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

Leitl Demands More Support for SMEs

The Small Business Act must be also implemented at national level in a sustained way, says the President of the Austrian Economic Chamber.

February 24, 2011

Molterer Nominated as Vice-President of the EIB

Former Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer is nominanted as candidate for Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

February 23, 2011

Kazakhstan as a Chance for Foreign Trade

Austrian Economic Chamber promotes further development of economic relations with Kazakhstan.

February 23, 2011

WKÖ: "Clear Commitment to the Brenner Base Tunnel is Needed”

The chairman of the Austrian Economic Chamber considers the tunnel between Italy and Austria as a pioneering infrastructure project.

February 23, 2011

Agrana Expands in Russia

The Austrian sugar and starch company invests € 27.6m in fast-growing Russian market.

February 23, 2011

Southstream: Gazprom-OMV Cooperation

OMV and Russian Gazprom will work together on the construction of the Austrian part of the Southstream pipeline.

February 22, 2011

Record Sales for Würth Austria

The German supplier group recorded strong revenue growth. However, the operating result fell short of expectations

February 22, 2011

Austrian Economic Chamber in Singapore

The Austrian Economic Chamber’s delegation pursues contacts with potential partners during the state visit of President Fischer.

February 22, 2011

Knill Group Builds Factory in Russia for € 50m

The Austrian construction group records an order over € 50m for the establishment of the first optical fiber plant in Russia.

February 20, 2011

OMV Closes Acquisition of Pioneer’s Subsidiaries in Tunisia

OMV paid $ 800m plus $ 39.3m working capital and remains committed to maintaining a strong investment grade

February 19, 2011

Erste Group manages € 1.25bn increase of Slovak Bonds

Strong interest for the Slovak sovereign bonds offering: total orders amounted to € 1.9bn from over 100 investors.

February 19, 2011

Kapsch: In-sourcing from China to Austria

The Viennese Kapsch CarrierCom brings the production of GSM systems from China back to Austria.

February 19, 2011

Lenzing Sells Plastics Filaments Business

The Austrian fiber manufacturer sells plastics filaments business to consortium headed by the US-American Global Equity Partners

February 19, 2011

Spar: Moderate Growth in Market Share

The Austrian food trade group recorded a sales increase of 4.4% in the previous year. Growth in the CEE region turns out weaker.

February 18, 2011

Lufthansa Increases Pressure on AUA

The German parent company intends to convert the previously loss-making Austrian Airlines into a profitable company at last.

February 18, 2011

Austria's Budget Deficit is Lower than Expected

The preliminary budget outcome for 2010 is 0.6% better than forecast. However, the results of the ÖBB could increase the deficit again.

February 17, 2011

Porr Enters Alliance in Slovenia

The Austrian construction company establishes a joint venture with SCT, the dominant construction company in Slovenia.

February 17, 2011

Bizarre Allegations of Meinl against Atrium

The ongoing conflict between the Austrian bank and the US-Israeli real estate fund shows new and unusual facets.

February 16, 2011

Erste Bank Hungary CEO to resign

Edit Papp, the CEO of Erste Bank Hungary, has decided to pursue other professional opportunities and therefore announced her resignation.

February 16, 2011

Accusations against Hypo Group in Slovenia

The Austrian bank is under investigation because of suspicious real estate and financial transactions.

February 15, 2011

Red Bull Intends to Double Sales

The Austrian energy drink producer plans a period of strong growth for the next eight years.

February 15, 2011

Epic Acquires 93% of Ukrtelecom

The Austrian investment company Epic has reached an agreement to acquire 93% of the Ukrainian company for € 1.0bn

February 15, 2011

Haidlmair Group: Major Contract from the U.S.

The medium-sized Austrian toolmaker Haidlmair has obtained a major contract from a U.S. logistics company.

February 12, 2011

Sales Increase for Waldquelle

The Austrian-Czech mineral water producer increased its sales moderately in 2010. The market share increases continuously.

February 11, 2011

Rosenbauer: Settlement with German Cartel Office

Anti-trust proceedings of the Austrian Rosenbauer AG end with official notice of € 10.5m fine.

February 11, 2011

Massive Increase in Public Debt

Austrian public debt could rise dramatically soon by a new calculation involving separate legal entities.

February 10, 2011

Serious Allegations Against Former AUA CEO

Sheikh Mohamed Al Jaber, who wanted to take over Austrian Airlines in 2008, considers himself to have been seriously deceived by the former management and raises accusations.

February 10, 2011

Potential for Austrian Construction Industry in Poland

Market experts predict a sharp increase in construction activity: a market growth of up to 12% is expected for the next two years.

February 10, 2011

Hypo Group Changes Leadership in Slovenia

Both the Slovenian subsidiary bank and the leasing company will receive a new leadership for "restructuring reasons".

February 10, 2011

Kneissl is Insolvent

Parts of the Austrian Kneissl group have started insolvency. Sheikh Al Jaber’s capital contribution did not take place.

February 8, 2011

A-Tec: Bad News from China

Because of a joint venture gone insolvent in China in 2008, there are unpaid claims for about € 15m against the Austrian A-Tec.

February 8, 2011

Manpower Austria Increased Sales

The sales of the U.S. services group Manpower increased last year by 54% to € 130m in Austria.

February 8, 2011

Eder Considers European Manufacturing Industry is at a Disadvantage

For the CEO of the Austrian steel company voestalpine, the European manufacturing industry is at a disadvantage, despite innovative leadership.

February 5, 2011

Purchase of Petrol Ofisi Lowers OMV´s Results

In its Trading Statement Q4/10, OMV announces extraordinary expenses due to the major purchase of the Turkish Petrol Ofisi amounting to € 170m.

February 5, 2011

Spanish FCC reaches for Alpine

The Spanish construction group FCC already has a share of 80% of the Austrian Alpine. The remaining 20% is to be also purchased now.

February 4, 2011

Raiffeisen Bank International Acquires 70% of Polbank

The Austrian RBI purchases Polbank for € 490m in cash. Polbank is seen as ideal complement to existing Raiffeisen Bank Polska .

February 4, 2011

Vienna Insurance Group Expands in Turkey

Vienna Insurance Group in Turkey: Acquisition of a 10 percent stake in Ray Sigorta is completed.

February 4, 2011

Siemens Austria Receives an Order for Poland

The Austrian subsidiary of the German technology group will supply 35 trains worth € 272m of the new Metro-generation "Inspiro" to Poland.

February 3, 2011

Kapsch and Google Enterprise Enter into a Partnership

Google Enterprise IT provider and Austria's leading ICT service-partner Kapsch BusinessCom will work together in future in cloud computing.

February 3, 2011

Atrium Terminates Trust Agreements with Meinl

The US-American/Israeli fund Atrium terminates trust agreements with the Austrian Meinl Bank AG under the 2003 and 2005 bonds due to “important reasons”.

February 3, 2011

Agrana Closes Chinese Joint Venture

The Austrian Agrana and the Chinese YNA divide their joint ventures for apple juice concentrate in China.

February 2, 2011

Innovativeness in Austria Drops

In the European comparison, Austria’s innovativeness is dropping and is presently located only in the upper mid-range.

February 2, 2011

Strabag SE Awarded two Road Construction Contracts in Romania

The Austrian construction company rehabilitates and upgrades national roads DN14 and DN15A. Combined value of both contracts around € 106m.

February 2, 2011

New Advance for Baltic-Adriatic Corridor

The Carinthian Economic Chamber supports the information campaign of Governor Gerhard Dörfler in favor of the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor.

February 2, 2011

Austrian Companies on Roadshow to London

Especially one of Austria´s leading banks, Erste Group, will be presented at the Investor Day in London.

February 2, 2011

Engel Expands in China

Engel, the Upper Austrian machine builder, benefits from the economy and intends to triple the capacity of the Shanghai location.

February 1, 2011

Kapsch TrafficCom with First Contract Award in Russia

The Austrian Kapsch TrafficCom AG announces that its Russian subsidiary has been awarded an order to equip traffic crossings.

February 1, 2011

Constantia Packaging Sells Austrian Subsidiaries

The industrial holding owned by the US-american JP Morgan sells the board manufacturer Duropack and the aluminium company AMAG.

January 31, 2011

bwin: Uncertain Future in Austria

After the approval by the shareholders of the merger with the British PartyGaming, the task division is still to be determined.

January 29, 2011

Pankl: Acquisition of US-company

The Austrian technology company Pankl Racing Systems AG increases its stake in Californian aerospace subsidiary from 75% to 100%

January 29, 2011