The Commission of Inquiry into “ÖVP corruption” continues after a summer break. Tuesday’s topic is political responsibility for dependence on Russian gas. The roles of ex-chancellor Sebastian Kurz, real estate investor René Benko and entrepreneur Sigi Wolf are also discussed.
The offshoots of the energy crisis land in the Hofburg this week. ÖVP Corruption Committee. Today’s Tuesday is about dependence on Russian gas. Who is politically responsible for this? Ex-OMV boss Gerhard Roiss was invited for this on Tuesday. In his time from 2011 – 2015 he tried to take other paths. Energy from Norway, for example.
Cuddle course with the Russians
He wanted to free the partially state-owned company from Putin’s grasp. His successor Rainer Seele, however, relied on cuddling with the Russians. A lavish party on the occasion of the “Golden Wedding” between Gazprom and OMV in June 2018 in the Hofburg on the occasion of 50 years of close cooperation serves as proof.
Vladimir Putin was also in Vienna at the time. He was courted by all political and economic circles. And later there was a meeting with the energetic despot Putin in St. Petersburg. On October 3, 2018.
Explosive documents at the public prosecutor’s office
Sebastian Kurz is there and hopes that international sanctions will be lifted, he says. Also on board, according to WKStA documents: then-OMV boss Rainer Seele, Russian and turquoise investor Sigi Wolf and broker René Benko, who has long been one of the main clients of Russia’s European subsidiary Sberbank.
Duck hunting and meeting the “big boss”
Wolf and Benko are friends, they also share a passion for hunting. Chats are used to communicate about duck hunting – who got how many kills. In all, according to conversations between Wolf and an OMV man, “280 ducks, 80 chickens” in one day. But more important is a trip with “Seb” (Sebastian Kurz) to the “big boss”, namely Putin.
The Russian president said after the meeting that gas is “the key to our cooperation”.
By the way: Rainer Seele, who could have answered one or the other interesting question in the inquiry committee, was also invited on Tuesday. He won’t come.
Source: Krone
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