The Mayor of Vienna Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) was heard on Friday as a witness in the municipal council’s commission of inquiry into Wien Energie. He assured that there was “no alternative” to the lending. This also applies to the procedure using emergency competence, he asserted. This was required by the urgency. The U-Commission has been dealing with the incidents from last summer since December.
At that time, the energy supplier had to deposit high security deposits for trading in electricity and gas on the stock exchange as a result of the price jumps and was no longer able to raise this on its own. Ludwig has therefore made a total of 1.4 billion euros available from July onwards. The liquidity bottleneck and the mayor’s emergency loans became public at the end of August when it was feared that this amount could become scarce. As a result, the federal government granted a further EUR 2 billion credit line via the Federal Financing Agency (OeBFA). The loans were ultimately repaid or not needed.
Ludwig’s appearance had been eagerly awaited. Media interest was correspondingly high. After an initial request from Ludwig – the mayor asked to be allowed to take off his jacket given the temperatures in the room – the mayor assured that he wanted to provide “fully comprehensive” information. Subsequently, the first issue was the role he plays in connection with the share management of the public utility company. The prominent witness explained that the management of the holdings is the responsibility of the responsible city councilor Peter Hanke (SPÖ). He, Ludwig, also does not express any personnel requests in connection with appointments to supervisory boards.
He was informed by media reports about the tense situation on the energy markets after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. He then held more specific talks about possible liquidity problems at Wien Energie on July 8 and 12 with City Council Director Dietmar Griebler and City Councilor Hanke. The conversation with Griebler took place on the sidelines of an event. It was a “general notice”.
Hanke then explained that there was a possibility that the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would no longer deliver gas, the mayor reported. However, the amount of any support or its urgency has not yet been discussed. That came a little later: on July 15, Ludwig was asked to sign the relevant document on the credit line. His personal presence in the office was necessary, the mayor described the situation. It was explained to him that day that extreme price developments were to be feared.
“It was therefore necessary to use emergency competence to make a decision on granting the loan in the shortest possible time,” asserted the city manager. One could not wait for the convening of an extraordinary meeting of the city senate, said Ludwig. The mayor was specifically informed about the business deal by his presidential boss. “I asked him whether the plausibility is given and whether the process was carried out properly.” After this was affirmed, he read the file – and signed it. After all, political decisions have to be made when they are due.
“There was a very small loss of time in my office,” Ludwig noted. The business was discussed and set in motion within half an hour. According to Ludwig, the file was previously checked by five bodies, namely the responsible municipal departments for finance and accounting and taxation and the finance business group, the municipal administration and the municipal director. The fact that a significantly higher amount was originally up for discussion shows how thoroughly the individual departments have examined the matter, said Ludwig.
“For me, everything was presented comprehensively, transparently and coherently,” said Ludwig. According to the witness, the 700 million euros – i.e. the amount of the first tranche – were also evident from the business document. The mayor emphasized that it was important to ensure a secure energy supply. At the national level, he complained, there is still no protective shield. Other countries such as Germany with 100 billion euros, Switzerland with 10 billion francs or Scandinavian countries had already set up national protective shields months ago.
The chairman of the commission, Martin Pühringer, wanted to know whether he was surprised when the file was presented to him. The mayor assured: “Having been politically active for so long, there are not many things that can surprise me.”
After the turbulence on the energy markets on “Black Friday”, August 26th, the second emergency competence act came on the following Monday with a further tranche of EUR 700 million. He was informed that there had been a meeting with members of the federal government the day before. However, he was surprised that the financial needs of Wien Energie were the topic the next day.
When asked about a change in strategy at Wien Energie, Ludwig answered in the affirmative: However, this was not due to the need for liquidity, but to the war in Ukraine and the switch to clean energy.
The mayor today also commented on those motions that involved the release of details on cell phone communication. Ludwig pointed out that such data would only be stored for three months by mobile phone operators. The period relating to the subject of the investigation would thus no longer be covered. There were also no meetings and appointments on the subject, Ludwig explained why he saw no need to submit calendar entries.
Representatives of the opposition criticized today’s performance. “In addition to numerous gaps in memory that mayor Ludwig opened up today, it becomes clear how much ignorance he had at the time when he signed the emergency competence. According to his own statements, he relied on the magistrates,” noted FP club boss Maximilian Krauss in a broadcast. ÖVP club chairman Markus Wölbitsch assessed the statements similarly: “It was noticeable that the mayor showed large memory gaps. He absolutely denied nothing in the entire survey,” Wölbitsch continued. The mayor’s reference that the constant exchange of information with City Councilor Hanke was only on a general basis was “completely unrealistic”.
The head of the SPÖ parliamentary group in the committee, Thomas Reindl, assessed the performance much more positively: “Mayor Michael Ludwig clearly outlined the responsibility of the city of Vienna and explained the important and rapid action.”
In the afternoon, the Greens were amazed that Ludwig had no idea about important points. According to a statement, he did not know whether Wien Energie needed EUR 700 million or EUR 2 billion. The mayor acted according to the motto “My name is Hase, I don’t know anything”, said club boss David Ellensohn. Ludwig apparently preferred to leave the work to others.
After the questioning, Ludwig himself emphasized at a short media meeting that he would proceed the same way as last summer. “I stand by it, I still think it’s the right step today.” However, he would structure communication with the federal government differently. He found that too little pressure had been exerted on them when it came to national protective shields.
