Vienna International Community - Top Politicians - Latest Headlines

Read updated news about key politicians in Vienna's international community

Austria: Decisions about Hypo Group Expected This Year

Decisions about the future of problem bank Hypo Alpe Adria will in all likelihood be delayed.

October 16, 2013

Bulgaria Supports Trans Adriatic Pipeline

During yesterday’s world media meeting, on behalf of his country Bulgarian President Rosen Plevniev expressed his support of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline project (TAP).

October 16, 2013

Ukrainian Gas Pipeline Key Issue for EU Commission

A gas pipeline plan in the Ukraine is among the EU Commission’s key infrastructure projects.

October 16, 2013

Poland to Keep VAT Rates The Same Until 2015

In order to cut debts, the Polish government decided not to lower the level of VAT.

October 15, 2013

Solution to Croatian/Hungarian Mol Issue Expected Soon

The Croatian justice has issued an international arrest warrant for the head of Hungarian oil company Mol.

October 15, 2013

Russian and Ukrainian Oligarchs Interested in RBI’s Affiliate

The Ukrainian affiliate of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), Bank Aval, has become the object of desire for Russian billionaire Fridman and Ukrainian banker Lagun.

October 15, 2013

Polish Airline LOT Staves off State Aid

Because of the effective restructuring measures, the airline carrier has fended off the need for a capital injection by the Polish state, accordint to Deputy Treasury Minister Rafal Baniak.

October 15, 2013

„CESEE Is Not the Devil Anymore“

Regarding the development of the CESEE equity market, Birgit Kuras, CEO of Vienna Stock Exchange (VSE) demonstrates optimism.

October 14, 2013

Ukraine’s EU Accession: Commission Still Positive

Stefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy underlined once more Ukraine’s significant progress leading the country close to the European Union.

October 14, 2013

FX Loans: ECB Warns Hungary

ECB´s governor Mario Draghi warns Hungary. The conversion of foreign currency loans may sharpen the credit crunch.

October 14, 2013

Federation of Austrian Industries Urges for Reforms

IV (Federation of Austrian Industries) has high hopes. The next Austrian government has to implement a number of reforms, IV´s President Georg Kapsch says.

October 12, 2013

RBI Issues EUR 500 Million of Supplementary Capital

Strengthening of capital structure provided by this measure.

October 10, 2013

Polish Government to be Rearranged

On Wednesday Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk announced that there will be personnel changes in November within the government which will be presented in November.

October 10, 2013

Gazprom May Face Proceedings by Austrian OMV

OMV considers arbitral proceedings against Russian Gazprom in case no joint solution will be found.

October 9, 2013

Bratusek: “We Are Paying for Your Debts”

On Tuesday Slovenian Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek presented the budget draft for 2014 and 2015 to the members of parliament.

October 9, 2013

Hungary and Croatia to Solve MOL/INA Issue

Both Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Janos Martonyi and his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusic intend to solve the issue between Hungarian MOL and Croatian INA.

October 9, 2013

Serbia Gets Support by Former Italian Foreign Minister

On its path to EU integration, Serbia gets further well-known support.

October 8, 2013

Poland Hopes for Cheap Gas by Gazprom

The Polish government is hoping to be able to bargain prices with Russian energy giant Gazprom, Polish Minister for Economy Janusz Piechocinski announced today.

October 8, 2013

IMF Forecasts Only Minimal Growth for Austria in 2013

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts not even one half percent of GDP growth this year for Austria. However, 2014 has better chances for accelerated growth.

October 8, 2013

Poland: Amazon to Establish Three Logistic Centers

Leading online retailer Amazon will open three major logistic centers in Poland. According to the company’s own proclamation, this step does not relate to the latest striking problems in Germany.

October 8, 2013

Fekter Presses for Provisional Budget Financing

Finance Minister Maria Fekter (ÖVP) does not count on the government to present a budget draft in time, which was scheduled October 22 and involves the Finance Act until the end of the year.

October 8, 2013

Austria: President Prefers Grand Coalition

President Heinz Fischer has confirmed his wish for the formation of a grand coalition as this would be “the most reasonable solution”, according to him. Other possibilities were afflicted with too many uncertainties.

October 7, 2013

Romania: Bucharest Stock Exchange to Be Enlarged?

Ludwik Sobolewski, new CEO of Romania’s Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE), is toying with the idea of enlarging the institution and making it a competition to Budapest, Vienna and Prague withing two years only.

October 7, 2013

Hungary Rejects Extradiction of Head of Mol

A Hungarian court rejected the extradiction of Zsolt Hernadi, who is alleged of having bribed former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanander.

October 7, 2013

CA Immo to Sell Mercedes Benz Headquarters in Berlin

After selling Tower 185 in Frankfurt, CA Immo will now sell the headquarters of Mercedes Benz in Berlin. By this measure, debts will decline significantly for the Austrian real estate company.

October 7, 2013

Porr: Capital Increase and Rise in Profits Expected

CEO of listed Austrian construction company Porr Karl-Heinz Strauss is still in favor of a capital increase in 2014 or 2015 and calls upon the government to create “projects for the future”.

October 7, 2013

Bulgaria Takes out Schuldschein Note Loan via German Banks

The Bulgarian government has decided to take out a Schuldschein note loan in the amount of € 360m through German banks, media reports claim.

October 7, 2013

Voestalpine Expects Turnaround

The European demand in steel is increasing. Austrian steel manufacturer voestalpine expects the worst of the crisis for the steel industry to be over.

October 7, 2013

Political Crisis in Slovenia to Sharpen Further

The power struggle between Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek and Ljubljana´s mayor Zoran Jankovic escalates. Jankovic is said to receive more support from his party.

October 5, 2013

Sevelda: Not the Right Time for Capital Increase

In an interview with Financial Times (FT) Karl Sevelda, CEO of RBI, states that a capital increase would be difficult at the moment due to an unfavorable economic environment.

October 4, 2013

Keuschnigg Advises Austria to be Patient

According to Keuschnigg it was not possible to increase the core capital quota of the banks to the level necessary or to reduce public debts by 120 percent in two years only.

October 4, 2013

Austria: Downsizing Models for Hypo

Currently, everything revolves around the establishing of a bad bank despite of Finance Minister Maria Fekter’s objection. However, now, after the elections, this issue needs to be resolved.

October 4, 2013

Poland Increases Funding for SMEs

According to Polish Finance Minister Rostowski, the government plans on extending a funding program for the support of small and medium sized companies in order to improve the country’s economy.

October 3, 2013

UniCredit Toying With Idea of Take-Over in Poland

Italian bank UniCredit considers to extend business at the growing Polish market by a take-over.

October 3, 2013

Moody’s Honors Austrian Banks in CESEE

Only a year ago, the rating agency downgraded Austria because of its banks’ engagement in Eastern Europe. However, the situation has changed to the better.

October 3, 2013

COO Daniel Riedl appointed CEO of BUWOG

The 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of IMMOFINANZ AG, Daniel Riedl was appointed as CEO of the subsidiary Buwog. Riedl will prepare Buwog´s IPO.

October 3, 2013

Austria: Pussyfooting around Forming Government Coalition

The Austrian People’s Party is picky in regard to choosing a coalition partner. So far the ÖVP has shown no interest in starting coalition talks with former partner SPÖ. However, there are not many options left.

October 2, 2013

Ukraine: Clashes between Police and Protesters

During a demonstration against the government in Kiev on Wednesday clashed occurred between police forces and around 400 supporters of the opposition.

October 2, 2013

Slovenia to Decide about Selling of Telekom Slovenije

The Slovenian government will decide upon the fate of Telekom Slovenije on Thursday, October 3.

October 1, 2013

Serbia’s EU Accession Talks to Start in January 2014

Talks on Serbia's EU accession to start no later than January.

October 1, 2013

Austria: Unemployment Will Not Stop Increasing

In September, the number of persons unemployed continued to increase while employment rose slightly. In total, a number of 335,661 persons were jobless which makes an increase of 13.8 percent on an annual comparison.

October 1, 2013

Slovenian Government to Approve Adjusted Budget

The Slovenian government today plans on implementing the revised budget for next year and the draft for the 2015 budget.

September 30, 2013

Austria: IV Warns Policy-Makers

The Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) considers the low voter’s turnout as an alarming sign.

September 30, 2013

Austrian Elections 2013: Government Punished by the Voters

The two governing parties SPÖ and ÖVP have reached their worst results ever. Nevertheless, nothing will change in Austria.

September 29, 2013

"European bank supervision sends a strong signal to financial markets"

Austrian Federal Minister of Finance Maria Fekter welcomes favourable European Parliament decision on bank supervision.

September 28, 2013

Croatia Plans on Increasing VAT by Three Percent

Croatia eyes increased intermediate VAT from 10 to 13%.

September 27, 2013

Austria: Kapsch Demands Reform Agenda From New Government

Georg Kapsch, President of the Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) demands the next federal government to introduce a comprehensive reform agenda.

September 27, 2013

Croatia: Entry into Schengen Important, Not Decisive

Croatia plans to apply for accession to the Schengen passport-free area in two years.

September 27, 2013

Slovenia: PM Takes International Bailout into Consideration

For the first time the crisis-struck Eurozone member country has admitted to consider international bailout as an option for its ailing banks.

September 26, 2013

Slovenia: Controversies Over New Budget

Slovenia´s Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek links the approval to the austerity budget to a vote of confidence.

September 25, 2013