Vienna's Foreign and Bilateral Relations

Read the latest headlines about bilateral relations in the areas of economy, business, diplomacy, culture and tourism between Austria and its partners

Tannpapier Fears For its Existence

The Austrian manufacturer of cigarette papers suffers from the tightening of the EU-tobacco-directive.

December 13, 2011

Kaufhof: Investigations Cause Delay in Sale Process

Suspicions of money laundering against the Austrian real estate investor René Benko prevent the take-over for the time being.

December 13, 2011

Austria Fifth Richest Country in EU

GDP per capita in the Member States ranged from 44% to 271% of the EU27 average in 2010. Austria´s figure amounts to 126%.

December 13, 2011

Infineon to Invest in Austria

In spite of the weak economic forecasts, the German semiconductor producer wants to invest further in the Austrian business location.

December 12, 2011

Immofinanz Sells Project in Germany

The Austrian real estate group sells its stake in a project in Düsseldorf in order to grow in Russia and Poland.

December 12, 2011

Atrium Completes Acquisition of Shopping Centre in Poland

The Vienna-listed real estate company Atrium finished the acquisition of a € 55m project in the seventh largest city in Poland.

December 12, 2011

Difficult Search for Investors at Wall Street

Austrian companies try to find new investors in the U.S. The relatively small size of Vienna Stock Exchange and the euro-crisis make this difficult.

December 8, 2011

Kaufhof: Benko Offering € 2bn?

The Austrian investor decisively rejected reports that suggested this acquisition price. Metro’s CEO wants to obtain € 2-3bn.

December 8, 2011

Rating Agencies Are Seen As Threat

The governor of the Austrian Central Bank, Ewald Nowotny, attacks S&P. For the head of the economic research institute IHS, Bernhard Felderer, the negative outlook must be seen as a warning signal.

December 7, 2011

Benko Confirms Binding Offer

Both Metro Group and René Benko´s Signa Holding confirmed that a binding offer for Metro´s subsidiary Kaufhof has been put.

December 6, 2011

Increasing Gap in Incomes

Although Austria´s Gini coefficient is relatively low, the gap between high and low incomes becomes larger.

December 6, 2011

Kaufhof: Benko Is Preferred

According to the seller, the German Metro Group, the Austrian real estate investor has good odds. Benko will submit a binding offer soon.

December 5, 2011

Hypo Group: € 3.0bn Debts at BayernLB

The nationalized Hypo Group is still massively indebted at its former holding company, the German BayernLB. The loan will be due by the end of 2013.

December 3, 2011

Polish Financial Market Authority Claims RBI´s Quotation

The Vice-President of the Polish financial market authority, Wojciech Kwasniak, asks the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International to quote in Warsaw, besides the listing in Vienna.

December 3, 2011

New Savings Package for Austrian Airlines

The Austrian carrier will not receive financial support from its parent company Lufthansa. Staff reductions are not ruled out any longer.

December 2, 2011

Strabag Finishes Largest Project in Company History

The Austrian construction company finished work on the A2 motorway in Poland ahead of schedule. The project had a total volume of € 1.3bn.

December 1, 2011

Wiedeking Joins Benko’s Signa Holding

The German manager becomes a member of the Austrian real estate group’s advisory board.

November 30, 2011

Austria’s Unemployment Rate Is the Lowest in the EU

The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.8% in October, compared with 9.7% in September 2011 and 9.6% in October 2010

November 30, 2011

VIG Acquires Polish Life Insurance Company Polisa

The Austrian insurance group rounds off its product portfolio in Poland. Polisa generated a premium volume of € 21m in 2010.

November 29, 2011

Austria to Pay for Failing Kyoto

By 2014, Austria will have to pay penalties because of the missed Kyoto targets. Payments could amount up to € 1.0bn.

November 28, 2011

Austria to Participate in Merkel´s Bond Plans?

According to the German Prime Minister Angela Merkel, triple-A countries should issue common “elite bonds”. Austria should take part.

November 28, 2011

Strabag delivers € 320m Steelworks in Russia

The Austrian construction company has finished its works in Russia. The factory will produce sheet steel in particular to manufacture pipes to be used in pipeline construction.

November 28, 2011

Share Repurchase at Palfinger

The Management Board of the Austrian crane manufacturer resolves to exercise its authorization to acquire own shares. The maximum contingent is € 10m.

November 26, 2011

Bewag Sells TV Station BKF

The regional energy provider and a Viennese publishing house have agreed on the sale. Closing is expected to take place in December.

November 25, 2011

Austrian & CEE Investor Conference 2011 in New York

15 companies from Austria and CEE will participate in the conference on 28 November.

November 25, 2011

Growing Capital Shortfall at Volksbanken Group

The Austrian bank will need another € 200m in order to comply with the EBA’s capital requirements. The price for the sale of VBI might be reduced to € 500m.

November 24, 2011

Uniqa Plans Sale of German Subsidiary Mannheimer

The Austrian insurance group’s new strategy brings increased concentration on Eastern European growth markets.

November 24, 2011

FCC Acquires Remaining Shares in Alpine

Supervisory board chairman Aluta-Oltyan will sell his 20% stake in Austria’s second largest construction company to the Spanish majority owner.

November 23, 2011

Drop in Revenue for SW Umwelttechnik

The Austrian technology group was particularly burdened by a decrease in quantities in Hungary. The loss on ordinary activities doubled from € -1.6m to € -3.3m.

November 23, 2011

Kapsch TrafficCom Reports Strong Growth

Revenues of the Austrian toll system supplier increased by 90%, EBIT more than doubled in the first half of the fiscal year 2011/12.

November 23, 2011

OMV Concludes New Syndicated Loans

The Austrian oil and gas company has signed two syndicated multi-currency credit facilities totaling € 1,680m, which replaces existing facilities maturing in 2012.

November 23, 2011

Strabag Confirms „Solid Outook“

The EBIT forecast of the Austrian construction group has been raised to € 340m. Net income is expected at € 185m.

November 21, 2011

CA Immo Invests in Munich

The Austrian real estate group purchased a 50% stake in the Skygarden project in Munich. The acquired property value amounts to around € 63m.

November 21, 2011

Kaufhof: Benko Has Good Odds

The Austrian real estate investor has high chances to acquire the German retail chain Kaufhof. The sale could be closed before Christmas.

November 19, 2011

AutoBank Achieves Further Growth

The Austrian specialist bank increased new business volume to € 59.6m. The operating result more than doubled and amounted to € 817,000.

November 18, 2011

Rosenbauer Reports Drop in Profit

The Austrian manufacturer of fire fighting vehicles registered record order intake of € 456m in the first nine months of the year. Revenues and EBIT came in lower than expected due to shipment delays.

November 18, 2011

Vienna Airport Issues Profit Warning

Non-recurring effects and impairment charges of € 74m have a negative effect on results for the first nine months of 2011; preliminary net profit for the period falls to € 20m.

November 18, 2011

Andritz Wins Order in the UK

The Austrian technology group and the energy group E.ON signed a contract on the supply of equipment for a biomass energy plant. The project has a volume of € 80m.

November 17, 2011

Increasing Interest for Kaufhof

The Austrian real estate investor René Benko got another competitor. Now three tenderers in the sale process will participate.

November 14, 2011

Immofinanz Refinances Shopping Mall in Moscow

ZAO Raiffeisenbank provides a major loan for the Austrian real estate group in order to expand operations in Russia.

November 14, 2011

Lenzing: Strong Rise in Profits Expected

For analysts, the Austrian fiber manufacturer Lenzing will report highly satisfying results. Sales, earnings as well as profits should increase.

November 12, 2011

Strong Growth for Exports to USA in 2012

This year, Austrian exports to the U.S. will reach the level of 2008. The export volume will amount to € 6.0bn this year.

November 12, 2011

ECO Business Reports Losses

The Austrian real estate company, which is listed at Vienna Stock Exchange, announces losses for the first nine months of € 6.8m.

November 12, 2011

Changes in the Board of Budapest Stock Exchange

Michael Buhl takes over as CEO in addition to his functions at the Vienna Stock Exchange and the CEE Stock Exchange Group.

November 11, 2011

Swietelsky and Strabag Win Orders in Romania

The Austrian construction companies were commissioned by the national railways to renovate the infrastructure on two lines.

November 11, 2011

ATB Posts Loss due to Court Ruling

The former subsidiary of A-Tec lost a lawsuit and has to pay € 13.4m. EBIT amounted to € 6.1m in the period July to September.

November 11, 2011

Head’s Loss Widens Further as Costs Increase

The Dutch Vienna-listed sports equipment manufacturer generated a net loss of € 12.4m in the first nine months of the year.

November 10, 2011

OeNB and People’s Bank of China Sign Investment Agreement

The agreement enables the Austrian National Bank to Invest via PBC in Renminbi-denominated assets.

November 10, 2011

SW Umwelttechnik Wins Major Contract in Hungary

The Austrian technology group will be managing a syndicate of three companies. The project has a total volume of € 24m.

November 10, 2011

Raiffeisen Cuts Staff in Czech Republic

The Austrian banks local unit has reacted to increasing costs and the poor economic outlook.

November 9, 2011