Austrian company to build Irish motorway

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Finance

An Austrian company is part of a group that has taken on the task of constructing and running part of an Irish motorway. Strabag SE, a technology company that provides construction services, is part of the DirectRoute consortium who won the contract for the construction job, they announced on Monday. The Vienna-based company has a […]

ÖVP NÖ wants to slow wind farm madness

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Politics

The ÖVP wants to reduce wind farms in order not to spoil the image of the landscape. The government of Lower Austria decided to develop a new Planning Law and to keep the budget low. 460 wind farms will be put up in Lower Austria until the end of 2013. They deliver 14 percent of […]

Drachma reintroduction ‘would mean social explosion’

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Politics

A renowned economist has warned from reintroducing the drachma in Greece. Greek economic expert Miranda Xafa said such a step would cause “economic chaos and a social explosion”. She told profil that no one could guarantee the stability of the currency. Xafa added: “No Greek exporter, hotelier or restaurant owner would change their Euros for […]

Government’s subsidisation reform suffers setback

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Politics

The government has failed to reach an agreement with the coalition concerning a reform of Austria’s party subsidisation system. Representatives of the government coalition of Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) held talks with Green Party members, Freedom Party (FPÖ) officials and members of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) […]

Cooperating clinics ‘can save €2bn’

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Business

A study has made aware of immense savings potential in the health sector. The investigation – carried out by the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) – shows that Austria’s clinics could cut their costs by two billion Euros in the coming five years by cooperating more closely. IHS experts said hospitals should specialise on certain […]

Rewe Austria claims market share leap

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Business

Rewe Austria has managed to increase its market share, according to a report issued by the company. Rewe Austria boss Frank Hensel said yesterday (Thurs) that his firm – which manages leading supermarket Billa, discounter Penny and other chains – had a domestic market share of 35 per cent last year. “We managed to keep […]

Finance sector salary increase sealed

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Finance

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 […]

ÖVAG ‘is not a glorious chapter’

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Finance

Bank Austria (BA) chief Willibald Cernko has welcomed plans to create a bank bankruptcy regulation. Austrian law currently fails to feature rules which determine under which circumstances a financial institute with headquarters in the alpine country can start regulated insolvency procedures. Real economy businesses benefit from such an option on a regular basis. It is […]

Bank bankruptcy law planned

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Finance

The government intends to change Austria’s insolvency regulations to loosen protective factors banks have so far benefited from. Several bankers – including Andreas Treichl, the head of market leader Erste Bank Group AG (Erste Bank) – have spoken out in favour of a reform of the financial sector bankruptcy law. Austrian law fails to feature […]

Vienna plans pension age initiative

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Politics

The Viennese city coalition plans to crack down on early retirement. Social Democratic (SPÖ) Mayor Michael Häupl announced yesterday (Tues) that he wanted to increase the average pension age of the capital’s public servants from the current 56 to 60 years. Häupl did not disclose when the four-year increase should be achieved. His announcement came […]