While the former SPÖ Chancellor Christian Kern finally officially resigned his mandate in the Russian state railway on February 24 after some back and forth, ex-ÖVP Chancellor Bowl is still holding on to his supervisory board position in the Russian oil company Lukoil.
Lukoil is not a state-owned company, but is listed on the London Stock Exchange, his spokeswoman Heidi Glück explained this step last week at the request of the ZIB. National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP) also agreed with this point of view at the weekend.
Tyrol’s Governor Günther Platter (ÖVP) did not want to get involved in the debate. At a press conference on Tuesday, at which Tyrol’s solidarity with the Ukraine was announced, he said when asked that this topic “must be discussed with the federal government in Vienna”. Platter was once Minister of Defense in the Federal Government of Bowl II.
Busek’s complaint
Erhard Busek, on the other hand, sharply condemned the behavior of his successor as head of the ÖVP and, according to a broadcast in an oe24.TV interview, called on Schüssel on Tuesday to finally withdraw from the Lukoil Group. “I can only ask him to be more consistent if he doesn’t want to completely damage his image,” he said, noting: “What he’s doing now isn’t worthy of him.”
It is not understandable for Busek Schüssel’s “argument” that Lukoil is “a private company”. In a war, “a company that deals in energy is never a private company. And Wolfgang Bowl is very intelligent. That he thinks we’re so stupid to believe that is a bitter thing.”
SPÖ and NEOS increase pressure
On Tuesday, the SPÖ again called on Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) to “speak plainly” in order to “convince him to give up his position on the supervisory board”, as Federal Managing Director Christian Deutsch explained. It is about “Austria’s reputation”.
Because of his attitude towards Lukoil, NEOS described the President of the Austrian Society for Foreign Policy and the United Nations (ÖGAVN) as “unacceptable”. In view of the war of aggression in Ukraine and the EU sanctions supported by Austria, it is contradictory, said NEOS foreign policy spokesman Helmut Brandstätter in a statement to the APA.
Russia connections across the parties
Bowl is not the only ex-politician who has been hired by Russian companies: after his time as a politician, former SPÖ Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer was also involved in a think tank close to the Kremlin. The Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute was founded by the former president of the Russian railways and close confidant of Putin, Vladimir Yakunin. However, last week Gusenbauer emphasized to ZIB2 that he no longer worked there.
Shortly after his tenure as Minister, the former ÖVP Finance Minister Hans Jörg Schelling again advised the Russian gas company Gazprom for a few months on the Baltic Sea pipeline project “Nord Stream 2”, in which OMV is also involved. “Since then there has been no engagement in Russia, in any form whatsoever,” the ex-minister emphasized to the “Standard” last week.
For a while, the FPÖ also had excellent connections to Moscow: in 2016, the party under Heinz-Christian Strache signed an “Agreement on Collaboration and Cooperation” with the Putin party United Russia in Moscow. However, the contract expired in December of the previous year and was not renewed. FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl described the agreement in the ORF interview as “dead paper”.
Joking with Putin
But other local politicians and business representatives also had good contact with Putin. Just a few months after Russia formally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, Putin was received in Austria – and even teased during a public appearance.
When Christoph Leitl, President of the Chamber of Commerce at the time, welcomed him in his speech and mentioned that he was receiving him in this position for the third time, Putin remarked in German: “Dictatorship. But good dictatorship!” The hall laughed. Also sitting next to him was former Federal President Heinz Fischer – the first head of state that Putin officially visited after the annexation.
Austrians often against sanctions
The reason for Putin’s good mood could have been Austria’s position on sanctions: the EU imposed these after Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014, and some Austrian politicians have repeatedly called for their end.
On February 14, 2022, shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine, Leitl spoke out against sanctions against Russia. “In terms of European solidarity, we have no choice but not to swerve,” he said in an ORF interview.
However, he was “not at all convinced” of the sanctions, because they had never had any effect, said Leitl, today co-chair of the Sochi Dialogue, an Austrian-Russian civil society forum to strengthen bilateral relations. The joint statement on the Sochi Dialogue was signed in Moscow in 2019 by then Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Kneissl-Knicks went through the media
It was also ex-Federal President Heinz Fischer who defended Kneissl’s wedding invitation to Putin four years after the Chamber of Commerce reception. “I will not blame a foreign minister of the year 2018 if she strives for good relations with Russia,” said Fischer in an interview with the daily newspaper “Die Presse”.
The dance between Putin and Kneissl, which ended with a curtsy from the Foreign Minister nominated by the FPÖ, went through the international media at the time and was seen by observers as proof of the closeness to Russia of the turquoise-blue federal government. Today, Kneissl sits on the board of directors of the Russian oil company Rosneft and is a welcome guest on Russian state television. So far, she has not wanted to comment on the Austrian media.
Schröder’s employees draw consequences
The former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) is also still involved as chairman of the supervisory board at Rosneft and in the pipeline projects “Nord Stream” and “Nord Stream 2”. Last Thursday he called on the government in Moscow on the online network LinkedIn to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible. But there was no talk of personal consequences.
Now his employees are apparently taking the consequences: After more than 20 years, his longtime office manager and speechwriter Albrecht Funk Schröder is turning his back, reported the news portal “The Pioneer” and the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung”. Three other employees also gave up their jobs.
With the departure of the four employees, the former chancellor’s office would be deserted. Initially, no statement could be obtained from Schröder and his office.
Steyr owner Wolf retires from Sberbank
Until recently, there were also prominent connections to Russia in Austria’s economy. According to the company register, Steyr Automotive owner and investor Siegfried Wolf had been chairman of the supervisory board of Sberbank’s European subsidiary since 2012.
On Monday it was announced that Wolf wanted to resign when his term of office expired on March 22nd as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sberbank Europe AG, which had its seat in Vienna. He informed the European Central Bank (ECB) weeks ago about his intention to resign his supervisory board mandate, said Wolf spokesman Josef Kalina when asked by APA.
Russia big investor in Austria
Around 650 Austrian companies are active in Russia with investments of around 4.6 billion euros, while around 500 Russian companies are active in Austria with around 21.4 billion euros.
After Germany, Russia is the largest investor in this country. Austrian companies invest particularly heavily in Russia in the areas of wood and paper processing, banking and construction as well as the food processing industry, but also in the areas of energy, packaging and cars.