BAE ‘bribery’ lobbyist faces new investigations

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Business

Austrian prosecutors will continue to investigate lobbyist Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, it has emerged.Mensdorff-Pouilly, who owns real estate in Austria and Scotland, has returned to Austria after spending five days in custody in London last month.The husband of former People’s Party (ÖVP) Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat was accused of bribery and facilitation of corruption, but Britain’s Serious […]

Pages Jaunes snatches 123people

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Business

An internet search engine co-founded by an Austrian company has been sold to French yellow pages firm Pages Jaunes, it was announced today (Weds).Vienna-based firm i5invest and international enterprise GCP gamma capital partners, which has an office in the Austrian capital, founded 123people two years ago.The companies have remained tight-lipped about price, while German business […]

Vienna auctioneer pays €455,000 for Croatian gold and silver

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Business

A Vienna-based auction house has purchased the gold and silver stocks of a Croatian company that are worth almost half a million Euros, according to a newspaper report.The Croatian daily Slobodna Dalmacija claimed today (Weds) that auctioneer H. D. Rauch GmbH had won the public tender for 18.5 kilos of gold and 152,425 kilos of […]

BMW to produce 240,000 engines for US police in Steyr

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Business

The BMW plant in Steyr, Upper Austria, has received an order for 240,000 three-litre turbo diesel engines and gear boxes for US police, it emerged today (Tues).Company officials said BMW distribution chief Ian Robertson and US Carbon Motors bosses agreed on the deal yesterday.BMW remained tight-lipped about the time frame and order volume, but analysts […]

Volkswagen CFO hopeful after ‘promising’ start of the year

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Business

German car maker Volkswagen (VW) CFO Hans Dieter Pötsch has revealed that the company has been spending around 600 million Euros on car parts and other purchases in Austria every year.Pötsch said at a business event in Linz last night (Mon) evening that he was optimistic about business this year after an “extraordinarily difficult 2009”.VW […]

Austrian Peter Löscher named top-earning German company boss

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Business

An Austrian has been named as the best paid CEO among German companies listed by the country’s stock market index DAX in “crisis year” 2009.Villach-born Siemens boss Peter Löscher earned more than seven million Euros in the last year, according to a report by business newspaper Handelsblatt. He took over at Siemens in 2007.The German […]

Job anxiety slowly ebbing

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Business

Austrians’ anxiety about losing their jobs has been slowly ebbing, according to results of a new poll by Linz public-opinion research firm Spectra released today (Fri).Results show that 80 per cent believe their jobs are safe, up from 75 per cent last summer.The young are less anxious than the old, with 81 per cent of […]

Lower Austria ‘invested €40 mn in disgraced Madoff fund’

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Business

Lower Austria has invested 40 million Euros in disgraced American Bernard Madoff’s Alpha Prime fund, says a report in today’s (Thurs) Der Standard newspaper.Der Standard said that Fibeg, the provincial investment office, had invested the money with Madoff on 30 June 2008.Madoff, who had been running a giant Ponzi scheme for years, went belly up […]

Sepp Resch is Lenze’s new GM

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Business

The Austrian subsidiary of German transmission and automation specialist Lenze announced today (Thurs) that Sepp Resch would be its new general manager for Austria and Eastern Europe.Resch, 49, has been the head of international automation firm Cegelec.Lenze said Resch’s focus in his new job would be maximisation of growth potential.Lenze Austria, based in Asten near […]

Insurance branch tax ‘will mainly affect customers’

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Business

Customers would be the most affected party if the government decides to set up a new tax for insurance companies, a top branch representative has warned.Günter Geyer, Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) chairman and head of the federal insurance companies association, said today (Weds): “Eighty per cent of the money managed by insurance companies belongs to […]