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

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

Felderer: “Austria’s Triple-A at Risk”

The head of the IHS warns against a spillover of the Italian crisis and calls for a national debt brake.

November 9, 2011

Immofinanz Completes Acquisition of Romanian Adama

The Austrian real estate group has taken full control over the southeastern European housing firm, in which it has held a stake since 2007.

November 9, 2011

CA Immo Sells Hotel Site in Berlin

The Europacity urban district, in which the Austrian real estate group owns a major part, is progressing apace. A first-class hotel will be opening in early 2014.

November 9, 2011

Bawag Sues Linz For € 418m

The U.S.-owned bank now sues the Upper-Austrian capital. Linz has terminated a swap contract based on Swiss Francs.

November 8, 2011

Lauda Leaves FlyNiki

Niki Lauda, founder of the Austrian Airline FlyNiki, sells his 50.1% stake to the German Air Berlin.

November 8, 2011

Stable Results for bwin.party

The British-Austrian gambling company reports solid third quarter performance driven by strong growth in casino, new games in Italy and improved competitive position in dotcom poker

November 8, 2011

Starbucks to Expand in Austria

The U.S. company plans to strengthen ist market presence in Austria. In 2011, a double-digit sales growth is expected.

November 7, 2011

VIG Officially Bids for Polish Warta

Potential buyers of the Polish Warta insurance had to publish their offers by the end of October. Vienna Insurance Group participates.

November 7, 2011

Red Bull Aims to Sell 4.6bn Cans

The Austrian energy drink producer wants to realize further growth. About one third of Red Bull´s budget goes into marketing.

November 5, 2011

China Entry: Palfinger Under Pressure

In order to ensure the internationalization strategy, the Austrian cranes manufacturer is expected to show improvements in entering the Chinese market.

November 5, 2011

OMV Considers € 1.5bn Credit Line

The Austrian oil and gas company is negotiating a major credit facility with a term of five years.

November 4, 2011

bwin.party to Enter USA

The British-Austrian gambling company has now found a partner in ordert o provide its gambling services in the U.S.

November 2, 2011

Benko to Acquire Kaufhof

The Austrian real estate investor René Benko plans to purchase the retail trade chain Kaufhof from the German Metro group.

November 2, 2011

AUA Claims Relief from Charges

Austrian Airlines seeks to reduce its charges at Vienna International Airport. This is due to the landing rights of the Emirates Airline.

November 1, 2011

Austrian Trade With China to Double

On the occasion of the state visit of the Chinese President Hu Jintao, the Austrian Minister of Economics stated to aim a deepening of the bilateral economic relations.

November 1, 2011

AMAG Builds New Plant in Canada

The Austrian aluminum manufacturer participates in a CAD 1.5bn contract. AMAG´s share is 20%. The project brings a new capacity of 355,000 tons.

October 31, 2011

Austria Keeps Lowest Unemployment Rate in EU

The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.7% in September 2011, compared with 9.6% in August4. It was 9.6% in September 2010. Austria leads the official statistics.

October 31, 2011

PKN Orlen Interested in OMV´s Petrol Stations

The Austrian oil corporation OMV downsizes its operations in the Czech Republic. 220 Petrol stations are for sale.

October 31, 2011

BP Determines Purchase Contracts With OMV

The Austrian subsidiary of British Petrol ends up contracts with the Austrian oil corporation. Possibly better conditions should be negotiated.

October 31, 2011

State Visit: Hu Jintao in Austria

The Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Austria. Today the official meetings with the Austrian President Heinz Fischer and the Government will take place.

October 31, 2011