Scandinavia

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

Polish Insurer PZU Gains More Power in Baltic States

As announced by the Polish insurance company, PZU took over three Baltic competitors.

April 17, 2014

Polish PKO BP Tapping into Swedish Leasing Market

Major Polish lender PKO BP has opened a branch of its leasing unit in Sweden.

February 20, 2014

Poland: PKO BK Still Wants to Take Over Nordea

PKO BP had to extend the subscription period for the second time.

February 18, 2014

Spindelegger Positive about Creation of Financial Transaction Tax

In the run-up to the beginning of the ECOFIN Council in Brussels, negotiations about the further proceeding of the financial transaction tax were held among eleven EU finance ministers.

February 18, 2014

Prices for Houses in EU Dropped Slightly

1.5 percent decrease of house prices in European Union.

January 22, 2014

Austria: High Tax Country

According to the new tax report of PrinceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the tax burden in Austria is ten percent higher than the average tax rate in the European Union and even beats Sweden.

November 19, 2013

“We Need to Pull Down the Iron Curtain in Our Heads“

In an interview with Austrian daily “WirtschaftsBlatt“ Johannes Seiringer, Director of the Austrian office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) calls for incentives for enterprises to continue investing in CEE.

October 24, 2013

Austrians Opposed to EU Enlargement

According to a survey, the majority of Austrians are opposed to an EU Accession of Turkey and Western Balkan States.

October 16, 2013

Austria Placed 9th in Competition Ranking

According to the latest EU Competition report 2013, Austria ranks ninth among 28 member states. The leaders in the ranking are Sweden, followed by Germany and Denmark while Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania are at the lowest positions.

September 25, 2013

Austria: WKO Demands Impulses for R&D

Deputy President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO), Martha Schultz, demands new impluses for research and innovation in the years from 2014 to 2020.

September 19, 2013

Wifo: Economy Remains Competitive Despite High Wages

Head of Wifo (Austrian Institute for Economic Research), Karl Aiginger, calls for a change of views in economic policy as competitiveness is more than just low costs.

September 18, 2013

Strabag Lands Major Order in Sweden

Strabag developing and building infrastructure highlight Orgelpipan 6 at Stockholm's Citybanan commuter station.

September 16, 2013

Bank Austria Considers Establishing Franchise Banks in Austria

The streamlining of the CESEE network of Bank Austria seems to take on a very concrete form now.

September 16, 2013

OMV: Oil Discovery in Northern Europe

Austrian Energy Enterprise OMV has discovered significant amounts of oil in the Barents Sea. Around 200m to 500m barrel are estimated to be exploitable.

September 6, 2013

Kapsch: Enormous Problems at Austrian Business Location

President of Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) Georg Kapsch confirms the criticism voiced by President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO) Christoph Leitl and several other politicians by the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP).

August 28, 2013

Austrian Economy Minister: “No Time for Idle Complacency”

Austrian Minister of Economics and former general secretary of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO), Reinhold Mitterlehner avoids any dispute with Christoph Leitl, President of WKO but signals a different opinion.

August 27, 2013

OMV: Biggest Additional Purchase in Company’s History

OMV invests billions in a participation in the North Sea: The Austrian energy company acquires stakes of Norwegian enterprise Statoil in oil and gas fields in the North Sea for around € 2bn.

August 19, 2013

Austria: Alpine-Energie to be Taken Over by Triton

Former affiliate of construction company Alpine Bau Alpine-Energie, which is based in Linz and was temporarily “parked” with a special company, has a new owner.

August 13, 2013

OMV Continues Expansion in Norway

OMV has been awarded six additional offshore exploration licenses in Norway, acting as operator for two of them.

July 5, 2013