12. 08. 10. - 14:00

Stepic doubts €45mn Haider allegations

Raiffeisen International (RI) chief Herbert Stepic said he doubted claims late right-wing icon Jörg Haider had stashed millions in secret accounts in Liechtenstein were true.

The businessman said today (Thurs): "I can’t imagine that these rumours are true. Which services should Haider have done for (late Iraqi dictator Saddam) Hussein or (Libyan) leader (Muammar) al-Gaddafi to be rewarded with such ‘royal’ sums?"

Austrian newspapers and magazines have claimed they had information that Haider – who died two years ago – hoarded around 45 million Euros in dozens of escrow accounts. Rumour has it that the money was gifts from the families of Hussein and al-Gaddafi for Haider’s alleged attempts to improve their reputation in Europe.

Speaking to Austrian weekly magazine News, Stepic also branded the Hungarian bank tax the "worst thing to happen". The RI chief warned that the new levy – which orders banks operating in Hungary to hand over 0.45 per cent of their annual net assets – would only have negative consequences for the country.

Stepic however stressed RI would nevertheless not pull out from Hungary which recently presented a disputed package of harsh auxiliary measures to restore its state budget.

The Austrian government coalition also plans to introduce a "bank solidarity tax". Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Werner Faymann said the levy should help the government to extra annual takings of 500 million Euros from next year.

Government representatives and bank bosses are currently holding talks over which criteria should decide how much money the institutes must fork out under the upcoming rule.

RI is active in 17 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. It recently merged with Raiffeisenzentralbank (RZB), which is Austria’s biggest private employer. Every tenth Euro generated in Austria can be attributed to the firm. It has 2,200 branches in Austria and holds interests in insurance companies, newspapers, gastronomy firms and companies active in the tourism industry.