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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