The bomb exploded on Sunday evening: the municipal electricity and gas supplier Wien Energie is in financial difficulties. In order to continue to buy energy on the stock exchanges and to deposit collateral for it, the company needs money that it does not have. Due to the precarious situation, the opposition is sharply attacking the red-pink city council of Vienna. The FPÖ speaks of a “total failure”. You’ve managed to “drive an energy supplier against the wall in times of skyrocketing electricity prices,” etchings the ÖVP.
Due to the financial emergency, the energy crisis summit was convened at short notice on Sunday evening and the government discussed ways to get out of the misery with experts. In concrete terms, it concerns approximately 1.77 billion euros that Wien Energie is missing. The federal government must now intervene with guarantees.
“Very skinny”
In addition to the managers of Wien Energie, alderman Peter Hanke (SPÖ) was also invited, but he canceled at short notice. Manfred Juraczka, financial spokesman for the ÖVP Vienna, criticized this sharply. “Imagine that the energy supplier is in a very slippery position, but neither the mayor nor the alderman attends the crisis summit,” he wrote on Twitter.
He also mocked the fact that he learned about the plight of Wien Energie through the newspaper, even though he is a member of the city’s finance committee. That speaks for “the incredible transparency of this city government,” he tweeted sarcastically. The Vienna People’s Party speaks of a possible “financial scandal” at Wien Energie and has scheduled a press conference on Monday at 10:00 am about the situation of the company.
Subsidies by the municipality?
Viennese FPÖ boss Dominik Nepp also criticized the SPÖ and ÖVP city councils. Nepp was particularly angry on Sunday evening in a broadcast that the city of Vienna would have helped the energy company with a guarantee of one billion dollars in recent weeks. “If it is indeed true that the city of Vienna has already given money to the city company in the past without informing the city council, then that has far-reaching consequences,” wrote the politician. Such a “total failure” would require Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) to resign and hold new elections.
The Viennese Greens have so far been reluctant to criticize the city government. Party leader Peter Kraus will hold a press conference on the subject today, Monday at 10:30 am.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
