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Eastern European Countries and Austria | Bilateral Relations
Austria and Eastern European countries - Latest headlines about bilateral relations in the areas of economy, business, diplomacy, culture and tourism
Drastic Losses at Porr
The third-largest Austrian construction company had to write off projects in Hungary and Romania. Net losses totaled € 72m.
April 30, 2012
Raiffeisen Bank International Closes Acquisition of Polbank
The Provisional purchase price is € 460m in cash for a 70 per cent stake in the Polish private bank. RBI becomes number 6 in the Polish banking market.
April 30, 2012
OMV: „Nabucco is More Alive than Ever”
Despite the exit of Hungarian MOL, the Austrian oil company underlines the importance of Nabucco. CEO Roiss holds on Nabucco.
April 28, 2012
Vavti Appointed new CEO of UniCredit Bank Slovenia
With Stefan Vavti, the subsidiary of Bank Austria, UniCredit Bank Slovenia gets a new chief executive officer.
April 26, 2012
OMV Plans Downsizing of Nabucco
The Austrian oil and gas group works on a downsized version of the natural gas pipeline project. The original version would become too expensive, analysts say.
April 25, 2012
Vienna Airport Considers Entering at Bratislava Airport
Bratislava Airport starts a request of proposal for airport operations. Vienna International Airport is interested. In Vienna, the third rope will be built in 2016 at the earliest.
April 25, 2012
Austria to Intensify Cooperation with Croatia
The Austrian Minister of Economics met his Croatian counterpart in Vienna. Above all, the EU-accession and investments were discussed.
April 24, 2012
MOL May Leave Nabucco Project
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that MOL the country’s largest company by market capitalization, is leaving the € 7.9bn ($ 10.4bn) Nabucco natural gas pipeline project.
April 24, 2012
Agrana Aims for Expansion into Balkan Region
The Austrian sugar and starch company Agrana is looking for acquisition targets in the Western Balkans.
April 23, 2012
Bank Burgenland Records Profits in spite of Hungarian Crisis
The Austrian regional bank´s results were impressed by the coerced conversion of foreign currency loans in Hungary.
April 21, 2012
Strabag Builds Waste Incineration Plant in Slovenia
The Austrian construction group was awarded to build an incineration plant near Ljubljana. The order volume is about € 112m.
April 21, 2012
Gorenje Not to Move to Vienna
The Slovenian producer of household appliances was said to move to Vienna. CEO Franjo Bobinac declines the rumors.
April 20, 2012
Drastic Cut in Profit at RLB Lower Austria-Vienna
After net income of € 308.6m in 2010, the figure went down by 64.5% last year. Write-offs in Hungary, bank taxes and the lower result at RZB are the main reasons.
April 20, 2012
Gorenje Considers Setting Up Headquarters in Vienna
The Slovenian producer of household appliances is said to move to Vienna. The company does not comment this information.
April 19, 2012
EVN Expands into Serbia
EVN subsidiary WTE Wassertechnik GmbH wins the contract for construction of a drinking water treatment plant in Zrenjanin, Serbia.
April 19, 2012
Alpine: Best Bidder in Slovakia
The Austrian construction company has good prospects to receive a major contract in Slovakia. The contract volume is € 126.3m.
April 18, 2012
RBI: Takeover of Polbank Approved
The Polish Competition Authority allowed Austrian RBI (Raiffeisen Bank International) to purchase Polbank. Conversely, RBI has to list as Warsaw Stock Exchange.
April 18, 2012
OMV´s Petrol Stations: Potential Buyers in Sight
The Austrian oil and gas company OMV plans to sell its petrol stations in Croatia and Bosnia. Local investors show interest.
April 17, 2012
Goldman Sachs: Too Small Margins at Austrian Banks in CEE
The U.S. investment bank is optimistic that the CEE region recovers in 2013. The write-offs made by Austrian banks were “correct”.
April 16, 2012
Austrian Railways Aims for Expansion in SEE
ÖBB (Austrian Railways) wants to establish a new freight subsidiary operating in Southeastern Europe. In Austria, ÖBB performs better than expected.
April 16, 2012
Romania´s Authorites Check Alpine and Strabag
The two Austrian construction companies are suspected to have participated in three price arrangements. The order volume is € 190m.
April 14, 2012
Kapsch: Critique by Czech Republic
The toll collection system in the Czech Republic is more expensive in Austria or Germany, the Czech audit authority alleges.
April 14, 2012
Verbund Focuses Investments on Austria
The Austrian energy company plans investments of € 2.4bn in the next five years. About 66% of these investments will be made in Austria.
April 12, 2012
Strabag to Expand in Danube Region
In order to develop the Danube region of Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine, the Austrian construction group expands its hydraulic engineering business.
April 12, 2012
Waldner: “Serbia Needs to Continue its Approach to the EU Unwaveringly”
Wolfgang Waldner, Austrian State Secretary is on a working visit in Belgrade.
April 12, 2012
Alpine to Rebuild Railway in Macedonia
The € 7m contract to be fully financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
April 11, 2012
„Bank Aids Are Lost“
The economist Franz Hahn (WIFO, Austrian Institute of Economic Research) argues that the nationalized banks are not interesting for potential buyers.
April 10, 2012
Romanian Government Considers Privatizations
The remaining publicly held stakes in Petrom, a subsidiary of Austrian OMV may be privatized. OMV does not participate in the transaction.
April 10, 2012
Lutz Continues Expansion Program
The world´s second largest furniture house intends to grow in Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
April 7, 2012
Oberbank Aims For „Organic Growth“
The Upper-Austrian regional bank continues its growth course and underlines its financial stability and independence.
April 6, 2012
Raiffeisen: Downsizing in Hungary Completed
The Hungarian subsidiary of the Austrian lender Raiffeisen Bank International has no plans for further business downsizing.
April 5, 2012
FDI: Cautious Optimism in Slovakia
Austrian and German investors are still optimistic concerning Slovakia´s economy. The majority expects a slight acceleration of Slovakia´s economy growth.
April 3, 2012
Steiermärkische Interested in Hypo Group´s Subdidiary
The head of Austrian regional bank Steiermärkische Sparkasse said he was interested in buying some Balkan assets from nationalized lender Hypo Group Alpe Adria, a newspaper reported.
April 3, 2012
Frauenthal Expands into Slovakia
The Austrian conglomerate acquires a Slovak sanitary retailer. The automotive segment recovers, CEO Moser says.
April 2, 2012
RBI Strengthens Commitment to CEE Region
Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International underlines its function as major lender in Central and Eastern Europe. Hungary is still the most uncertain market.
April 2, 2012
RBI Is Optimistic to Reach Solution in Hungary
On the occasion of a investor conference in London, Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International talked about risks in Hungary and capital requirements by EBA.
March 31, 2012
Bank Austria Considers Leaving East European Markets
UniCredit´s subsidiary may leave Baltic countries as well as Kazakhstan. CEO Cernko is optimistic to achieve more than € 1.0bn in profits this year.
March 30, 2012
Macedonia: Austria Still the Biggest Investor
Foreign direct investments of € 303m entered Macedonia last year, said the National Bank of Macedonia. The biggest investor in Macedonia is still Austria with € 77.21m.
March 28, 2012
Poland Remains Attractive for Real Estate Investors
In its country report, Bank Austria sees Poland still as an interesting real estate market. Nevertheless, prime yields are declining already.
March 28, 2012
Ottakringer: Hungary Lowers Profits
The Austrian beer producer achieved stable results in 2011. The Hungarian brewery Pécs reports losses, however.
March 27, 2012
Romania Plans Further Privatizations
Above all, a sale of the minority stake in the oil company Petrom could bring up to $ 600m. The Austrian OMV, which is the majority owner of Petrom, could be interested.
March 27, 2012
Bulgaria: Massive Penalty at OMV Subsidiary Threatens
Bulgaria´s Minister of Transport claims the maximum penalty for OMV´s subsidiary, which would reach up to € 1.0bn.
March 24, 2012
Nabucco Sees Decision on Combination With Tanap Next Year
Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH, the € 7.9bn ($ 10.5bn) project to ship Caspian fuel to Europe, expects to make a decision on whether to link up with the competing Trans-Anatolia Pipeline next year.
March 22, 2012
EVN Raises Investments in Croatia
The Austrian energy company expects the beginning of a market consolidation in Croatia. Investments are rising.
March 21, 2012
Certificates: Optimism at BSE
The CEESEG-owned Budapest Stock Exchange has positive expectations for certificates in 2012.
March 21, 2012
Petrom Analyzes Romania Shale Gas Exploration Potential
The OMV-owned Petrom SA, Romania’s biggest oil company, is analyzing the potential for shale-gas exploration in the eastern European country.
March 20, 2012
Romanian President Again Critisized OMV´s Petrom
Romanian president Traian Basescu in television again emphasized that he cut ties with largest Romanian company OMV Petrom on ‘incorrect’, high profit-making policy.
March 20, 2012
Serbia: Promising Market for Austrian Construction Industry
The Western Balkan state Serbia invests massively in the modernization of its infrastructure. This year, the civil engineering sector will grow by 20%.
March 19, 2012
Austrian Post Is Said to Expand in Poland
Austrian Post is said to be interested in Polish Kolportaż Rzetelny, Polish media report.
March 19, 2012
Croatian Banks: Rise in NPL Ends
Croatian banks do not expect any further hike in the level of bad loans, which surpassed 12 percent at the end of 2011, the national banking association HUB said.
March 19, 2012