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

ÖBB with Capital Injection for Its Italian Freight Business

The Austrian Federal Railways’ subsidiary Linea needs additional funding in order to cover its last year’s losses of € 5.8m.

June 9, 2011

Nuclear Power Phase-Out Will Cost Austria € 600m

According to calculations by E-Control, Germany’s decision to close down its nuclear power plants will affect the Austrian economy.

June 9, 2011

Trade with the Czech Republic Is Booming

Austrian companies increased their exports to the country by 32% in the first quarter of the year. In 2010, Austria was the biggest foreign investor.

June 9, 2011

New Motorway Order for Strabag in Romania

The Austrian construction company is going to build a motorway section between the cities of Orăştie and Sibiu. Order volume amounts to € 166m.

June 7, 2011

Swarovski to Invest in US Jewelry Retailer

The Tyrolean optics and crystal group is attracted by a global distribution network of 2,000 stores. The two companies already have a strategic partnership.

June 7, 2011

New Chance for Verbund in Turkey

The Austrian electricity company might win a contract for the power supply in three Turkish provinces after a competitor has withdrawn its bid.

June 6, 2011

Austrian Companies on Roadshow to New York

The 2nd Austrian Equity Day in New York, co-organized with Crédit Agricole Cheuvreux, will be held on Monday, 6 June 2011.

June 3, 2011

Charges against Former Board Members of BayernLB

Accusations relating to the acquisition of the Austrian Hypo Group: breach of duty, embezzlement of bank funds.

June 3, 2011

UniCredit and Raiffeisen Seek to Broker Bulgaria's EVN Stake Sale

Bulgaria is going to sell its minority stake in an electricity distributor operated by the Austrian energy company.

June 3, 2011

CA Immo Starts Work on Shopping Center in Frankfurt

The Austrian real estate group and its joint venture partner invest € 360m into the project. The opening will take place in fall 2013.

June 1, 2011

Hypo Alpe Adria to Sell its Italian Subsidiary

The Carinthian bank intends to divest its operations in the neighboring country. The subsidiary achieved a profit of € 10.82m in 2010.

June 1, 2011

Kneissl: Creditors Accept Restructuring Plans

Al Jaber has to pay € 2m into an escrow account before June 15. Otherwise, the Tyrolian company will be liquidated.

June 1, 2011

Agrana Interested in Hellenic Sugar

The Austrian sugar and starch company is said to be interested in an acquisition of the Greek company which incurred a loss of € 27.1m in the last year.

May 31, 2011

Austrian Companies Hit by Belarusian Crisis

RBI and Telekom Austria are evaluating the effects on their local subsidiaries. Exports to the country could drop by 30%.

May 27, 2011

OeKB Facilitates Austro-Russian Projects

A recently signed agreement will increase the cooperation between OeKB and Russian Vnesheconombank.

May 27, 2011

Swiss Expert Criticizes Austria’s Role in International Money Laundering

OECD expert: “Austria is used as a gateway for international money laundering. It is doing too little to fight the phenomenon.” Only twelve convictions were made in 2009.

May 26, 2011

Alpine Lands Pipeline Project in Czech Republic

The Austrian construction company is going to build 105.8 km of a new gas pipeline. The contract value is € 76.7m.

May 26, 2011

OMV: New CEO and Organizational Structure of Its Turkish Operations

Gülsüm Azeri is going to succeed Melih Türker as CEO of the Austrian oil and gas group’s Turkish operations.

May 25, 2011

France Telecom Evaluating Its Activities in Austria

The future of Orange Austria could be decided before October. The cooperation in networks might have been the first step towards a merger with T-Mobile Austria.

May 25, 2011

Alpine to Build Motorway in Romania

The Austrian construction company is going to build a motorway section for € 91m within a period of 22 months.

May 24, 2011

CA Immo Sold Two Shopping Centers in the Czech Republic

The Austrian real estate group and a Czech investor agreed on the sale of two malls for an amount of € 96m.

May 24, 2011

Novomatic Returns to Russia

The Austrian gaming machine manufacturer intends to cooperate with a Russian casino operator after it had to pull out of the country in 2009.

May 23, 2011

Strabag Takes Majority Stake in Project Companies for Offshore Wind Power Plants

The Austrian construction company acquires a 51% interest in a project portfolio with possible 850 locations in the German North Sea.

May 23, 2011

FACC: New Production Plant in China

The Austrian aircraft component manufacturer is planning the construction of a new site and considering going public soon.

May 23, 2011

Cheuvreux Closing Its Office in Vienna

The French investment bank is closing down its office in Vienna after three years. This has been confirmed by analyst Alfred Reisenberger.

May 20, 2011

Austrian Companies Are Looking for Opportunities in Russia

A delegation of 140 people pursues contacts with potential partners during the state visit of President Fischer. The country’s economy is predicted to grow by 4% in 2011.

May 19, 2011

Kärntner Sparkasse Planning Partial Pull-Out of Italy

The Austrian regional bank intends to close a part of its Italian branches. The credit business has suffered from the crisis; the future focus will be on deposits and private banking.

May 18, 2011

Austrian FDI: 2010 Was a Year of Stabilization

Active foreign direct investment increased, while inward flows stagnated in 2010. Turkey was the top destination for Austrian investors.

May 18, 2011

CEO of BWT Increases Control Over His Group

Andreas Weißenbacher increased his share in BWT to now 26.2%. He also controls 37% of German WMF. Both companies improved their results in 2010.

May 17, 2011

OMV Announces Launch of Rights Issue

The Austrian oil and gas group issues up to 27,272,727 new shares. Proceeds will be used for the refinancing of the acquisition of a major stake in Petrol Ofisi.

May 16, 2011

Bank Austria Invests in the Turnaround of its Kazakh Subsidiary

Bank Austria increases ATF’s capital in order to make it profitable. Loss in the year 2010 amounted to € 163m.

May 16, 2011

EPIC Completes the Acquisition of UkrTelekom

The Austrian financial investor purchases 92.79% of the Ukrainian telecommunications company for € 921m.

May 16, 2011

Leitl: "Reforms, Despite the Positive economic Outlook Should Not Be Forgotten"

Spring forecast by the EU Commission: Clearly improved growth prospects for Austria and the European Union

May 14, 2011

Habau Takes Over Dutch Construction Company

The Austrian construction company takes over the globally active pipeline specialist Nacap and increases sales by € 600m to € 1.4bn.

May 13, 2011

New Inspections at voestalpine Subsidiary

The German Federal Cartel Office today made new inspections at a local subsidiary of the Austrian steel company.

May 12, 2011

German IVG is also Active in Austria Now

IVG Immobilien AG (IVG), the largest German real estate fund company, acquired the Austrian Hypo Real Invest in January 2011, changing its name to IVG Austria AG, with headquarters in Vienna.

May 12, 2011

Romania Offers Export Opportunities for Austria's Environment Industry

18 top Austrian companies active in the areas of environmental technology and renewable energies are present in Bucharest.

May 12, 2011

Immofinanz Closes Acquisition in Moscow

The Austrian real estate group takes over 100% of the GoodZone.

May 11, 2011

Inspections at German Subsidiary of voestalpine AG

Inspections by German Federal Cartel office at voestalpine Klöckner Bahntechnik GmbH.

May 11, 2011

WIFI International: Partnership with TOBB University of Ankara

The Austrian (WKÖ) and the Turkish (TOBB) Economic Chambers have signed a Letter of Intent for an educational partnership with WIFI.

May 11, 2011

Siemens Manufactures Parts for a New Train Generation in Graz

Siemens manufactures components for 130 new trains for the Deutsche Bahn (DB-German Railways) until 2030 in Graz. The contract is worth € 6.0bn.

May 11, 2011

Bosch Group Continues Growing in Austria

Bosch has had a good start in Austria in its anniversary year 2011 and continues having favorable growth prospects. Sales rose by 9%.

May 11, 2011

Radovan Jelasity appointed CEO of Erste Bank Hungary

Radovan Jelasity (43) will join Erste Bank Hungary as of 1 June 2011. Subsequent to the approval of the respective Hungarian authorities, he will be appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

May 10, 2011

Austria's Energy Industry Considers the U.S. as a Promising Market

The U.S. market offers opportunities for Austrian technology in solar systems, pellet stoves, biogas, biomass and software to control wind turbines

May 10, 2011

RBI Joint Bookrunner for € 1.75bn Bond

The bond, which is issued by Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, is the second largest EUR-denominated senior unsecured issue by an Italian bank in 2011

May 10, 2011

Oracle Partners with Linz University

The U.S. software giant opens a research laboratory at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz.

May 10, 2011

Raiffeisen International Bank Intends to Get Further Involved in Poland

After the purchase of the Polbank in February, the Austrian RBI seems to be interested now in the Polish DZ Bank. Its chances are however considered to be low.

May 10, 2011

Atrium Strengthens Polish Portfolio

Atrium European Real Estate announces that it has completed the acquisition of the Promenada Shopping Centre (“Promenada”) in Warsaw, Poland for €171 m from Carpathian PLC.

May 9, 2011

Infineon Makes an Investment for € 200m in Austria

The German technology group has announced that it intends to create 400 new jobs in Austria. The semiconductor production is to be expanded.

May 7, 2011

BDI Receives Major Order in Germany

Enbasys GmbH, a subsidiary of BDI-BioEnergy International AG receives a million-dollar contract with the biogas facility for the German SARIA-Rethmann Group.

May 6, 2011