Martin Huber (Manager)

Martin Huber (born February 26, 1960 in Wels ) is an Austrian manager who was General Director of ÖBB-Holding-AG of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) from November 1, 2004 to April 22, 2008 . After his departure, Huber founded 6B47 Real Estate Investors AG with real estate expert Erwin Krause , a real estate developer with a focus on Austria, Germany and Poland.

Life

Martin Huber grew up first in Schwanenstadt and later in Baden . He studied business and social sciences at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and graduated in 1985 with a master's degree.

Professional career in the construction and real estate industry

In 1985 he began his career as an audit assistant at Österreichische Wirtschaftsberatung-GmbH. A year later, Huber moved to the project development department of Immorent AG, where he worked until 1989. He then joined Allgemeine Baugesellschaft A. PORR AG , where he held the following positions until 2004:

• Member of the board of the subsidiary UBM Realitätenentwicklung AG (acquisition, project development, special projects, brokerage and property management, law and insurance)
• Member of the board of PORR Projekt und Hochbau AG (acquisition, project development, investment models, PORR Immoprojekt GmbH, project planning office for industrial, civil engineering and civil engineering AG, Czech Republic, Slovakia, information technology)
• from 2003 member of the board of A. PORR AG (acquisition of building construction, project development for the entire group, project financing, PORR Projekt und Hochbau AG, purchasing)

ÖBB board (November 1, 2004 - April 22, 2008)

In November 2004, at the age of 44, Martin Huber became the new board member at ÖBB Holding, succeeding the German Rüdiger vorm Walde at the top of the railway. During his three and a half year term of office, a large part of the ÖBB reform ( Federal Railway Structure Act of 2003 ) was implemented. As of January 1, 2005, 17 sub-companies were split off. As a result, ÖBB was transformed into four operational joint-stock companies under the umbrella of ÖBB-Holding AG - ÖBB Personenverkehr, ÖBB GV Güterverkehr ("Rail Cargo Austria AG"), ÖBB Infrastructure "Construction", ÖBB Infrastructure "Operations" - and a personnel management company (PMG) divided. On March 14, 2005, an agreement was reached under Huber on re-planning the Semmering rail tunnel. On April 20, the previously independent Eisenbahn-Hochleistungsstrecken AG (HL-AG) and the financing part of the Rail Infrastructure Financing Company (SCHIG) merged with the ÖBB-Infrastruktur Bau AG. In October 2007 the ÖBB ordered 67 trains of the “ Railjet ” brand . In addition, the ÖBB ushered in the second phase of the train station offensive: After the completion of the first ten train stations (phase 1), the Vienna Praterstern train stations were converted and the groundbreaking ceremony for St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof and Vienna Heiligenstadt followed . Further preparations were u. a. the projects Vienna Central Station , Salzburg Central Station , Wien Westbahnhof , Wien Mitte and Wien Hütteldorf .

From the end of 2007, Huber was increasingly criticized in public. Was questioned u. a. his role in the controversial financial transactions of ÖBB , which from spring 2005 invested 612.9 million euros from cross-border leasing transactions in so-called collateral debt obligations , risky financial products, through Deutsche Bank . The high wages paid to Huber, the executives recruited by him and Huber's participation in a real estate business in which a company owned by Huber's wife and a trustee bought a house for more than 200 percent of the original purchase price of 5.4 million euros to a major contractor were also criticized ÖBB sold. In response, Huber announced on April 21, 2008 that he would effectively withdraw “from all functions within the ÖBB Group” on the following day. Peter Klugar, who had been Huber's designated successor from the beginning of April 2008, was then appointed as the new General Director.

Legal disputes

After the public allegations and Huber's resignation from the ÖBB board, the allegations were processed by the judiciary in nine separate strands of investigation. All investigations were stopped by November 2016 and an acquittal was made in one proceeding.

I. Real estate business of ÖBB

The investigation against Martin Huber regarding intent to damage property transactions between 2005 and 2007 was discontinued on March 11, 2014.

II. CDO transactions of the ÖBB

Unsuccessful speculative transactions (collaterized debt obligations) of the railway led to investigations by the judiciary. The then ÖBB board was also confronted with the findings. However, the judiciary could not prove any intent to damage Huber. The judiciary's investigations have shown that Huber had no knowledge of the conclusion of these speculative transactions. The proceedings were then discontinued.

III. ÖBB severance pay and consultancy agreement

In October 2008, Huber filed a lawsuit against his former employer, ÖBB , because the monthly fee for a consultancy contract that had been promised until the end of 2009 in addition to severance pay, bonuses and pension payments had not been transferred to him. At the same time, the six-figure payments due after Huber's resignation became the subject of public and political discussion.

IV. Nordbergstrasse 15

In October 2003, Telekom Austria sold a property on Nordbergstrasse in Vienna to a Porr consortium headed by Martin Huber. Brokerage commissions were paid to Walter Meischberger , who subsequently could not remember his performance ("Wo woar mei performance?"). As a result, the public prosecutor started investigations against Martin Huber. On November 28, 2014, the investigation was closed by the Vienna Public Prosecutor.

V. Terminal Tower

Renting the finance in the Linz Terminal Tower has been a concern of the judiciary and the media for years: bribes are said to have flowed when the decision in favor of the Terminal Tower was made. Ex-Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser and broker Ernst Karl Plech are in the sights of the judiciary . Huber, once a manager at Porr , which built the tower, and was questioned as a witness in these proceedings, was reported to the public prosecutor's office by Horst Pöchhacker and Ernst Karl Plech for false evidence and defamation. On April 16, 2014, the case against Huber was discontinued.

VI. Railjet

In August 2011, the then green politician Peter Pilz reported the ex-passenger transport director Stefan Wehinger to the public prosecutor. The complaint concerned the allegation of infidelity in connection with the payment of 180,000 euros by Stefan Wehinger as a member of the board of ÖBB-Personenverkehr AG for the name “ railjet ” in 2007 to a communications agency. Huber was accused of involvement. On November 3, 2014, the preliminary proceedings against Huber were discontinued because Huber was not involved in these proceedings.

VII. Newspaper advertisements

The assumption of costs by ÖBB-Holding for newspaper advertisements by the BMVIT and the ex-transport minister Werner Faymann in the period 2007-2008 repeatedly caused public criticism from the opposition and the audit office . After Harald Vilimsky , General Secretary of the FPÖ , the public prosecutor's office in Vienna began investigations against Chancellor Werner Faymann and State Secretary Josef Ostermayer , as well as against the board members of ÖBB Holding AG and Asfinag AG . In November 2013, the investigation against Huber was closed.

VIII. Schillerplatz 4 - Case 1

In 2006, Telekom Austria sold a property on Vienna's Schillerplatz for 5.4 million euros to Martin Huber and his wife. Eleven months later, they sold the property on for 10.9 million euros. The Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office started investigations in 2008 on the basis of a presentation of the facts of the matter by the Green MP Gabriela Moser , but closed them in April 2009. The charge: breach of trust to the detriment of Telekom Austria. After Moser reported again in September 2011, the proceedings were resumed. In August 2013, the Vienna public prosecutor brought charges against Huber and six other suspects for real estate deals in the context of the telecommunications affair . In April 2014 there were four acquittals, including for Martin Huber and his wife.

IX. Schillerplatz 4 - case 2

In the course of the investigation, Huber was also accused of not having properly informed the ÖBB supervisory board about the Schillerplatz business. The proceedings were discontinued on November 2, 2016 after more than two and a half years.

Professional activity since 2009

In 2009 Martin Huber founded the real estate investment group "6B47 Real Estate Investors AG" with Erwin Krause. The two hold the majority in the company. The real estate developer 6B47 has offices in Vienna , Düsseldorf and Warsaw . A development volume of over 1.3 billion euros had been implemented by 2016.

Private

Martin Huber has been married to Barbara Huber-Lipp, a qualified trainer in business and youth development, since 1997, and has two sons.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Curriculum vitae: Martin Huber, ÖBB boss. October 18, 2007, accessed December 6, 2016 . 
2. ↑ (paul): ÖVP man Huber is the new ÖBB board spokesman. boerse-express.com, September 23, 2004, accessed July 12, 2016 . 
3. ↑ https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/BgblPdf/2003_138_1/2003_138_1.pdf 138th Federal Law, with which the Federal Railway Act 1992, the Rail Infrastructure Financing Act, the High Performance Lines Act, the Federal Act to establish a ÑBrenner Eisenbahn GmbH, the Federal Care Allowance Act, the Prisoner of War Compensation Act, the Labor Constitution Act and the Salaried Employees Act are amended and the Railway Works Constitution Act is repealed (Federal Railway Structure Act 2003)] (PDF; 226 KB)
4. ↑ Editor: New structure with umbrella holding and four joint stock companies. derstandard.at, November 15, 2003, accessed on July 11, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Editor: ÖBB boss Huber: Two variants are still being examined. derstandard.at, March 15, 2005, accessed on November 25, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Editor: Countdown for the new ÖBB Railjet. oe24.at, October 4, 2007, accessed on December 2, 2016 . 
7. ↑ (OTS): ÖBB Group presents record balance sheet. ots.at, May 15, 2007, accessed on November 29, 2016 . 
8. ↑ Editor: ÖBB General Director announces his resignation. krone.at, April 21, 2008, accessed on November 25, 2016 . 
9. ↑ Miriam Koch: ÖBB board could be halved. diepresse.com, April 3, 2008, accessed November 30, 2016 . 
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Kid Möchel: Ex-ÖBB boss Martin Huber: 9: 0 against the public prosecutor. kurier.at, November 8, 2016, accessed December 5, 2016 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b c} Andrea Hodoschek: Ex-ÖBB boss Huber can take a deep breath. kurier.at, March 14, 2014, accessed December 7, 2016 . 
12. ↑ Editor: ÖBB are considering lawsuit against Deutsche Bank. derstandard.at, April 17, 2008, accessed on November 20, 2016 . 
13. ^ Luise Ungerboeck: Dispute with ex-Holding boss Huber. derstandard.at, October 20, 2008, accessed December 5, 2016 . 
14. ↑ Consultancy contract with ex-ÖBB board member Mag. Martin Huber. parlament.gv.at, accessed on December 4, 2016 . 
15. ↑ Editor APA: Sundt and Huber in sight because of real estate deal. derstandard.at, November 8, 2011, accessed on November 27, 2016 . 
16. ↑ (az): Grasser: 700,000 euros bribe for the construction of the Linz Terminal Tower? nachricht.at, November 14, 2011, accessed on December 2, 2016 . 
17. ↑ Editor APA: Defamation investigation against ex-Porr board member Huber stopped. diepresse.com, April 25, 2014, accessed November 27, 2016 . 
18. ^ Editor APA: ÖBB bought Hochegger self-created brand. derstandard.at, August 30, 2011, accessed on November 29, 2016 . 
19. ↑ Editor: “Railjet” fee: Proceedings against Huber discontinued. orf.at, November 5, 2014, accessed December 4, 2016 . 
20. ↑ Editor: benefit "hardly recognizable". orf.at, August 23, 2012, accessed December 6, 2016 . 
21. ^ Dossier editorial staff: The investigation process. dossier.at, September 11, 2014, accessed on December 14, 2016 . 
22. ↑ Editor APA: Telekom: Schillerplatz report encumbrances Huber and Co. diepresse.com, January 17, 2014, accessed on December 1, 2016 . 
23. ↑ Editor APA: Green brings in a new complaint against Huber. derstandard.at, November 22, 2011, accessed on December 14, 2016 . 
24. ↑ Editor: Indictment in the Schillerplatz case is final. orf.at, August 20, 2013, accessed December 14, 2016 . 
25. ↑ (ag / red): Telekom-Schillerplatz-Trial: Four acquittals. krone.at, April 11, 2014, accessed on November 28, 2016 . 
26. ^ Editor APA: Schillerplatz case: Chief Public Prosecutor orders new investigations. diepresse.com, May 28, 2015, accessed November 27, 2016 . 
27. ↑ Information on 6B47. 6b47.com, accessed December 6, 2016 . 
28. ↑ Information on Barbara Huber-Lipp. (No longer available online.) Equ4u.com, archived from the original on December 7, 2016 ; Retrieved December 5, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.