In the explosive debate about Wien Energie’s enormous financing needs, the decision to inject money in the short term has been postponed until Tuesday morning. Contrary to the first very urgent appeal of the Vienna alderman for finance Peter Hanke, a short term two billion euros should not be necessary. Hanke still advocates a protective shield.
In an interview with the ORF “ZiB 2” Hanke put his urgent request into perspective. After all, the subsidies needed for the deposit do not have to be claimed in full – they are only needed if further price increases hit the market. However, the supply is in no way at risk, according to the alderman for Finance.
The market is currently “crazy,” said Hanke, who called for not only solidarity between federal and state governments, but also a “security umbrella” for the economy as a whole. In the short term, however, there is no gap of two billion euros, but apparently even a positive balance of “400 to 700 million euros”, according to Hanke.
Hanke: “We need space”
Should the billions really flow, liquidity could be assured: “We need leeway” to secure these margin payments – Germany, France, Spain and Italy, for example, have been doing this for a long time, he sees Austria as defaulting here.
He rejected the accusation that the company got into financial trouble simply through speculation. The enormous price developments in recent months are simply to blame for this: “We have never seen that,” says Hanke.
Conversations continue
According to information from the Treasury Department to the APA on Monday evening, negotiations will continue on Tuesday morning: “Given the amounts in the room, negotiations are also needed at the political level,” Treasury Secretary Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) said in his office.
Source: Krone

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