s 34th largest goods export market with exports worth US$ 1 billion.

June 9, 2014

S&T Buys 48% Stake of Russia's Affair OOO for EUR 5.87 Million

By acquiring a huge stake in the Russian energy and software development company, Linz based S&T AG substantially expands its appliances segment and smart energy portfolio. Affair OOO group employs 600 employees; its annual revenues amount to EUR 70 million. S&T's consolidated revenue is set to rise in 2015 to EUR 440 million.

June 6, 2014

Semperit AG Holding: High Ethical and Social Standards at Sempermed in Thailand

The Semperit Group is committed to high ethical and social standards as well as good working conditions for all its employees around the world. An independent audit carried out to verify adherence to the Code of Conduct of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) shows that this also applies to the Siam Sempermed glove production facilities in Hatyai, Thailand.

June 6, 2014

The Challenge of Turkish Migration to Austria

Two events highlight and discuss the problems and challenges of Turkish migration to Austria.

June 4, 2014

Foreign Ministry: "Freedom of Religion in Austria"

The first meeting of the Interreligious Dialogue Platform at the Austrian Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs took place. Integration Minister launches an initiative for dialogue with recognised churches and religious communities in Austria.

June 3, 2014

Austria: Western Balkans Representatives are Meeting in Vienna

The Western Balkans Conference and the Central European Initiative (CEI) Ministerial Meeting are currently discussing questions regarding the EU enlargement, the role of the EU as a peace project and the economic situation in the Western Balkans.

June 3, 2014

VIG Takes Over 100% of Life Insurer Skandia Poland

The Vienna Insurance Group AG (Wiener Versicherung Gruppe) has acquired 100 percent of shares in the life insurance company Skandia Zycie TU S.A. (Skandia Poland).

May 31, 2014

Austrian EU Commissioner Hahn Blames British PM Cameron for Opening Doors to Ukip

Hahn argues, that David Cameron is to blame for his own defeat at the hands of the eurosceptic UKIP at the European elections.

May 31, 2014