ÖBB secretly reduces validity of return tickets

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Business

Federal Railways (ÖBB) is in hot water after it emerged the company drastically reduced the validity period of return tickets.Austrian newspapers report today (Thurs) that return tickets are valid for just two days as of now instead of one month. Some dailies claim ÖBB did not inform its customers about the change at stations or […]

ÖBB head promises ticket price freeze

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Business

Federal Railways (ÖBB) boss Christian Kern has ruled out tickets becoming more expensive.”Ticket prices should not rise this year. We can save money in passenger services and our infrastructure elsewhere,” he told weekly magazine profil.Asked why he recently called for a 400-million-Euro injection by the state for the debt-ridden company, Kern explained he wanted to […]

Tyrolean holiday agency snatches majority stake in UK firm

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Business

A leading Austrian travel company has acquired a majority interest in London-based Hotels & More Ltd.Travel Partner GmbH, which has an office in Vienna and its headquarters in the Tyrolean town of Ellmau, announced today (Weds) it purchased a 73 per cent share in the British company.Hotels & More Ltd. has 40 employees, according to […]

Brain Force coffers drained by restructuring

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Business

IT services provider Brain Force Holding AG (Brain Force) spent more than 1.8 million Euros on restructuring measures in the past business year.The Vienna-based company said today (Tues) it invested 1.82 million Euros on firm-internal restructuring measures in the 2009/2010 business year which ended on 30 September.Brain Force announced that its turnover declined by 22 […]

VIH enters Belarus

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Business

An Austrian hotel management company has been assigned to establish a hotel in what will be the biggest building in Minsk.Vienna International (VIH) said today (Tues) the plan was to open the four-star business hotel in the capital of Belarus in 2014.The hotel, which will feature 280 rooms, will be located in the Minsk Tower. […]

Quadruple lotto jackpot holds €8mn

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Lifestyle

This Wednesday’s quadruple lotto jackpot is worth eight million Euros, Austrian Lotteries have announced.The company said today (Mon) it was only the 10th time in its 25-year history that none of the hundreds of thousands of participators’ lottery tickets had shown the correct six out of 45 numbers three times in a row.Lottery tickets are […]

Habau bags Minsk Tower order

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Business

An Upper Austrian company has been assigned to build what will be the biggest building in Minsk, it emerged today (Weds).Habau Hoch- und Tiefbaugesellschaft m.b.H. (Habau) confirmed reports claiming it had been contracted to construct the 170-metre Minsk Tower.The company, which is based in the town of Perg, explained it planned to have started the […]

Bene lowers losses as turnover slumps

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Business

Office furniture specialist Bene AG has managed to reduce its losses.The company, which is based in the Lower Austrian town of Waidhofen an der Ybbs, said today (Weds) it suffered losses of 8.7 million Euros in the third quarter of the 2010/2011 business year, down by 100,000 Euros year on year.Bene’s turnover declined from 135 […]

OMV boss to exit Roche supervisory board

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Business

Austrian businessman Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer has decided not to reapply for a place on the supervisory board of Swiss healthcare company F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Roche).Ruttenstorfer, who has headed Vienna-based oil and gas group OMV for eight years, entered Roche’s supervisory board in 2007. The Swiss health industry giant will decide on who will follow the […]

Victoria’s Secret ‘to open shop in Vienna’

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Business

Victoria’s Secret is to open a showroom in Austria, according to reports.Austrian business weekly Format claims today (Fri) the American lingerie maker plans to open its first representation in the country in the city centre of Vienna in February.Victoria’s Secret has cooperated with some of the best paid models in the world in advertising its […]