Hundreds of local businesses are still waiting for their promised COFAG aid payments to be paid out. The problems surrounding payment arrears are already leading to financing bottlenecks in many places and many companies are now even at risk of going bankrupt.
According to Gerald Zmuegg from the Financial Ombudsman team, more than 700 companies are currently affected and a total of around 10,000 jobs are at stake: Laughing away the problem, as politicians always do, is not enough here. “On the contrary, companies need the concrete, promised money immediately,” says Zmuegg.
And he receives support from the vice president of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, Marcus Arige: “It is unreasonable how companies are treated here.” An additional problem in the case of COFAG is that the companies have no legal right in the narrow sense to payment of the money promised to them because COFAG is a company that has been spun off specifically to process Covid support payments and therefore no reminders have been issued for which now a lawsuit can be filed: “COFAG is a design flaw,” Zmuegg analyzes. And Arige adds: “The situation has become unbearable.”
More than a third of the affected companies are in Vienna: “Many of these companies will go bankrupt if the money doesn’t come in,” says Zmuegg, who is certain: “The big end is yet to come.”
You can see many more explosive details about the current discussion situation with the Ministry of Finance and possible refunds of funds already paid out in the video above.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
