The gaming group Novomatic is said to have planned in 2017 to offer all parties represented in Parliament an equal donation. There is also said to have been a draft of a letter that was never sent.
In any case, this is what the former FP politicians Hans-Jrg Jenewein and Markus Tschank, who headed the FP-affiliated Institute for Security Policy (ISP), with which Novomatic cooperated, talked about in May 2020. The conversation was secretly recorded by Jenewein, investigators have since transcribed it, reports the “Standard”.
If you believe the people we spoke to at the time, Novomatic sought to be close to all parties. According to Tschank, in the run-up to the 2017 National Council elections, the gaming group “wrote a letter to all parties (…) and offered a party donation”. This should be the same for everyone “between 300,000 and up to 500,000 euros per party”. When asked by Jenewein, Tschank explained that Novomatic had never sent the letter.
“What Strache said in the video”
However, a draft was secured during a house search. “So that means what Strache said in the video: Novomatic pays everyone – that’s right, yes?” Tschank asked himself out loud. A party donation from Novomatic in 2017 or later was of course not found by the WKStA.
This is exactly what a chat conversation that plays a role in investigations by the WKStA was about: In June 2017, a then Novomatic press spokesman for Group CEO Harald Neumann pointed out that KTM owner Stefan Pierer wanted to double all small donations to the VP. “We have something better planned :))”, Neumann replied. What he meant by that has not yet been clarified by the U-committees.
With this sentence he is said to have indicated the planned Giekannen party donation, it is said from Neumann’s environment. Why didn’t Novomatic and her ex-boss clarify this after the Ibiza video appeared? In legal circles it is said that something like this is saved for any court proceedings. When asked by “Standard”, Novomatic did not want to comment on the taped conversation between Tschank and Jenewein.
Novomatic: “No donation”
The group only reiterates that “there was no donation of any kind – neither direct nor indirect – to political parties”. However, there has already been cooperation with party-affiliated institutes, for example with the FP-affiliated Institute for Security Policy. The WKStA suspects that Novomatic, which transferred 200,000 euros to the ISP, wanted to buy laws. Novomatic denies that. The presumption of innocence applies.