Cold snap causes higher jobless rate

Posted in Business / Saturday March 3rd, 2012

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The number of unemployed people is on the rise in Austria.

Statistik Austria announced yesterday (Thurs) that 310,000 residents of the country had no job in February. This is an increase of 6.1 per cent compared to the same month of 2011.

Styria experienced the strongest increase among Austria’s nine provinces at 9.4 per cent. Salzburg (plus 8.7 per cent), Tyrol (plus 8.5 per cent) and Upper Austria (plus 7.1 per cent) suffered setbacks in fighting joblessness as well. Vorarlberg was the only region able to report a decline last month (minus 0.8 per cent).

Statistik Austria’s figures show that the number of employed Austrians rose as well last month. Around 3.4 million people had a job in February, up by 1.7 per cent compared to the same month in 2011. More than 70,000 people living in Austria aged 50 and above were out of work last month – 10.3 per cent more than in February 2011.

Austria’s youth unemployment shot up sharply. More than 45,000 Austrians aged between 15 and 24 had no work last month, up by 5.8 per cent. People’s Party (OVP) Integration Secretary Sebastian Kurz recently suggested ordering families of truants to pay higher fines to avoid their failure in school and traineeships. He said the maximum penalty of 220 Euros was too low in his opinion – and started a heated government-internal debate. It is understood that the OVP and its coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPO), agreed on increasing the fine to 440 Euros shortly.

SPO Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer said the weak European economy and the extreme cold of last month were the key reasons for the general unemployment increase. He pointed out that around 5,000 more builders than in February 2011 were registered as unemployed last month as their employers were forced to postpone projects due to the rough weather.

SPO and OVP intend to set up a charge of 110 Euros for each redundancy linked to an Austrian firm. Hundstorfer claimed this measure could keep some companies from registering their staff as unemployed for short periods such as in winter or during the Christmas holidays. This common procedure means significant administration costs for the Labour Market Service (AMS). Industrialists and businesspeople are upset about the government’s plan to fine firms after cancelling contracts on good terms with employees as well.

The government coalition decided to freeze the AMS’ annual budget to 981 million Euros in the next years despite economists’ warnings from rising unemployment. AMS director Johannes Kopf said last month that the number of jobless people may rise by 15,000 in 2012 compared to last year.

News that Austria experienced more jobless people but also residents in work last month follow uplifting but also and rather worrisome signals sent by the domestic economy.

The 40,000 Austrian enterprises which engage in export operations sold goods and services worth 122 billion Euros abroad in 2011 which is, according to the Federal Economy Chamber (WKO), a new record. Around 80 per cent of sales went to other European countries.

Tourism officials announced last week that 28 million overnight stays were registered in hotels and guesthouses across Austria between November 2011 and January 2012 – up by 0.6 per cent 2010/2011 winter holiday season. Rising interest by holidaymakers from Switzerland (plus 20.4 per cent) and Russia (plus 16.1 per cent) helped hotels to handle a 4.1 per cent decline in overnight stays booked by people from Germany.

Sport equipment dealers sold between 15 and 20 per cent fewer skis in 2011. Experts explain that more and more people are opting for rented skis to use the latest versions each season. Only on Wednesday, Austrian sport shop company Gigasport said it decided to close its 12 branches in the Czech Republic and Slovakia by the end of this year to focus on domestic business activities.

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Puls 4 outpaces ATV

Posted in Business / Saturday March 3rd, 2012

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ATV has been robbed of its standing as Austria’s most popular private TV station.

Puls 4 overtook its key rival for the first time in four years thanks to a market share of 3.2 per cent last month. ATV garnered a stake of three per cent, according to TV consumption research released yesterday (Thurs). ServusTV, a broadcaster funded by energy drink producer Red Bull, managed to claim a market share of one per cent in February 2012, up by 0.4 per cent compared to the same month of last year.

Latest analyses also show that state-funded broadcaster ORF’s main stations, ORF 1 and ORF 2, both sustained market share losses last month – despite a string of popular carnival season shows and live broadcasting from the tradition-rich Viennese Opera Ball. ORF boss Alexander Wrabetz informed the Stiftungsrat council yesterday that the company would suffer a loss of 16.5 million Euros by the end of this year if it kept operating under the current terms.

Wrabetz said his team would check ORF’s personnel costs for savings potential and made clear that freelance journalists working for the company’s radio station O1 could not expect significantly higher salaries in the foreseeable future. The reporters recently launched campaigns to make aware of their difficult working conditions.

The ORF chief also announced that the annual budget of ORF III would be upped by 500,000 Euros to three million despite the generally difficult economic circumstances. This statement comes shortly after ORF III co-chiefs Peter Schober and Helmut Kaiser claimed that the channel – which went on air last October – was seriously underfunded. Schober and Kaiser called for an additional 1.5 million Euros a year.

The programme of ORF III is dominated by cultural content, documentaries and political discussions. ORF bosses reportedly established the station in an attempt to justify laws which force Austrian TV consumers to pay fees regardless of whether they watch the ORF’s programmes. Every Austrian household with TV sets and radios must pay between 18 and 24 Euros a month.

University of Munster said earlier this week its check of Austrian stations’ programmes show that ORF 1 was dominated by entertainment features the most at 83 per cent, followed by Puls 4 at 50 per cent and ATV (45 per cent). The German higher education and research institution was asked by Austrian telecommunications and mobile services regulator RTR to investigate the matter.

The result sparked harsh criticism by the directors of Puls 4 and ATV who criticised ORF for charging fees despite an apparent focus on sitcoms and Hollywood movies. ORF officials have defended the federal fee regulations for decades by making aware of the broadcaster’s excellent news coverage.

Meanwhile, lawyers and ORF affiliate GIS are set to clash in court over the national broadcaster’s charging policy. GIS plans to crack down on internet users since they could listen to ORF’s radio channels on the web. Consumer rights watchdogs are expected to speak out against the plan. A Salzburg law office announced on Wednesday it considered taking the ORF to court for charging households with old televisions unfit to receive the ORF’s digitalised programmes.

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Ex-TA chiefs face questioning

Posted in Business / Saturday March 3rd, 2012

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Three ex-Telekom Austria (TA) executive board members and a former government minister have been asked to appear in front of the parliament’s anti-corruption commission, it has emerged.

Stefan Petzner, who represents the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZO) in the special committee, announced yesterday evening (Weds) that former TA top-tier managers Heinz Sundt, Stefan Colombo and Boris Nemsic were informed about the commission’s interest to interrogate them later this month. It was also disclosed that ex-Freedom Party (FPO) Infrastructure Minister Mathias Reichhold will be asked to allow the committee to interview him in mid-March.

The commission is headed by Greens member Gabriela Moser. It was established after all five parliamentary factions agreed that a special body should examine the allegedly corruptive deals at TA and other controversial issues newspapers and magazines have reported about in the past few years.

The creation of the commission was finalised following lengthy discussions over which topics should be investigated. The People’s Party (OVP) has rejected any connection to illegal subsidisation which could have occurred through businesspeople and lobbyists while the Social Democrats (SPO) failed in their attempt to ban the committee from looking into the traffic ministry’s marketing initiatives.

The office of Chancellor Werner Faymann, who currently heads the SPO, is suspected of having ordered motorway maintenance company Asfinag and Federal Railways (OBB) to pay information campaigns in newspapers which featured large Faymann profile photos. The controversial arrangements occurred during Faymann’s two-year term as traffic minister which ended in 2008.

The chancellor denied any wrongdoing while SPO and OVP officials said the investigative commission should not start operating as long as state prosecutors examine the various affairs. The Green Party, FPO and BZO eventually prevailed in calling for a start of investigative procedures in parliament as soon as possible. Viennese state prosecutors recently abandoned their abuse of office investigations against Faymann while prosecutors assigned with examining alleged corruption and fraud at TA are highly active.

The former TA decision-makers and Reichhold are not expected to ignore the appeals to appear in parliament to face questions. Businesspeople have the right to remain silent in front of the commission if prosecutors investigate against them while former and incumbent lawmakers benefit from their political immunity.

Greens parliament member (MP) Peter Pilz made clear he was ready to ask the police to force the requested persons to speak to the commission if they refused to do so. The former secretary of ex-BZO Vice Chancellor Hubert Gorbach did not turn up at the commission initially before appearing in front of it after Pilz threatened to send out the police to get her.

The investigations of the committee suffered a setback last weekend when it emerged that the provincial taxation office of Burgenland blackened vast parts of lobbyist Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly’s tax documents before providing it with them. Some MPs accused the office of OVP Finance Minister Maria Fekter of having ordered the tax office to do so in an attempt to disguise possibly illegal transactions from private enterprises to the party via Mensdorff-Pouilly’s firms.

Fekter promised to ask a team of experts to check whether the Eisenstadt-based tax authority was right to blacken some of the contained information. Speaking for the parliamentary commission, Pilz said yesterday only very few data and information was made unrecognisable now that the committee received the files again.

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Austria not affected by German closures, says Schlecker

Posted in Business / Saturday March 3rd, 2012

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Alarm bells are ringing at Schlecker Austria works councils as the drugstore chain’s mother company is forced to close around 50 per cent of its stores.

Arndt Geiwitz announced yesterday (Weds) that around half of Schlecker’s 7,000 shops in Germany would soon shut for good. Geiwitz, who was assigned with administering the struggling firm’s controlled bankruptcy procedure, made clear that this was bad news for staff and their families but also called the decision as “vital” for Schlecker.

Schlecker employees’ representatives reacted by suggesting to stop cooperating with the family of Anton Schlecker who established the company in 1975. They said the family should not be involved in the firm’s future in any way. Geiwitz justified the decision to close approximately 50 per cent of stores – a move which will axe nearly 12,000 jobs – by making aware of better chances to find an investor.

A spokesman for the company said yesterday Schlecker’s Austrian affiliate would not be affected by the restructuring. He claimed that most of the 930 shops of Schlecker Austria were making a profit but also said that a “low two-digit number of stores” which struggled may be sold to rivals or real estate management companies.

Austrian unionists did not comment on news that thousands of Schlecker stores in Germany would be closed down as part of the efficiency procedure. Experts think that Schlecker’s subsidiary companies abroad might have to accept more dramatic consequences than Geiwitz announced yesterday.

Schlecker made its decision to start a controlled bankruptcy procedure in January. The firm succeeded by offering extremely low prices for some time before it was overtaken by several rivals which concentrated on more modern business concepts, better customer service and attractive shops.

The situation is similar in Austria where Bipa and DM are doing significantly better than their cut-price competitor. Bipa dominates the market with 560 stores followed by DM. Bipa managed to increase its leadership in the past three years, according to a poll by Upper Austrian research agency Imas.

News that the number of Schlecker shops in Germany will decline drastically comes one day after Austrian competition watchdogs confirmed that the headquarter offices of supermarket industry top dog Rewe International were searched. Investigators are trying to find out whether the company, which is based in Wiener Neudorf south of Vienna, formed a price cartel with rivals. Rewe International is suspected of having tried to keep the price of beer and coffee high, according to business newspapers.

Rewe International is headed by Frank Hensel. The firm is part of the German Rewe Group and manages supermarket Billa, discounter Penny and other chains. It is the number one on the Austrian market followed by Spar and Hofer. A spokeswoman for Rewe International said that the company would fully cooperate with officials and provide them with all demanded documents.

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Loss-making Erste Bank optimistic about EBA rules

Posted in Business / Saturday March 3rd, 2012

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The head of Austria’s leading finance institute has shown understanding for the latest bank tax hike and confidence concerning more severe equity ratio regulations.

Andreas Treichl, the CEO of Erste Bank Group AG (Erste Bank), said yesterday (Weds) he was not surprised by the government’s decision to jack up the bank solidarity charge by 25 per cent. “The financial sector is not one of the most popular economic branches. Obviously, many people will applaud such a step,” he said about the upcoming increase.

Treichl added that he had no other chance but to accept the decision but also pointed out that his bank was paying more bank tax to the finance ministry already than any of its rivals. The Erste Bank boss stressed that some financial institutes could opt for a more reluctant policy in providing companies with credits because of the charge while other bankers branded the levy as inappropriate, incomprehensible and unfair.

Social Democratic (SPO) Finance Secretary Andreas Schieder announced earlier this week that the bank tax would soon rise by 25 per cent. The state raked in around 500 million Euros of additional tax revenues in 2011 thanks to the charge which had been introduced in 2010. At that time, SPO Chancellor Werner Faymann described the measure as a fair and reasonable contribution considering banks’ extraordinary role in the crisis.

Some CEOs made clear that all kinds of extra charges caused by the levy would be passed on directly to customers. The Labour Chamber (AK) reacted by presenting plans to conduct investigations – and underlined it would not hesitate from naming and shaming banks which jacked up activity fees. Schieder said that research had shown that none of Austria’s banks introduced significant increases of customer charges because of the bank tax in the past two years.

The decision of the government coalition of SPO and the People’s Party (OVP) to increase the bank tax followed the partial nationalisation of Volksbank AG (OVAG). OVP Finance Minister Maria Fekter said the state would raise its participation in OVAG to 49 per cent. Fekter admitted that the rescue operation for the debt-stricken bank – which sustained a loss of around one billion Euros last year – will increase this year’s budget deficit.

The government said it decided to raise the bank tax to ensure that financial sector firms came up for the lion’s share of the costs of OVAG’s partial nationalisation. SPO and OVP hope that this strategy helps to remain on the chosen budget consolidation path. OVAG recently sold most of its Volksbank International (VBI) departments to Russian bank Sberbank for 505 million Euros. OVAG chief Gerald Wenzel hoped to rake in more money by getting rid of OVAG’s Eastern European (EE) departments before Sberbank prevailed in calling for a discount. Wenzel is expected to leave OVAG later this year.

Erste Bank also experienced immense difficulties in the EE region in the past years. Treichl – who heads Erste Bank since 1997 – said yesterday that the bank’s Hungarian branch would not be back in the black before 2014 due to foreign currency loan controversies and its current restructuring procedures involving layoffs and closures. Erste Bank Hungary’s workforce level will decline by 400 or 450 in the coming years, he said, adding that the affiliate suffered a loss of 566.6 million Euros last year.

Erste Bank’s Austrian branches achieved a profit of 177.6 million Euros in 2011, up from 166.7 million Euros in 2010, while its Romanian subsidiary company struggled. The bank made a loss of 22.5 million Euros in 2011 after a profit of 8.6 million Euros in the previous year. These setbacks, the force to write off government bonds and higher taxes in several countries resulted in an overall loss of 719 million Euros in 2011.

Treichl said Erste Bank would manage to make a profit again this year. He emphasised that the bank had a profit of 254 million Euros in the final quarter of 2011. The bank’s CEO also said he was optimistic about meeting the European Banking Authority’s (EBA) equity ratio directive. The stricter regulations mean that Europe’s 70 biggest banks must ensure a core tier 1 capital ratio of nine per cent by June. Erste Bank’s rate was 8.9 per cent at the moment, according to Treichl who claimed that his bank would have no problem in surpassing the demanded rate.

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Prices and exports on the rise

Posted in Business / Saturday March 3rd, 2012

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Experts predict Austria’s inflation to reach 2.1 per cent this year as the consumer price index (VPI) reached a new low.

The domestic VPI, which especially considers products of daily demand, was three per cent in the first month of this year. This means that Austrians’ drugstore and supermarket shopping expenses rose by three per cent from January 2011 to January 2012. The development was the lowest increase in a year, researchers said.

The VPI was created to establish an indicator which emphasises the costs of the middle class since the inflation index also takes the price of limousines and various repairs which do not have to be paid on a daily basis into account. Especially two-digit price hikes for car petrol and mineral oil fuelled the VPI in January.

The Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) said yesterday (Weds) it expected the Austrian inflation to reach 2.1 per cent in 2012 after prices soared by 3.3 per cent from 2010 to 2011. Especially the struggling European economy will help to calm down the spiralling prices, according to analysts – who warned from unforeseeable developments on the global oil trading markets.

WIFO recently announced that the gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 0.1 per cent from the third to the fourth quarter of 2011. The research group added it saw a growth potential of 0.4 per cent for the domestic economy from 2011 to 2012. An improvement of 1.6 per cent from 2012 to 2013 and of two per cent from 2013 to 2014 is possible, WIFO added.

Austrian and international experts are at odds over whether the various uncertainties in the Eurozone would affect Austrians’ spending power and harm the domestic economy. Meanwhile, Austria’s export industry seems to be in an excellent condition. The Economy Chamber (WKO) announced on Monday that Austrian firms sold goods and services worth 122 billion Euros to foreign partners in 2011. WKO officials said this was an increase of 12 per cent compared to the year before – and an all-time record.

At the same time, the trade deficit widens as imports were 8.2 billion Euros higher than exports – a gap around twice as high than in 2010. Experts identified rising expenses for energy products and services and fuel as a crucial factor for the soaring difference between the value of imports and exports.

Austrian People’s Party (OVP) Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner’s appeal from last May on enterprises to focus on emerging markets like China, India and countries in South America apparently fell on deaf ears as 80 per cent of exports went to other European countries. The WKO now wants to increase the value of services sold to companies and public institutions abroad but also warned of a “weak and tired Europe while Asia catches up”.

Around 40,000 companies with headquarters in Austria do business abroad. German firms are the most important partners of many of them. Europe’s most powerful economy acquired Austrian products worth more than 35 billion Euros in 2011, up by 11 per cent compared to 2010. Austrian businessmen are carefully observing decision-making in Italy. The debt-stricken country is Austria’s second-most important trade partner.

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Car sharing company exempt from paying charges

Posted in Business / Saturday March 3rd, 2012

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The Viennese government coalition has decided to support car sharing initiatives.

The Green Party of Vice Mayor Maria Vassilakou announced yesterday (Weds) that a vehicle sharing project established by car company Denzel would be allowed to use public parking spaces in Josefstadt district for free. Greens traffic issues spokesman Rudiger Maresch said the SPO-Greens coalition and Denzel agreed to keep up the cooperation for three years before charges apply.

Reports have it that the company will have to transfer around as much as cafes and bars hand over for being allowed to place tables and chairs at parking spaces in the summertime. Denzel officials plan to meet with the heads of other districts in an attempt to expand their presence in the capital.

The decision to assist a car sharing business in making people aware of their offers matches the city coalition’s general traffic policy. SPO and Greens said after agreeing on a cooperation in the city hall congress in 2010 they wanted to increase the share of public transport in the city from 35 per cent in 2009 to 40 per cent until 2015.

SPO Mayor Michael Haupl’s faction and its coalition partner also set up several Bike City housing projects. Residents of a planned Bike City in Liesing district will get annual public transport tickets for free as well as the opportunity to join car sharing initiatives under special conditions. People living in another Bike City building complex had to declare not to buy cars before moving in.

SPO and Greens also agreed on setting up more cycling paths and increase public transport investments to lower individual car traffic in Vienna in the long run. The opposition turned their guns on the city government last year when it emerged that the various parking tickets will become more expensive. Leaving a vehicle in Vienna’s nine central districts for one hour costs two instead of 1.20 Euros from today. The price for two hours of parking climbed by 1.60 Euros to four Euros.

The Austrian Traffic Club (VCO) recently said that half of all the distances Austrians covered by car were no longer than five kilometres (km). The organisation’s surveys also show that there are 394 vehicles per 1,000 residents in Vienna. Sixty per cent of Viennese households own a car, VCO said. Their share could dwindle in the coming years due to the enduring petrol price increases. Austrian homes with two cars had to pay around 170 Euros more for the same amount of fuel in 2011 than in 2010 because of the price developments but also rising mineral oil taxes, according to an investigation by motorists’ association Arbo.

The Viennese government hopes that more people would use public transport services in the coming years thanks to the upcoming ticket price reform. Annual passes will cost 365 instead of 449 Euros from May. Monthly tickets, which currently cost 49.50 Euros, will get cheaper as well (45 Euros). At the same time, various tickets such as single tickets and weekly passes will become dearer.

The managers of public transport company Wiener Linien point out that the current price for an annual public transport ticket is significantly lower than what people in German capital Berlin, Paris in France and London, Great Britain, must fork out. They also make aware of Wiener Linien’s achievement in an international service check. Vienna’s public transport network came third in EuroTest 2010, a public transport quality investigation examining services in 23 European cities. Experts considered aspects such as travel times and ticket prices. Munich, Germany, reached first place. Finnish capital Helsinki reached second place.

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Boom in street cafe applications

Posted in Business / Saturday March 3rd, 2012

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From today Vienna’s street cafes can open as tables and chairs are set out on pavements in time for the arrival of the warmer weather this coming weekend.

According to the Vienna Chamber of Commerce there has been a boom in the number of applications for permission to operate outdoor cafes the so called Schanigarten in the city’s streets which can open their doors for the new season from today (1 March).

The Chamber of Commerce attributes this dramatic increase in applications to the smoking regulations in place in the Austrian capital banning people from smoking in many of the city’s eateries.

During the 2011 season there were approximately 1,800 street cafes located on public property and around 600 located on private property in the Austrian capital. This is expected to increase significantly in 2012.

Willy Turecek, responsible for gastronomy at the Vienna Chamber of Commerce said: “We have had a lot of new applications for permission to run street cafes in the city.”

The exact figures are not yet available as the deadline for applications for 2012 has not yet passed. However, Turacek suspects the figure will rise even more and he claims this is due in part to the smoking regulations in the city and the freedom to smoke freely in the street cafes.

Street cafes are permitted to open between the 1 March and 15 November between 8am and 11pm unless in a courtyard and then it is forced to close at 10pm due to noise regulations. With exemptions, some cafes can open for food and drink until midnight.

Street cafes have to have a licence from the city authorities – there are criteria which the cafes have to meet such as fitting in with the architecture of the city and the city’s image. The outdoor cafe should also characterise the indoor cafe.

The costs for the licence vary form district to district – with Vienna’s first district being the most expensive. Costs are expected to rise again this year – especially in the First District.

However, the system is expected to become more flexible. Cafe owners will no longer have to commit to a whole season and they will be able to apply for their licence for a number of months in the season instead of having to pay for the whole season. There will be no minimum period during which they will be required to be open.

The very first pavement cafe to be granted a licence in Vienna was a coffee house owner by the name of Gianni Tarroni. He opened his establishment in 1750 and it was located on Vienna’s exclusive Graben street.

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VAG rescue followed by Kommunalkredit cash concerns

Posted in Business / Saturday March 3rd, 2012

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A finance institute the state rescued from ruin in 2008 is in need of more money, according to the finance minister.

People’s Party (OVP) Finance Minister Maria Fekter admitted yesterday (Tues) that Kommunalkredit – which was nationalised shortly after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers caused a global crisis – must be funded with another 500 million Euros shortly. Kommunalkredit’s condition is suffering under the considerable amount of Greek government bonds and credit default swaps (CDS) it holds.

The Republic of Austria took over Kommunalkredit around one year before Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA) was nationalised. Viennese and Klagenfurt prosecutors are still trying to determine whose fault it was that the bank sustained immense losses after a quick and initially successful expansion in Southeast Europe. Bankers, businessmen but also politicians could face abuse of office and fraud charges over occurrences at HGAA.

Only on Monday evening, Fekter and Finance Secretary Andreas Schieder of the Austrian Social Democrats (SPO) announced that the state would dramatically increase its stake in Volksbank AG (OVAG). Austria will soon hold almost 50 per cent in the ailing financial institute, according to the government officials. OVAG received around one billion Euros from the state in the crisis but suffered a loss of the same amount in 2011 nevertheless. The contract of its CEO, Gerald Wenzel, will not be extended, according to business papers. Wenzel is expected to leave the bank in April.

Schieder said yesterday that the Austrian bank solidarity tax – a fee the government receives from the country’s leading banks since 2010 – will increase by around 25 per cent in the coming years. The state raked in half a billion Euros thanks to the bank tax in 2011, according to the finance ministry. Bankers criticised the decision to jack up the charge as a consequence to the partial nationalisation of OVAG. They branded the step as unjustified, unfair and counterproductive. Some CEOs already warned that lawsuits against the state could not be ruled out as they refused to accept higher taxation because of a rival’s struggles.

SPO Chancellor Werner Faymann defended the decision to rescue OVAG. He said Austria would have been confronted with costs of 13 billion Euros or more had the government allowed the Vienna-based finance institute to go bankrupt. The chancellor also claimed that customers would have been seriously unsettled had OVAG slid further towards ruin. The decision to spend hundreds of millions of Euros on OVAG shares will increase this year’s budget deficit. This development tempted the coalition to increase the bank tax to ensure that its budget consolidation project would not be affected despite the turmoil at OVAG.

Karl Aiginger, the head of the Viennese Institute for Economic Research (WIFO), said today the fact that OVAG needed another one billion Euros indicated that Standard & Poor’s (S&P) was not totally wrong in lowering Austria’s rating. The credit rating agency downgraded the country from the best possible estimation of AAA by one notch to AA+ last month. S&P identified Austrian banks’ intense engagement in Eastern Europe (EE) as an immense risk factor to the state’s budget. Speaking to the Kurier, Aiginger said Austria could be upgraded again “in some years – if it shows convincing determination for reforms”. He added that the budget consolidation package be turned into a reform package.

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Spring has sprung for herb expert Inge Daberer

Posted in Lifestyle / Saturday March 3rd, 2012

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With the spring temperatures finally upon us, Austrian herbs are starting to show their first signs of life. The official herb year begins for expert Inge Daberer and Chef Walter Schmitz in March with the end of the month also seeing the release of their new herb cookbook.

The new herb cookbook contains 100 specialist recipes for the preparation and cooking of herbs and flowers. The food professionals have put together a series of recipes which span the seasons and suggest the best way to use what is on offer every month. From fresh new herbs in spring to the blossoming summer and autumn seasons, the cooks offer their advice, even revealing their secrets as to the best way to ensure a winter supply.

“The Herb Cookbook – The best recipes with herbs and flowers” has been compiled by Inge Daberer and Walter Schmitz and is priced at 19.99 Euros.

As well as the release of her new cookbook, organic hotel owner Inge Daberer is now offering a holiday package at the Bio Hotel Daberer in Carinthia. The 360 Euro package at the wellness spa hotel includes three nights’ stay, a copy of the cookbook, a full body massage with a choice of herbal oil and a bottle of homemade herbal cordial to take home.

For more information visit: http://www.biohotel-daberer.at/de-index.shtml

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