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Austria and Germany - Read the latest headlines about bilateral relations in the areas of economy, business, investment, diplomacy, culture and tourism

Emirates: The Air Rights Quarrel Between Austria and UAE Continues

The Arab airline demands considerably more landings in Vienna.

May 23, 2014 · Updated: May 24, 2014; 16:15

Yakunin: Broad-Gauge System from Vladivostock to Vienna to Be Established

Vladimir Yakunin, head of the Russian Railways (RZD), wants to stick to his strategic plans and establish an uninterrupted rail link between Vienna and Vladivostock.

May 24, 2014

Hypo Alpe Adria Appoints New Supervisory Board

At an Extraordinary General Meeting of Hypo Alpe Adria International on Friday, a new Supervisory Board was appointed.

May 23, 2014

Switzerland: IMD Releases the World Competitiveness Yearbook Ranking 2014

The US leads, Europe recovers, and big emerging markets struggle.

May 22, 2014

Exporttag: Meet All Austrian Trade Delegates at the Export Day 2014

On June 24, the Export Day (Exporttag) of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO) will take place in Vienna. Economic delegates from all over the world will be present.

May 20, 2014

Conwert Slips into the Reds

Austrian residential real estate enterprise is facing a hard time in Germany.

May 14, 2014

Czech Republic: CEZ Losing With RWE Contract?

A gas contract with German RWE is causing the Czech energy group losses in the billions.

May 12, 2014

Croatian Brodosplit Landed Important Contract

The Croatian ship manufacturing company Brodosplit has signed a contract with Germany’s Kranunion.

May 12, 2014

German Retailer Metro Faces Massive Losses in CEE

Sales in CEE declined 14.8 percent last year for German retail and wholesale enterprise Metro Group.

May 9, 2014

Michelin to Downsize in Hungary

French tyre producer Michelin announced to shut down ist tyre plant in Budapest and relocate to Romania.

May 9, 2014

Sanction Imposed on Expobank

Russian-Latvian Expobank was added to the Canada’s black list.

May 9, 2014

Austria: Calls for More Competence in Real Estate Management Become Louder

Stock Exchange Guru Alexander Proschofsky and real estate expert Peter Hohlbein are fighting for a seat at Conwert’s administrative board. Proschofsky has been criticizing the strategy of the listed Austrian real estate company.

May 5, 2014

EU Enlargement: A Success Story for Central Europe

Austria is one of the main beneficiaries of the EU enlargement of 2004.

April 30, 2014

Situation for Austrian Banks in Russia is “Sensitive”

According to the latest statistics, Austrian banks are considerably more engaged in Russia than assumed so far. Debts to domestic financial institutes amount to € 50bn.

April 29, 2014

Hypo Group: Already a “Catastrophe“ in 2006

In the court proceedings against the former member of the supervisory board of regional lender BayernLB former head of Hypo Group’s board Wolfgang Kulterer called the situation Hypo was in a “catastrophe”.

April 28, 2014

Banks Still Losing in Trust

The trust in banks is continuing to decline. The scepticism towards the financial branch has increased among 39 percent of Austrians while trust in banks only increased among five percent.

April 28, 2014

Real Estate: Buwog Shares Taking Off

The highly anticipated primary listing of residential real estate affiliate of listed Immofinanz, Buwog, will be completed on Monday.

April 28, 2014

Do Taxes Justify a Relocation of Business?

Tax sensitive business operations should be relocated to other areas if necessary, according to the head of Erste Bank Austria.

April 24, 2014

Buwog Soon to be Listed at Three Stock Exchanges

Immofinanz‘ residential real estate affiliate Buwog will celebrate its IPO at the stock exchanges in Frankfurt and Vienna on Monday, April 28 and in Warsaw on Tuesday, April 29.

April 24, 2014

Austria: Branch Network of Raiffeisen Shrinking

Because of the high number of mergers, the number of branch shops of Raiffeisen Group is dropping. However, the Austrian lender still has a market share of 43 percent.

April 18, 2014

Hypo Group: Privatization of Balkan Business Until 2015

The nationalized problem bank intends to sell its Balkan business within 2014.

April 17, 2014

Austria: RLB OÖ Still Threatening to Leave

According to managing director of Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich (RLB OÖ) Heinrich Schaller, the tax burden is too high in Austria. The bank is still threatening to leave for Germany if the bank levy will not be changed.

April 17, 2014

Conwert to Leave Germany?

A consortium of investors is highly interested in the German subsidiary of the Austrian real estate group. The consortium is led by conwert´s former board director Johannes Meran.

April 16, 2014

Industrial Location Austria Losing Attractiveness

Among other things, labor costs and energy prices are too high, according to the Austrian Federation of Industries.

April 16, 2014

Austria: RLB OÖ Rows Bank on Threat to Leave

Last year regional lender RLB OÖ (Raiffeisen Landesbank Oberösterreich), part of Raiffeisen group, saw a decline of six percent in its balance sheet totals while the operating results increased by almost three percent.

April 16, 2014

Massive Dispute at Conwert

The Austrian real estate group faces troubles: representatives of small shareholders want to join the administrative council. Major shareholder Hans Peter Haselsteiner wants to dispatch his own representatives.

April 15, 2014

Fricke: “Man Needs Relatively Little Bank”

Fricke, chief economist at the European Climate Foundation and author of “Wie viel Bank braucht der Mensch?" (How much bank does man need?)

April 15, 2014

Raiffeisen Branch to Leave Austria?

One of the provincial units of Raiffeisen Group, regional lender Raiffeisen Landesbank Oberösterreich (RLB OÖ), is considering relocating its headquarters to Germany.

April 11, 2014

Serbia’s Goal to Join EU until 2020 “Realistic”

According to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Serbia’s aim to become a member of the European Union until 2020 is realistic.

April 11, 2014

Moldova: Urgent Call for EU-Membership

Getting out of the zone of uncertainty and instability, this is the aim of the Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca.

April 10, 2014

Austria: Hypo Group’s Investigation Committee Ready for Action

The group of foreign experts at the investigation commission for Hypo Group Alpe Adria is supposed to guarantee the required objectivity. The first results are expected to be published at the end of the year.

April 10, 2014

Erste Group to be Relocated to the Czech Republic?

CEO of Erste Group, Andreas Treichl, has informed Czech President Milos Zeman about the bank’s intention to move to Prague in the coming years.

April 9, 2014

Poland: Growth Forecast Raised Again

The International Monetary Fund has raised the forcast of GDP growth in Poland.

April 9, 2014

Hypo Group too Expensive for BayernLB

According to an official expert, regional German lender BayernLB’s fatal decision to take over Hypo Group Alpe Adria was based on questionable company evaluations.

April 7, 2014

Poland: No Danger of Deflation

According to Marek Belka, governor of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), there is not threat of deflation.

April 7, 2014

Hypo Group: „We Are not the Only One Who Must Pay“

Austrian Minister of Finance Michael Spindelegger underlines that the Austrian taxpayers are not the only ones who must bear the losses of the nationalized lender Hypo Group Alpe Adria.

April 5, 2014

Wealthy Investing in Real Estates in Vienna

Vienna is considered a “safe haven” for real estate investments. In particular, luxury homes, such as the Palais Principe for instance, are more than attractive for wealthy investors.

April 4, 2014

Hungary: OTP Approaches Acquisition of MKB

MKB, the Hungarian loss-making affiliate of German regional lender BayernLB, is approaching its acquisition by the biggest lender OTP.

April 3, 2014

Oberbank: Slow Expansion Strategy to be Continued

The Austrian regional bank starts to enter the stage in two German states. The net income has reached a new record level.

April 2, 2014

Austria: Spindelegger Expects Significant Increase of Deficit

According to the Finance Minister, the consequences of the Hypo-disaster are “dramatic”. However, he does not see a danger of deflation.

April 1, 2014

Poland: PZU to Take over RSA’s Baltic Branch?

Polish insurance company PZU intends to take over the Baltic assets of British ailing insurer RSA.

April 1, 2014

Hypo Group: Settlement Rejected by BayernLB

The majority stockholder of BayernLB, the former parent company of Hypo Group Alpe Adria, is not willing to negotiate about a settlement with the Austrian problem bank.

April 1, 2014

BayernLB: “Odd“ Sponsoring Contracts in Carinthia

Former managers of the German regional bank are under suspicion of having bribed then-governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia.

March 31, 2014

Serbia: Program for New Government in Progress

The future government will have to implement extensive reforms. Vucic, whose party saw a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections, is working on the government’s program.

March 26, 2014

Poland: Good Starting Point for Economic Growth

Economic growth for 2014 is expected to accelerate to 3.1 percent to 3.2 percent in the first quarter while for the full year it is anticipated to come at 3.5 percent, according to Polish Economy Minister Janusz Piechocinski.

March 26, 2014

BayernLB Threatens Hypo Group with Damage Claims

BayernLB, former parent company of Hypo Group Alpe Adria International, is threatening to claim damages from its former affiliate.

March 26, 2014

Poland: Promising Years Ahead

Poland observes the crisis in Ukraine with great concern, but does not forget to upgrade national resources.

March 25, 2014

Austria: Opposition Criticizes Nationalization

On Thursday Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger expects a binding statement by ailing bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria about how much state aid will be required. The opposition heavily criticizes the nationalization by the Austrian state in 2009.

March 20, 2014

Austria: Reform Steps Very Modest

Austria, along with Germany and Switzerland, hardly put any economic reforms into realization. This is the conclusion of the annual “reform barometer” for the three countries.

March 20, 2014

CA Immo: Considerable Drop in Net Income

Financial results 2013: CA Immo achieves record operating result. Balance sheet strengthened, Net Asset Value up 6%.

March 19, 2014