The political fuss surrounding the provision of rescue loans for Wien Energie in the summer of 2022 was great. Mayor Michael Ludwig in particular was accused of abuse of power. The Public Prosecution Service for Economic Affairs and Corruption started investigations shortly afterwards, which have now been stopped.
From dubious speculation around energy prices to an investigative committee, critics railed against Ludwig and the SPÖ in particular. At the end of last summer, the mayor made emergency loans available to Wien Energie without informing the municipal council and the coalition partner.
It is unclear who was investigated
Several reports were subsequently received in the case. However, according to the WKStA, the suspicion of breach of trust or negligent harm to the interests of creditors is not substantiated. A spokeswoman said on Thursday that the proceedings were stopped due to a lack of evidence of crime-sensitive acts or because there was no evidence of abuse of power.
It has not been announced exactly who is being investigated. It was said that it involved an association, a known person and unknown perpetrators.
Loans not taken or already repaid
As a result of the price increases, Wien Energie had to deposit high deposits for trading in electricity and gas on the exchange and could no longer collect them itself from the summer of 2022. The city initially provided a total of 1.4 billion euros. The liquidity bottleneck became public at the end of August of the previous year, when these funds also became scarce.
As a result, the federal government has allocated a further €2 billion through the Federal Financing Agency (OeBFA). The Vienna loan has now been repaid, but the federal loan is not needed. The incidents are currently being investigated by a municipal investigation committee. A final report from the committee will be decided in October.
Source: Krone
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