The ÖVP Vienna announced the team on Tuesday for the committee of inquiry into Wien Energie. It is planned to start work on December 2 and, above all, to check the emergency authority of Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ). The democratic bodies were “completely ignored,” said Vienna’s ÖVP boss Karl Mahrer.
“We want to deduce what needs to be done to ensure that Wien Energie is stable again and that there is no bankruptcy and that the supply is secure. And the emergency power is, of course, only there for emergencies and not to cover up a financial scandal,” said Viennese ÖVP club president Markus Wölbitsch-Milan. He will be chair of the faction in the investigative committee. He will be joined by Manfred Juraczka, Caroline Hungerländer and Hannes Taborsky of the Turquoises The Viennese FPÖ club president Maximilian Krauss was also sent as the smallest fraction of the city council can no longer nominate another person.
Company received 1.4 billion euros
The Commission of Inquiry will begin its work on December 2. “(…) We want to clarify why neither the responsible committee nor the city council was informed in advance and in a timely manner. That was a complete disregard for the democratic bodies in Vienna,” said ÖVP boss Karl Mahrer on Tuesday. He referred to the exercise of emergency powers by Vienna mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ). That yielded Wien Energie, a subsidiary of the city, a total of 1.4 billion euros from July. Like other suppliers in Europe, the company had to pay high deposits on the stock exchange for trading electricity and gas and could no longer finance them from its own resources.
The liquidity bottleneck and the emergency loans only came out at the end of August, when the 1.4 billion euros were no longer enough. It was recently said that the company had repaid about three-quarters of the money, but further developments were yet to be seen. The ÖVP criticizes that no approval was subsequently obtained. Both she and the FPÖ (both opposition in Vienna) speak of a “financial scandal of the SPÖ.” That rules in the federal capital with the NEOS, whose role hungry countries want to take a closer look at the Commission of Inquiry.
Mahrer: ‘Risk taken with tax money’
Questions about the city constitution and the city’s property rights take center stage. “Wien Energie took a huge risk of six to ten billion euros with taxpayers’ money – with an annual turnover of about three billion,” said Mahrer. A final result is opened.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
