Austrian prosecutors have filed charges against the world’s leading expert on Stradivari who lived in a castle and had a fleet of luxury cars including two Rolls-Royces with what is believed to be the world’s biggest ever musical fraud. The reputation of 62-year-old Dietmar Machold was so well regarded that he was allowed to value […]
Tag: Bank
Artist sparks police murder hunt
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An Austrian concept artist sparked an Interpol murder hunt when chilling photographs she’d taken of of herself posing as a corpse were sent to the police by film printers. Sigrid Fleckseder and partner Christian Thomas had taken the realistic snaps showing her apparently dead on a river bank with ripped clothing as part of a […]
Sberbank set to spend 300mn
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The new owner of Volksbank International (VBI) has revealed plans to invest hundreds of millions of Euros. Sberbank – which transferred 505 million Euros for the finance institute to Volksbank AG (ÖVAG) in February – announced yesterday (Tues) it would spend 300 million Euros on the restructuring of VBI to support the planned expansion. Sberbank, […]
Coining it in
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Austrian hotel manager Rainer Ogrinigg is booked out after offering to allow guests to pay in Austrian Schillings and German Marks rather than Euros. Ogrinigg, who owns the Seehotel Grundlsee in Ausseerland in the Austrian lake district the Salzkammergut, confirmed it is now possible for guests to pay in German Marks. The offer was made […]
Oberbank keeps regional focus
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Franz Gasselsberger has ruled out an engagement of Oberbank in Eastern Europe (EE). The Linz-based finance institute runs some branches in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary but concentrates on activities in Austria and Germany. Now its CEO said the plan was to continue “to grow in an organic way”. Gasselsberger told the Kurier: “We […]
A statue to Michael Jackson is being put up in the middle of a tiny Austrian town by fans that live there as a tribute to their hero. Councillors in Mistelbach in a wine growing region north of the Austrian capital Vienna have officially approved the request for the statue which will go in the […]
ÖVAG losses soar
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Volksbank AG (ÖVAG) suffered losses of more than 1.3 billion Euros last year. Bank officials announced yesterday (Thurs) that the Viennese finance institute sustained a loss of 1.34 billion Euros in 2011. The news means that the Republic of Austria is robbed of its chances to demand the one billion Euros of participation capital back […]
Windfall for WBAG company chiefs
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The bosses of Austria’s most powerful companies are earning much more this year than in 2011, according to a survey. The Labour Chamber (AK) said yesterday (Thurs) that the chiefs of the 20 Austrian firms which were listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange (WBAG) would rake in 1.3 million Euros on average in 2012, up […]
Finance sector salary increase sealed
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Financial sector staff will get more from next month, it has been announced. Negotiators agreed about an income increase of 3.47 per cent on average yesterday (Thurs). The decision came after clerks were given the all-clear by the Federal Trade Union (ÖGB) to down tools in an attempted pressure increase. They initially called for a […]
BA boss ‘proud’ despite profit drop
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Bank Austria (BA) chief Willibald Cernko has admitted being “proud” of how his finance institute performed in the past years. The banker pointed out that BA was the only leading Austrian bank which did not sustain annual losses since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. The bankruptcy of the US investment bank kicked off […]