Nationalization in Austria
The nationalization in Austria is characterized by ups and downs of the state economic sector. Especially at the beginning of the Second Republic , numerous key companies came into the possession of the Republic of Austria . In the period around the turn of the millennium, there was extensive privatization tendency, but in the wake of the global financial crisis from 2007, renewed, involuntary nationalization .
history
Danube Monarchy
Already in the Danube Monarchy there was nationalization on a larger scale, for example in the area of the post office and the railways ( kk Österreichische Staatsbahnen ). Larger tasks, such as the construction of the Semmering Railway , exceeded the strength of private railway operators. Financially unsuccessful railway companies had to be transferred to state ownership for macroeconomic and strategic reasons , especially in the wake of the economic crisis of 1873.
First republic
After the First World War , the socialists in particular tried to convert companies into public ownership. The social democrat Otto Bauer was in charge . However, nationalization was not so much aimed at as socialization with the participation of employees and consumers. However, the legal form of a public economic establishment was essentially limited to remnants of the war industry such as the Vienna arsenal . Since the Christian Social Party took over the leadership of the government in 1920 and the Social Democrats remained in opposition until 1934, these efforts fizzled out. An unplanned emergency nationalization by the conservative governments occurred in the wake of the Creditanstalt crisis in 1931. The rescue of the insolvent large bank through state intervention also resulted in an indirect nationalization of large parts of Austrian industry via the CA industrial group.
Occupation and Second Republic
These efforts were only resumed after the Second World War, this time the SPÖ and the ÖVP were in agreement. The focus was on pragmatic considerations, such as the impossibility of continuing the expansion of the basic industries (especially in Upper Austria) on a private basis in the post-war situation characterized by the lack of private capital. The main aim was to nationalize companies that were initially under German ownership . No compensation had to be paid either. However, compensation was paid for the privately nationalized companies. The suggestion to try to protect them from Soviet access came from the Americans.
Nationalization was relatively easy in the zones of occupation of the western allies, and the companies concerned soon benefited from funds from the Marshall Plan . The situation was different in the Soviet occupation zone , because here the companies were largely placed under the administration of the USIA and operated with the aim of obtaining the highest possible reparations .
The nationalization made it possible to let large parts of the former German property fall into Austrian hands and not into the hands of the occupying powers. The Soviet Union, against which this legal measure was primarily directed, did not recognize it in its area of occupation.
The nationalization took place in several stages and was enshrined in two nationalization laws. The first nationalization law was passed on July 26, 1946. It mainly affected the banking sector but also the iron and steel industry. The Creditanstalt-Bankverein , the Länderbank and the Austrian Credit Institute were nationalized. The chemical and oil industries as well as the shipyards were nationalized in the implementation of this law.
The second nationalization law was passed on March 26, 1947. In the course of this, a large part of the electricity industry became the property of the Second Republic.
Only the ownership structure was changed, the corporate forms remained the same. For the area of the Soviet-occupied zone, the nationalizations only came into effect after the State Treaty of 1955. In 1959, the nationalized industrial companies were brought together in Section IV of the Federal Chancellery. Vice Chancellor Bruno Pittermann tried to make them popular as the “Austrian national industry”. A separate ministry was created for nationalized industry in 1949, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Nationalized Enterprises .
Since these were key companies, the nationalized companies were an essential part of the Austrian economy . Especially until the early 1970s, they also contributed to the state budget through their profits. In 1970, with around 125,000 workers, around 20% of the industrial workers were in the nationalized, which achieved around 25% of Austria's export earnings.
In 1973 there was the first major merger in the steel sector, the Styrian steel companies of the Austrian Alpine Mining Company were merged with VÖEST AG to form VÖEST-Alpine AG . From the economic downturn in 1974-75, Bruno Kreisky's Austrokeynesianism tried to use the nationalized sector as an instrument of employment policy and achieved short-term successes, but also caused lasting problems. Increasing losses occurred in the 1980s. At the beginning of 1985, on the occasion of the first nationalized audit report, media reports described the nationalized industry as a “bottomless pit”. In addition, in the same year there was the announcement of huge investment losses in connection with the Bayou steelworks in the US state of Louisiana and in November the Intertrading scandal , the announcement of huge speculative losses of a subsidiary of Voest-Alpine in the international oil business. This led to the dismissal of the entire board of directors of the parent company by the responsible minister Ferdinand Lacina . In 1987 the nationalized industry again received state money in the amount of 33.6 billion Schilling (ÖIAG Financing Act 19/87). As a result, however, numerous companies were gradually privatized by ÖIAG .
In addition to the enormous losses, the party-politically motivated influence on the management of the nationalized industry also provoked criticism. Many posts were filled unilaterally or proportionally depending on the composition of the government . In addition, the role of powerful works councils (“company empire”) was critically questioned.
Administration and privatization
In 1967 the Österreichische Industrieverwaltungs-GmbH was founded to exercise the republic's share rights in nationalized companies in trust. In 1970 it was converted into Österreichische Industrieverwaltungs-AG (ÖIAG), and at the same time the shares were transferred to it. Since 1986 it has had its current name, Österreichische Industrieholding AG. By 1993, ÖIAG formed a group with the companies it owned, Austrian Industries AG . This group relationship was then dissolved and the holding company was commissioned to privatize the companies it owned.
In 2000, the German Schüssel I government decided to push privatization. The ÖIAG Act 2000 was passed. By order of the federal government, seven companies were to be privatized with priority and the best possible proceeds achieved when selling, while at the same time taking into account the interests of the companies and safeguarding Austrian interests.
2007/2008 financial crisis
In the course of the financial crisis from 2007 onwards , the Federal Government Gusenbauer presented a package of measures in which 15 billion euros were earmarked for the partial nationalization of banks. A banking subsidiary of ÖIAG ( FIMBAG ) was founded for this process . On October 26, 2008 negotiations with Kommunalkredit Austria took place. The bank takes advantage of the rescue package, in return the state takes over 99.78% of the company. In the case of Hypo Group Alpe Adria , there was also emergency nationalization in 2009.
Individual evidence
- ^ Paul Lendvai : 50 Years of Austria, p. 79.
- ^ Paul Lendvai : Mein Österreich , p. 79, ISBN 978-3-902404-46-6
- ↑ Die Wirtschaft, No. 6/1985
Literature (selection)
- Edmond Langer: The nationalizations in Austria , Verlag der Wiener Volksbuchhandlung, Vienna 1966
- Wilhelm Weber / Stephan Koren: Nationalization in Austria , Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964
- Various articles (B. and H. Kepplinger, F. Lacina, E. März etc), in: WISO - Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitische Zeitschrift No. 2/86 - Expansion instead of Shrinkage, Linz 1986