German building company Monier has taken over an Austrian roofing expert in full, it was announced today (Tues).Viennese brick maker Wienerberger AG said Oberursel-based Monier has taken over its interest in Bramac. Wienerberger held a 50 per cent interest in Bramac which has its headquarters in Pöchlarn, Lower Austria.Part of the deal is a 40-million-Euro […]
Austria drops in EU innovation ranking
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Austria has been left behind by Belgium in the European Commissions (EC) latest Innovation Union Scoreboard.Austria comes seventh in the ECs 2010 edition of the study which examines the conditions for innovations in the European Unions (EU) 27 member countries. The country came sixth in 2009 but has been overtaken by Belgium in the most […]
Austrian jobless rate drops
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The number of unemployed Austrians continues to decline as the country gets ready for the full liberalisation of its job market.Social Democratic (SPÖ) Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer announced today (Tues) that 309,584 people living in Austria were out of work last month. He added that another 69,187 unemployed Austrians were sitting re-education courses organised by […]
Salzburg recorded more overnight stays in 2010 than in the previous three years, but the hotels’ occupancy rate is still low.Peoples Party (ÖVP) Vice Mayor Harald Preuner said today (Tues) that hotels and guesthouses in the city registered 2.2 million overnight stays between January and December 2010. He pointed out this was the best annual […]
More than 300 natural gas cars were registered in Austria last year, it has been announced.Statistik Austria said today (Fri) that 333 gas-powered cars, 221 natural gas lorries and 48 buses equipped with natural gas engines were registered in 2010.The state agency explained these developments increase the overall number of natural gas vehicles in the […]
OMV head acquitted
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OMV boss Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer has been found not guilty of insider trading.The former Social Democratic (SPÖ) state secretary faced three years in jail over suspicions he benefited from insider knowledge in a controversial stock purchase.Ruttenstorfer, who has headed the oil and gas company since 2002, acquired 26,500 OMV stakes worth 632,000 Euros in March 2009. […]
IV meets Azerbaijani leaders
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An Austrian delegation has met with Azerbaijani businessmen and the country’s political elite to discuss opportunities to do with the countries economic relationship.Azerbaijani business newspaper Trend reports that a group of entrepreneurs headed by Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) boss Veit Sorger travelled to the Eurasian countrys capital Baku to debate key topics with their […]
UNIQA eyes expansion after 2010 profits
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Insurance company UNIQA Versicherungen AG (UNIQA) said its 2010 performance could have been better than expected.The firm said today (Fri) that some weeks ago it expected profits of around 120 to 135 million Euros, while analysts predicted profits of 142 million Euros. Now the Vienna-based insurer has explained that it may have achieved a pre-tax […]
A strong year on year surge of overnight stays in Vienna rescued the 2010 performance of the Austrian tourism industry.Figures presented by state agency Statistik Austria yesterday (Weds) show that hotels in the federal capital registered 10.86 million overnight stays last year, 10.3 per cent more than in 2009. The citys tourism businesses also did […]
ÖBB to train rival’s staff
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Federal Railways (ÖBB) boss Christian Kern has revealed that his firm will begin training the train drivers of a rival company.Businessman Hans Peter Haselsteiner and former ÖBB manager Stefan Wehinger’s Westbahn project will start offering around daily connections between Vienna and Salzburg this December. Wehinger recently told Die Presse newspaper: “We expect to achieve operative […]