With a loan of over two billion euros, the Austrian federal government is helping the energy supplier Wien Energie out of a threatening financial bind. In an emergency, the funds can be accessed within two hours. The security of supply for two million people was in danger, said Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) on Wednesday in Vienna. The loan is subject to conditions and runs until April 2023. “Two billion in 72 hours is a unique process in the Republic.” In return, the Austrian authorities are to examine the transactions that led to Wien Energie’s liquidity crisis.
The company’s plight only became known over the weekend. Wien Energie, a subsidiary of the city, had asked the federal government for help because of the turbulence on the electricity and gas markets and provided a credit line of up to six billion euros. Wien Energie is the largest regional energy supplier in Austria. It supplies a total of two million private households and 230,000 companies in the greater Vienna area.
The federal government asked the city for clarification as to how the situation could have arisen. In addition, a representative of the federal government will be sent to the company’s supervisory board by April 2023, it said. According to the head of the Finanzprokuratur, Wolfgang Peschorn, the previous attempts at explanation are not sufficient. It’s about the “quick clarification of where these liquidity problems came from, which for anyone who follows the logical laws of thought can not only be explained at first with market problems alone,” said Peschorn. Representatives of the federal government identified possible deficiencies in the company’s risk management. There is no comparable situation with other energy suppliers in Austria, said Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens). A corresponding protective shield for the industry, as it already exists in Germany, has not been considered necessary by the companies so far, it said.
Vienna’s Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) attributed the problems to the turbulence on the energy exchanges on Tuesday. Extraordinary deposit payments for energy transactions had become necessary there. However, it is not only the payments that are causing discussions, but also the question of transparency. According to their own statements, the city leaders had already made a total of 1.4 billion euros available to Wien Energie in the past few weeks without informing other bodies or the public. Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) asked Wien Energie to disclose which transactions led to the increased deposit requirements. Vienna City Councilor for Finance Peter Hanke countered: “This is not about speculation. This is about a completely crazy market.”