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Austria and Eastern European countries - Latest headlines about bilateral relations in the areas of economy, business, diplomacy, culture and tourism
Eastern European Countries and Austria | Bilateral Relations
OSCE Chief Observer at the Russian Checkpoints to Visit Headquarter in Vienna
Paul Picard, Chief OSCE Observer at the Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk will address the OSCE Permanent Council. He will report on the situation including movements across the Russian-Ukrainian border at the Russian checkpoints at Gukovo and Donetsk.
February 25, 2015
List of National Days of the home countries of all foreign Missions and Delegations in Vienna, Austria
The Vindobona table below is an updated list of National Days of all nations, which belong to at least one of following categories: Foreign Missions and Delegations in Vienna, Austria; Diplomatic Corps and other representations in Austria; International Organizations in Vienna and Permanent Missions; Missions and Delegations to the OSCE.
February 11, 2015 · Updated: February 7, 2018; 08:12
UniCredit Private Banking Receives Euromoney Awards
UniCredit Private Banking has been recognized for its services, winning 14 awards in different regional and local categories in Euromoney magazine´s Private Banking Survey 2015.
February 10, 2015
Erste Group Seales Agreement to Sale 15 Percent of Hungarian Unit
Erste Group has invited the Government of Hungary and the EBRD to invest in Erste Bank Hungary Zrt. by acquiring a minority stake of up to 15 per cent each. Negotiations are in progress and the completion of the transaction is expected within the next six months.
February 9, 2015
Austria is Celebrating 60 Years of United Nations Membership in 2015
Austria became a member of the United Nations in 1955 and is celebrating 60 years of UN membership in 2015. 70 years ago, the United Nations were founded in San Francisco.
February 5, 2015
Holocaust Memorial Day: "European Jews again feeling anxious and uncertain about their future"
As people across the OSCE region commemorated the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, officials highlighted the importance for societies to stand firmly against the contemporary challenges of anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of intolerance.
January 28, 2015
OSCE Permanent Council Prepares for Upcoming International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Holocaust remembrance was the focus of today's meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council at Vienna's Hofburg in light of the upcoming International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January).
January 22, 2015
George Soros: "A New Policy to Rescue Ukraine"
Soros is calling on members of the European Union to behave as countries indirectly at war with Russia and to provide Ukraine with $50 billion to defend itself and kick-start political reforms. Russian President Vladimir Putin's imperial ambition has unintentionally brought into being a new Ukraine that is adamantly opposed to endemic corruption and inefficient government. By offering assistance, Europe can foster an open society in Ukraine and protect itself from Russian aggression.
January 22, 2015
Vienna Congress comsult 2015: "Power of Regions"
“Power of Regions“ is the topic of the Vienna Congress com•sult 2015 which is taking place today at Vienna's House of Industry. Distinguished participants from industry, politics and the business community such as F.W. de Klerk, Mohamed El Baradei, Author Benjamin R. Barber, Václav Klaus and Iain Begg are discussing the principle of regionality and its future in Europe.
January 20, 2015
Swiss Franc Soars as Currency Ceiling Discontinued
The Swiss franc has soared against the euro after Switzerland's central bank abandoned a ceiling it put in place a few years ago. Swiss franc loans in Austria make up more than 90 percent of the 25 billion euros in foreign-currency loans. Traders were stunned as the move was completely unexpected.
January 15, 2015
EBRD Lends EUR 30 Mln Loan to Raiffeisen Leasing to support MSMEs in Romania
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is increasing the availability of financing to private businesses in Romania with a RON 132 million (€30 million equivalent) loan to the Bucharest-based Raiffeisen Leasing IFN S.A, a subsidiary of Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI).
January 15, 2015
Slovak Republic Issues 12-Year Eurobond Worth EUR 1.5 Billion
Slovakia’s first syndicated EUR transaction of the year attracted a total demand from more than 200 investors which reached almost EUR 5.5 billion.
January 15, 2015
Ivica Dačić in Vienna: Serbia Takes Over OSCE Chairmanship from Switzerland
The new OSCE Chairperson, Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, spoke today at the inaugural Permanent Council meeting of Serbia's OSCE Chairmanship Vienna. He revealed his Chairmanship priorities pledging to rebuild trust and confidence in the OSCE region of 57 participating states.
January 15, 2015
Serbian Foreign Minister Dačić to Visit Vienna
The new OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbian Foreign Minister Dačić will visit Vienna on Thursday. He will outline the Serbian Chairmanship’s priorities to the OSCE Permanent Council*.
January 13, 2015
Carl Bildt: "The cohesion of the EU is the most important objective to achieve"
How Europe should react to the surrounding areas of conflict in East and South, was debated on Sunday. More realism, less idealism for the European Union is what Ivan Krastev, Fyodor Lukyanov, Carl Bildt and Ana Palacio concluded on Sunday at the Burgtheater in Vienna.
January 12, 2015
Secretary of State John Kerry at the OSCE Ministerial Plenary Session
"It is not our design or desire that we see a Russia isolated through its own actions. In fact, we are convinced that Moscow could rebuild trust and relationships if it simply helps to calm turbulent waters, if it takes steps now to implement the Minsk protocol."
December 5, 2014
Strabag Builds Volkswagen Factory in Wrzesnia, Poland
Strabag Sp. z o.o., the Polish subsidiary of publicly listed Strabag SE, has been awarded the contract to build a new production plant for Volkswagen commercial vehicles in Poland. The automobile manufacturer plans to manufacture the next generation of its VW Crafter delivery van in the new factory in Września. Strabag has been commissioned to build three of the five modern production and industrial buildings that form part of the overall investment by the middle of 2015.
December 3, 2014
VSE and Zagreb Stock Exchange to Cooperate in Data Vending
The Zagreb Stock Exchange signed a cooperation agreement with the Vienna Stock Exchange for data vending. With this step, the Vienna Stock Exchange has enlarged its Central and Eastern Europe data vending network.
November 24, 2014
Klaus Iohannis - Who is the New President of Romania?
On November 16th, Klaus Iohannis was elected the fifth President of Romania. He is due to take office on 22 December. His presidential campaign focused on fighting corruption and on improving the justice system. Klaus Werner Iohannis is a Romanian politician, born 13 June 1959. He was elected the fifth President of Romania on 16 November 2014 (age 55). He became leader of the National Liberal Party in 2014, after having served as leader of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania from 2002 to 2013.
November 17, 2014
Verbund Withdraws from Bulgaria
Verbund withdraws from Bulgaria by selling its 16 MW wind farm on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast to Inwind Sp Ltd, a project company of Bulgarian Inovent Holding AD. The transaction is scheduled to close by the end of 2014. Both companies agreed on not disclosing any financial details of the transaction.
October 30, 2014
Government Debt Increased to 82.6% of GDP in Austria and to 92.7% in Euro Area
At the end of the second quarter of 2014, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA18) stood at 92.7%, compared with 91.9% at the end of the first quarter of 2014. Austria's government debt rose to 82.6 percent of GDP in Q2 2014 from 81.3 percent in Q1.
October 23, 2014
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Starts the Use of Austrian Drones
The OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) today completed the maiden flight of its unarmed/unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) before members of the media near Mariupol in eastern Ukraine. The OSCE will use unmanned and unarmed drones for the monitoring of the border between Ukraine and Russia.
October 23, 2014
Business Indicator: Dip in Economic Activity Towards End of Year, but Hope Remains for 2015
Bank Austria has published its latest "Business Indicator" on the Austrian economy. The Bank's analysts believe that in light of the increasing uncertainty in recent months, the moderate recovery achieved by the European and therefore the Austrian economy too this year is taking a breather. The Russia/Ukraine crisis and the tensions in the Middle East have blighted sentiment in the Austrian economy at the start of autumn on a broad scale.
October 17, 2014
Austrian Development Agency Celebrates 10 Years, 3.000 Projects and EUR 900 Mln Invested
„In the last 10 years, we have contributed to the improvement of the lives of millions of people in our partner countries with 3.000 projects and approximately €900m”, says Federal Minister Sebastian Kurz on the occasion of the Austrian Development Agency’s (ADA) anniversary, in the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna. The ADA is active in 11 core countries on four continents, combating poverty, securing peace and working for improved environmental protection.
October 17, 2014
Lower Austria's Ecoplus International Celebrates 10 Years and 1500 Executed Projects
The EU's eastward enlargement brought Lower Austria into the center of a new, dynamic economic area. In order to make use of the chances which emerged for the lower Austrian economy, Ecoplus International GmbH in cooperation with the Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien was set up. 10 years later the subsidiary has already overseen 1500 projects.
October 16, 2014
CEE Sovereign Bond Market Among Best Investment Destinations in Europe
The CEE sovereign bonds are among the best investments in Europe this year. High returns and low volatility increase investor appeal. The CEE sovereign bond market is 5th largest in continental Europe. Romania emerges as CEE regional champion among local currency bonds.
October 2, 2014
Warsaw Stock Exchange not to Merge with Vienna Stock Exchange
For the time being plans for the merger of the Vienna and Warsaw stock exchanges have been postponed. The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) declared that it had decided to abandon plans for a merger with Vienna Stock Exchange (VSE).
September 24, 2014
RBI Revises Expected Provisioning Requirement
Vienna based Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) has revised its outlook for the net provisioning requirement for the current financial year to between EUR 1,500 and EUR 1,700 million, primarily due to higher expected risk costs in Ukraine in light of ongoing political tensions in the region.
September 23, 2014
Business Indicator: Growing Geopolitical Uncertainty Levels the Economic Outlook Down
Bank Austria has published its latest "Business Indicator" on the Austrian economy. The analysts of Bank Austria believe, that after a weak first six months, the economic recovery continues to find it difficult to get out of the starting blocks. The growing uncertainty fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine crisis was reflected in another decline for Bank Austria’s Business Indicator in August. The indicator has been trending downwards slightly for half a year, and now sits at its lowest point since last summer of just 0.2 points.
September 18, 2014
Strabag Builds a Section of Polish A4 Motorway for € 85 Mln
A consortium consisting of Strabag Sp. z o.o. and Budimex S.A. has signed the contract to build a 41 km section of the A4 motorway from Rzeszów to Jarosław in south-eastern Poland. The gross contract has a value of about € 170 million. Strabag holds a 50 % share in the consortium. The construction time is estimated to take 14 months.
September 18, 2014
Strabag to Build Koscierzyna Bypass in Poland for EUR 40 Mln
A consortium of Strabag Poland and its subsidiary Heilit+Woerner has been awarded the design-and-build contract for a 7.6 km bypass around the city of Kościerzyna in northern Poland. The 7.6 km carriageway includes various civil engineering structures and environmental protection measures. The contract has a value of about € 40 million (PLN 165 million).
September 11, 2014
Voestalpine to Supply Linepipe Plates for the Second South Stream Pipeline
This year sees the voestalpine Group securing its third major contract in the pipeline business. Following the first, now completed, contract for the Russian-European pipeline project South Stream, and for Rota 3, a pipeline project in Brazil, voestalpine will deliver 120,000 tons of sour-gas-resistant, high-strength linepipe plates for the second South Stream pipeline by spring 2015. The South Stream contract is not affected by sanctions. Further negotiations are also currently underway concerning extremely challenging pipeline projects.
September 5, 2014
Mid Europa Partners' New Fund to Invest EUR 800 Mln in CEE
Mid Europa Partners, the British private equity firm focused on buyouts in Central & Eastern Europe, announced the final closing of Mid Europa Fund IV at €800 million, complemented by an additional pre-allocated co-investment program of €650 million. Fund IV represents the largest dedicated fund to the CEE Region raised in the last 5 years.
September 5, 2014
Poland's Donald Tusk to Become European Council President
Current council president Herman Van Rompuy tweeted the announcement from the EU summit. Mr Tusk, Poland's centre-right prime minister since 2007, will become the European Council's president. Italy's Federica Mogherini, a centre-left politician and foreign minister will replace the UK's Catherine Ashton as EU foreign policy chief.
August 30, 2014
Transport & Logistics - DB Schenker Opens New Logistics Center in Belgrade
DB Schenker will be moving into a new logistics center near Belgrade/Serbia at the beginning of 2015. The center will offer customers the technology for specialized logistics solutions.
August 29, 2014
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird Visits Austria and The Balkans
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced that he will visit Croatia, Serbia and Albania. The visit to the Balkans comes after Baird spoke about Ukraine and other global security issues at a high-level forum in Salzburg, organized by the International Peace Institute and the Salzburg Global Seminar.
August 27, 2014
Russia Orders Agricultural Import Bans in Sanction Retaliation
Vladimir Putin signed a decree limiting or banning imports of agricultural products from countries which have imposed sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin's press service announced. It is estimated that following CEE/SEE countries will be hit by the retaliatory sanctions: Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Brussels, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
August 6, 2014
Hydrogen: OMV to Invest EUR 20 Mln in Key Technology
OMV is currently conducting intensive research on hydrogen as alternative fuel. According to CEO Gerhard Roiss hydrogen is already part of OMV’s everyday business. The group earmarkes around EUR 20 mln for hydrogen projects.
August 4, 2014
Analysis: Russia - Assessment of EU and Tightened US Sanctions
Special analysis covering the most recent escalation in terms of Western economic and financial sanctions against Russia: EU and US sending bold diplomatic signals without inflicting too much near-term economic and financial damage. In comparison to the US sanctions by the EU are capped in duration. Recent escalation adds to uncertainty in doing business with Russia, which is an ultimate goal of sanctions. Near-term impact of current sanctions still limited, which implies a risk that they may remain for longer.
July 31, 2014
Austrian FDI: Current Developments 1Q 2014
In the first quarter of 2014, Austrian FDI abroad reached a value of 2.8 billion euros, which is less by about 30% than in the same period of 2013. Foreign direct investments in the same period into Austria stood at 1.4 billion euros. This is about 37% less than in the same period of last year.
July 29, 2014
Immofinanz Sells Two Logistics Properties in Poland and the Czech Republic
Immofinanz Group sold two logistics properties – the Bokserska Distribution Park in Warsaw and the Westpoint Distribution Park in Prague. Both transactions took place above book value, with the combined proceeds totalling approx. EUR 33.2 million. The Westpoint Distribution Park was sold to Central Group, a Czech investor, while the Bokserska Distribution Park was sold to “UK & European Investments“, a well-known family office from Great Britain.
July 28, 2014
Volksbank Romania Sells EUR 495 Million NPL Real Estate Portfolio
Volksbank Romania has reduced its non-performing loans portfolio (NPLs) through the sale of a NPL real estate portfolio with an aggregate volume of € 495 million. The Bank has sold the large-volume real estate financing commitments to an international investors consortium composed of Deutsche Bank, AnaCap Financial Partners LLP, H.I.G Capital International Advisers and APS Holding SE. With this transaction, Volksbank Romania has reduced its NPL portfolio to a NPL ratio of below 8%, below the average in Romania's banking system.
July 28, 2014
Cost of Living Rankings: CEE Capitals Cheaper, Vienna is 32nd Most Expensive City
The Mercer's 2014 Cost of Living Rankings have been published and cover 211 cities across five continents. While Western European cities have all risen in the rankings mainly due to the strengthening of the Euro against the US dollar, most cities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), however have fallen in the ranking as a result of local currencies depreciating against the US dollar. Bratislava (#84), Prague (#92), Kiev (#98), Ljubljana (#116), Zagreb (#120), Budapest (#135), Warsaw (#142), Belgrade (#184).
July 25, 2014
OMV Petrom Finalizes Modernization of Petrobrazi Refinery
OMV Petrom, the largest oil and gas producer in South-Eastern Europe, has announced the successful finalization of the modernization process of Petrobrazi refinery, performed during 2010-2014. Total investment in the modernization process amounted to around EUR 600 mln. The main target of the investment program was to increase competitiveness. OMV Petrom is now able to process the entire Romanian crude production of OMV Petrom in a single refinery.
July 24, 2014
Poland: Strabag to Construct S7 Section “Trasa Nowohucka” in Kraków Worth € 130 Million
A consortium comprising Strabag Sp. z o.o. and Heilit+Woerner Sp. z o.o, two subsidiaries of Austrian listed company Strabag SE, has signed a contract for the construction of a stretch of the planned S7 expressway in the east of Kraków, called “Trasa Nowohucka”, which will run between Rybitwy and Igołomska.
July 24, 2014
FDI in Austria up by EUR 25 Million
In the first half of 2014 the number of international companies setting up business operations in Austria with the assistance of ABA in cooperation with the regional investment promotion agencies climbed from 88 to 114. Total investment volume was up 15.9 % in the first half of 2014 to EUR 179.97 million from EUR 154.33 million in the prior year period.
July 11, 2014
Austrian President Heinz Fischer and a Business Delegation to Visit Estonia
From June 30 through July 1, the Austrian President Heinz Fischer together with his wife Margit Fischer and an Austrian Business Delegation is on an official visit to Estonia.
June 30, 2014
Albania Receives EU Candidate Status
At the General Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, Ministers from the EU Member States have agreed – based on the recommendation by the European Commission to grant EU candidate status to Albania, subject to endorsement by EU heads of states at the forthcoming European Council on Friday in Brussels.
June 26, 2014
Analysis: The South Stream Gas Pipeline
Due to the signing of the South Stream agreement between OMV and Gazprom for the Austrian part of the pipeline during Putin's visit to Vienna, we take a look at the background of the project.
June 25, 2014
Forecast for CESEE Countries (Webinar)
Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) have been strongly affected by the economic crisis. However now there are signs of an improving economic climate and growth rates will again be above the EU average. The current situation in the Ukraine and potential difficulties between the EU and Russia constitute a downside risk.
June 24, 2014
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