Austrian McDonald’s New McRibster Jazzes Up

the Traditional McRib.

From the elusive Shamrock shake, Fish McBites for Lent, or France’s McBaguette, McDonald’s always seems to be one step ahead of our foodie needs.

For a limited time, McDonald’s locations in Austria are featuring the McRibster, a breaded, fried McRib that’s topped with pepper-jack cheese and bacon.  With two sauces – a sweet chili and a honey mustard – the sandwich is garnished with lettuce and red onion.

Only available until March 27, the 640-calorie sandwich is part of a menu that includes a new Crispy Chicken Caesar burger and the former 1955 burger topped with caramelized onions, bacon, lettuce, barbecue sauce and tomato.

The traditional 500-calorie McDonald’s McRib is a rib sandwich topped with barbecue sauce, pickles and onions.  McDonald’s released this sandwich for a limited time in November and enthusiastic fans updated its Facebook page.

The McRibster now has its own Facebook page for loyal fans, as well as those hoping the sandwich will make an appearance in their country.

Austrian foreign minister for EU ‘growth fund’

Austrians own more than 4.5 million cars, it was announced yesterday (Mon).

Statistic agency Statistik Austria said the number of registered vehicles surpassed 4.5 million for the first time in history. Around 4.51 million cars are registered for usage in the alpine country at the moment, according to the agency which recorded a 1.6 per cent increase of car ownership from 2011 to 2012.

Statistik Austria said that almost a third of all cars Austrians currently own are more than 10 years old. Austrian car dealers look back on a record year of sales. More than 356,000 cars were bought in the country in 2011, up by 8.4 per cent compared to 2010 which was the previous record year for vehicle sales. Volkswagen (VW) has been Austrians’ favourite brand for years. The German company, which has its headquarters in Wolfsburg, sold 65,000 cars in Austria in 2011. The booming car maker’s rival finished in second place in Austria in 2011 thanks to 26,000 sales.

The Austrian Traffic Club (VCÖ) found that there are the most cars per residents in Burgenland. VCÖ studies show that there are 616 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants in the small province located in the east of the country. Lower Austrians own many cars as well (610). Tyrol (505) and Vienna find themselves on the other side of the ranking. Households owning cars are least common in the capital city where 394 cars per 1,000 residents are registered.

The Viennese government coalition said last week it decided to actively support a company’s car sharing project to help raise the public’s attention on such offers. Several firms are engaged in car sharing initiatives in Vienna at the moment. Demand for such services is reportedly on the rise but still low in international comparison. Now the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and their coalition partner, the Viennese Green Party, said Denzel’s car sharing affiliate was now allowed to use public parking spaces in Josefstadt district for free. Charges will apply again in three years, according to Rüdiger Maresch of the Green Party which cooperates with the SPÖ in city hall since 2010.

The VCÖ appealed to the Viennese government to support the current renaissance of walking as well. The organisation claimed that the number of people opting to walk instead of using cars was on the rise. VCÖ experts suggested to broaden sidewalks, increase the number of benches and traffic-free zones in a possible master plan for more walking in urban areas.

Cycling and the demand in public transport services are on the rise as well, according to the VCÖ. The association, which promotes eco-friendly traffic decision-making, said Vienna and other industrialised areas should consider setting up road tolls for city centres to support the trend and do something against their worrying fine dust and carbon emission statistics.

Wiener Linien presented an own initiative against more toxic emissions at the weekend. The Viennese public transport company said it was optimistic about improving its carbon footprint by spending more than 10 million Euros on its tramways’ technology. The firm explained that the steering system of 120 trams would be replaced with new versions which provide the public transport network with electricity when tram drivers slow down their vehicles.

Repaying Aid

Erste, Raiffeisen and the other Austrian banks have lent a combined $266 billion to borrowers in eastern Europe, about 70 percent of the Alpine nation’s gross domestic product. That figure doesn’t include the Italian-owned Bank Austria.

A large part of the banks’ loans are refinanced with local deposits, limiting the risk for the parent company, though that’s not the case in Hungary and Romania, which has prompted the Austrian central bank to issue new rules for lending in eastern Europe.

“We take note of the attempt by the Austrian regulator to reduce the funding mismatch in the central and eastern European countries where it is present, but we think that this is going to take a while,” Muehlbronner said.

Erste has shelved plans to repay 1.2 billion euros in state aid after writing down assets that will lead to a loss for last year. Raiffeisen hasn’t given a date to repay its 1.75 billion euros in state aid, while Bank Austria didn’t get any aid.

No Additional Aid

All three institutions have ruled out asking for more, and Finance Minister Maria Fekter said today that no other bank has done so.

“We’re monitoring the overall situation of banks and whether they are on a sound footing,” Fekter told journalists, calling Moody’s outlook change “regrettable.”

Austria nationalized Oesterreichische Volksbanken AG (VBPS)’s Kommunalkredit unit in 2008. The state will back its “bad bank” KA Finanz AG for years to come as it winds down 24 billion euros of assets including credit-default swaps on Greece. That bank may need fresh capital this year, depending on the terms under which Greece swaps its debt.

The state also nationalized BayernLB’s Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International AG in 2009. That institution’s wind-down unit is holding about 10 billion euros of assets that are non-performing or unsellable.

Volksbanken, which was relieved of Kommunalkredit in 2008 and received 1 billion euros of state aid in 2009, will report another loss of at least 825 million euros for 2011 and has failed to repay 300 million euros of state aid last year.

Wind-Down Unit

The bank is planning to spin off a wind-down unit, which some of its owners would like to foist on the government, Format magazine reported last year. Fekter has said her desire to nationalize Volksbanken is “very limited.”

While the concerns about Austria’s banks are “not new,” Moody’s said that the country’s debt level is higher than when it last supported banks in 2008 and 2009 and is on an “upward trajectory.”

“Some of the measures in the Austrian budget package haven’t been confirmed yet, such as the financial transaction tax or the tax treaty with Switzerland,” Muehlbronner said. “There is some uncertainty whether everything will be in place.”

France and the U.K. also had their top ratings put on a negative outlook by Moody’s yesterday, while Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain’s ratings were cut.

“This Moody’s report does not just refer to Austria, it refers to a significant part of the overall developments of Europe,” European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said today in an interview broadcast by state-run ORF radio. “The savings package is part of the overall perspective, but it shows it was important to conclude this package.”

Austria Bank Capital Needs Decisive for Aaa Rating, Moody’s Says

Austria’s top debt ranking is most threatened by the potential for another round of state aid for the nation’s banks, Moody’s Investors Service said, the second such alarm from a rating company in as many months.

Moody’s cut Austria’s outlook to “negative” and may strip its Aaa rating if lenders require a second bailout, given the nation’s finances have worsened since 2008, the company said yesterday. The outlook could return to “stable” if banks can bolster capital without state help, Moody’s said. Standard & Poor’s cited bank risks when it cut Austria to AA+ last month.

“We don’t think the Austrian debt level is worrisome or out of sync with debt levels in other European countries, but the potential contingent liability is bigger than in other countries, and the debt ratio is at the higher end of the triple-A rating category,” Kathrin Muehlbronner, Moody’s head analyst on Austria, said in an interview.

The nation’s biggest banks, including Erste Group Bank AG (EBS), Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) and UniCredit SpA (UCG)’s Bank Austria unit, are the biggest lenders in eastern Europe and face major losses in Hungary. Austria nationalized two banks on the brink of collapse in 2008 and 2009, and will remain saddled with their non-performing or unsellable assets of more than 30 billion euros ($40 billion) as they are wound down for years.

Moody’s says Austria’s debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio was about 75 percent in 2011, compared with a median of 52 percent for Aaa-rated countries. The government has responded to the debt crisis with a 26.5 billion-euro plan to raise taxes and cut spending.

‘Volatile Countries’

Austria was among nine European sovereigns to have ratings cut or their outlook changed yesterday. Bond investors shrugged off the reports from Moody’s today, with borrowing costs falling at Spanish and Italian debt auctions on optimism the crisis is easing. Austrian bonds were little changed, with the 10-year yield rising 1 basis point to 2.88 percent at noon local time.

“Investors are making up their own minds, and the low yields we are seeing shows that our measures have an impact,” Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said today.

Austria still has more work to do, Muehlbronner said.

Its banking system is “relatively large, has a very large exposure to the more volatile countries in central and eastern Europe, and is also reliant on wholesale funding,” with lower credit ratings than banks in other Aaa countries, she said. “Austria is not necessarily out of the woods.”

Austria Fekter: Eurogroup Leader Should Be A Head Of Government.

The successor to Jean-Claude Juncker, president of euro-zone finance ministers, will have to be a head of government with experience as a finance minister, Austria’s Finance Minister Maria Fekter told journalists Monday night.

She said it was important that the successor to the so-called Eurogroup “not be a finance minister that as head of Eurogroup could possibly be overruled by his head of government.”

Juncker’s term as president of the Eurogroup ends in July 2012.

“Secondly, he should be a head of government that is financially competent. And thirdly, he should come from a country that doesn’t have an [aid] program at the moment, but instead is so stable and well positioned that an enormous credibility is connected with his position. And the heads of government will have to wrack their brains to find whoever best fulfills these attributes,” said Fekter, adding that there are triple-A countries which haven’t been downgraded by a rating agency, such as Austria has been.

There are three remaining triple-A countries in the euro zone: Germany, the Netherlands and Finland. There is only one country whose head of government also has experience as a finance minister: Finland. The current Prime Minister is Jyrki Katainen, who was Finland’s finance minister before becoming Prime Minister in June 2011.

However, Fekter said decisions about successors for existing positions and new appointees for new positions, whether for Eurogroup President, head of the European Stability Mechanism, or European Central Bank Board Member, would be decided as a package so that “no region is over represented, no one country over represented, [that there is] a balance between big and small.”

Bank bankruptcy law planned.

The government intends to change Austria’s insolvency regulations to loosen protective factors banks have so far benefited from.

Several bankers – including Andreas Treichl, the head of market leader Erste Bank Group AG (Erste Bank) – have spoken out in favour of a reform of the financial sector bankruptcy law. Austrian law fails to feature precise rules which determine under which circumstances a bank can opt for a controlled bankruptcy. Other private economy companies can choose organised insolvency proceedings to avoid being torn apart by shareholders and investors after it emerged that they might not manage to become profitable ever again.

Now Social Democratic (SPÖ) Finance Secretary Andreas Schieder said his party and its coalition partner, the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), decided to nominate “renowned financial sector personalities” to work on concepts for an insolvency law for banks. Schieder said yesterday (Weds) the law could be formulated by summer and passed in parliament in autumn.

The state secretary claimed that the state was currently kept out from interfering at struggling banks for too long. Schieder said the plan was to create a law similar to regulations which had been in effect in several other countries for a long time. The Social Democrat explained that the SPÖ-ÖVP coalition wanted to get involved in decision-making processes at debt-stricken financial institutes sooner. He said such changes could help challenged banks in avoiding bankruptcy before the state got forced to take over – and pump hundreds of millions of Euros into the indebted finance institutes.

The government decided only last month to partially nationalise Volksbank AG (ÖVAG). The bank sustained a loss of around one billion Euros last year. Its rescue costs the country around as much. Schieder explained yesterday that the Republic of Austria would increase its stake in ÖVAG to 44 per cent. Analysts expected the government to opt for an increase to 49 per cent.

Speaking about the plan to reform Austria’s insolvency regulations and expand existing rules from the real economy to the financial sector, Schieder said SPÖ and ÖVP decided to become active instead of waiting any longer for an overdue directive by the European Union (EU). The state secretary argued similarly when he tried to justify the decision to approach the Swiss government for bilateral talks regarding Austrians’ money on Swiss bank accounts.

The SPÖ-ÖVP coalition caused controversy by adding the envisaged taxation agreement with Switzerland in the latest budget consolation package. The Austrian government hopes to rake in one billion Euros by issuing a charge of 19 to 34 per cent on the assets Austrians stashed in Switzerland in 2013 and 50 million Euros a year from 2014.  Experts pointed out that it was more than uncertain if the agreement would ever be finalised, let alone in time for revenue of such extent in next year.

Schieder admitted towards magazine profil he was highly sceptical regarding such an initiative at the start since people’s anonymity would be secured. Schieder and ÖVP Finance Minister Maria Fekter eventually agreed that a rise in tax revenue mattered more than certain moral aspects.

Financial sector researchers said it was impossible to say how much money Austria could make this way since the government’s estimations were loosely based on the predictions of the German government which already managed Switzerland to cooperate concerning the issue. However, the German-Swiss agreement is currently on hold due to objections by the European Commission (EC) which keeps campaigning in favour of international anti-tax evasion partnerships coordinated by the EU.

MP Bucher Has A Recipe For Success

Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) leader Josef Bucher demonstrated his cooking skills at the weekend.

The MP who is also a hotel owner told guests at the “Habsaburger von Eduard Mainoni” wine bar that if a politician could manage it – then it can’t be difficult.”

The party’s regional coordinator Markus Fauland was among those impressed by the politicians creations.

He said: “He can cook really well – it’s what you’d expect from someone who’s already written their own cookbook.”

Together with regional party boss Robert Stark they enjoyed the Stroganoff fillet with dumplings and would totally impressed.

The exotic fruits served with noodles impressed Helmut Naderer and Friaul-Fan Stefan Herzl and logistics boss Hans Moser and Franz Brandstätter also enjoyed the orange fruits.

Austrian MP disputes charge of flawed Russia vote.

An Austrian member of parliament who helped monitor this month’s Russian presidential election accused human rights groups on Thursday of political bias for calling the vote unfairly skewed in favor of victor Vladimir Putin.

Election observers had said Putin, who won about 64 percent of the vote according to official data, was given a clear advantage over his rivals by the media and that state resources supported his bid for a third presidential term.

The observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) also called for alleged electoral violations to be thoroughly investigated.

“I feel like I was not at the same election as the OSCE,” said Stefan Schennach, a Social Democrat member of Austria’s upper house of parliament and a member of the PACE monitoring committee.

“I have to say sorry, it seems to be a politically motivated action. The OSCE probably wrote the report released after the election before the election,” he told Reuters.

Asked why he thought this, he said: “The OSCE is no boys’ choir. It is also political.”

A spokesman for the OSCE’s election monitoring arm in Warsaw defended the report, which he said was based on the observations of large numbers of monitors deployed across the country.

He noted that it was compiled jointly by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which has a long-term election observation mission in Russia, PACE and the OSCE parliamentary assembly.

“While it is perfectly possible for an individual observer to go to a few polling stations where everything is fine, that doesn’t mean that there are no problems in this election. I think our report is very factual in pointing out what the shortcomings were,” the spokesman said.

The report highlighted positive elements as well, and took into account not only election day but the entire electoral process, including the campaign environment, candidates’ access to media, and the work of the election administration, he noted.

Schennach, 55, said that finding fault with the Russian vote because it was clear beforehand who would win neglected the fact that the same was true in presidential elections in Austria or Germany.

While the pre-election period was marked by pro-Putin pressure and the president-elect was close to state television, the same could be said of politicians in Austria, he said.

“There is of course another dimension (in Russia) and the pressure is different, no doubt. That is not the form of democracy we desire, but election day was at a high level,” Schennach said.

He said it was inappropriate to draw sweeping conclusions that elections were skewed based on problems in “perhaps 300 of 95,000 voting stations” and deep-seated democratic deficits in the southern Chechnya region of Russia.

The issues paled compared with what he called flawed 2008 elections in Georgia.

“I was in Georgia where the election fraud was blatant and we election monitors were just in the process of filling out forms after hours of observing the elections.

“At 5 a.m. the next day (an OSCE monitoring team leader) appears before the cameras and declares the election was in order. Something is not right,” he said.

Lower Austria wants better train service to Vienna.

The Lower Austrian government has appealed to the Viennese coalition to make the city’s park & ride facilities a more attractive option for commuters.

Karl Wilfing of the People’s Party (ÖVP) said parking fees at multi-storey car parks in Vienna-Penzing and Donaustadt district should drop to encourage more people to switch to public transport at the city’s outskirts. Around 500,000 Austrians travel to Vienna for work each day. Most of them do so by car despite a wide range of public transport incentives by federal and regional lawmakers.

Wilfing said another aspect must be shorter S-Bahn train intervals. The ÖVP official said he was convinced that more people would use means of public transport if they operated more often during rush hour. S-Bahn services connect several towns and cities in Lower Austria with Vienna’s biggest stations. Many people who do not live but work in Vienna are getting to the office this way, but traffic analysts see an enormous potential for higher passenger figures if the service quality improves.

The Lower Austrian government now plans to get in touch with Vienna’s Vice Mayor Maria Vassilakou of the Green Party to check the potential for investments into S-Bahn connections. The Viennese coalition of Social Democrats (SPÖ) and Greens have identified public transport as one of the most important agenda points for the current legislature.

SPÖ and Greens said after forming a coalition in 2010 that they wanted to increase the share of public transport in Vienna from 35 per cent in 2009 to 40 per cent until 2015. Walking claimed a share of 27 per cent in 2009, down by one per cent from its stake in 1993. The number of people who prefers to walk to cover also long distances in the city is on the rise again, according to the Austrian Traffic Club.

The share cyclists took in the overall traffic volume doubled to six per cent between 1993 and 2009. Only a few weeks ago, the city government said that more people than ever before were cycling in Vienna these days. Around 11,000 people cycled a day in 2011, 20 per cent more than in 2010. Especially the number of people opting for bikes in winter despite snow and ice is soaring, according to Martin Blum, the city’s cycling ambassador.

Around 50 per cent of Viennese households own at least one bicycle. Around 480,000 bikes were sold in Austria last year. Studies show that 30,000 of all sold bicycles were electric bikes (e-bikes). Only 20,000 e-bikes were purchased by Austrians in 2010. Their share in overall bike sales is expected to improve further despite plans to abandon the generous subsidisation of sales.

Meanwhile, the number of Viennese car owners might decline. Around six in 10 households in the city – which was 1.7 million residents – own at least one vehicle. Constant fuel price increases, more attractive public transport opportunities and rising parking charges could tempt many citizens of Vienna to give up their cars. Half of all the distances Austrians cover by car are no longer than five kilometres (km), according to VCÖ.

Austria Faces $1.3 Billion Bank Injection After ISDA Triggers Greek CDS.

Austria is facing a capital injection of as much as 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) into KA Finanz AG less than two weeks after bailing out Oesterreichische Volksbanken AG. (VBPS)

The International Swaps & Derivatives Association yesterday ruled that Greece’s use of collective action clauses forcing investors to take losses under the nation’s debt restructuring will trigger default insurance payouts.

In a statement before ISDA’s decision, KA Finanz said it may have risk provisions of about 1 billion euros if credit- default swaps on Greece it has written are activated. That includes charges of 423.6 million euros on an assumed loss quota of 80 percent, it said.

KA Finanz is the so-called bad bank of Kommunalkredit Austria AG, which was nationalized in 2008 when it was owned by Volksbanken and Dexia SA. While Kommunalkredit continues as a municipal lender and has to be sold again by Austria by mid-2013, KA Finanz took on securities, loans and CDS that are not part of that main business and is winding down those assets.

Austria has promised to keep KA Finanz’s capital ratio at 7 percent and Finance Ministry Maria Fekter said on March 3 that the country may have to inject as much as 1 billion euros into KA Finanz to keep that pledge.

The Alpine republic also has nationalized Hypo Alpe-Adria- Bank International AG and on Feb. 27 announced that it would take a stake of as much as 49 percent in Volksbanken after injecting 250 million euros into the lender and writing off 700 million euros of previous sate aid. Austria is boosting its banking tax to finance the Volksbanken bailout. It has yet to say how it may finance KA Finanz.

Austrian group supports women’s projects in PH.

The Catholic Women’s Movement (CWM) in Austria held a benefit event dubbed “Aktion Familienfasttag” or “Day of Fasting in the Family”, for aid projects in Asia, including the Philippines, and Latin America.

BVA to abolish patient’s contribution.

More than 260,000 Austrians are looking forward to being freed from paying excess insurance.

Fritz Neugebauer, the head of Austria’s Public Servants’ Insurance Agency (BVA), announced yesterday (Thurs) that the insurer would scrap rules forcing young clients to pay 20 per cent of costs caused by visits to the doctor. Neugebauer explained that the insurance company’s board could come to an agreement concerning the issue as soon as within this month. He said regulations would be changed before summer.

Neugebauer, who is the deputy president of the Austrian parliament and a highly influential member of the People’s Party (ÖVP), said that almost 263,000 people aged 27 and below would benefit from the reform. The BVA customers who will soon be freed from paying a part of costs caused by visits to the doctor are relatives of civil servants. Regulations allow Austria’s public servants to register their children with the insurance company they are cooperating with.

The only BVA clients who do not need to pay patient’s contributions are pupils aged 15 or younger. Everyone aged between 15 and 27 has to come up for one fifth of the basic costs at the moment. Health Minister Alois Stöger of the Social Democrats (SPÖ) – who form a government coalition with the ÖVP – welcomed BVA’s plans.

Stöger said he saw himself as patients’ advocate. The minister said he considered the retained amounts as counterproductive. “I appeal to all the other health insurance agencies to follow BVA’s example and get rid of excess insurance charges,” Stöger – who is being pressurised to lower the Austrian health sector’s costs – announced.

Stöger encouraged insurers to reform their charging policies to lower the financial pressure on clients. Especially self-employed people are challenged by the common procedure of agencies of charging contributions only a few times a year. This method causes an accumulation of fees which contradicts Stöger’s appeal for more transparency as far as the insurers’ services are regarded.

The SPÖ-ÖVP coalition recently decided that the health sector must make significant contributions to the upcoming budget consolidation package. The government presented a concept under which family doctors were encouraged to cooperate more closely with clinics in their vicinity to improve coordinated procedures and ensure that sick people seek help at the best suitable institutions.

The opposition criticised that the government’s financial stability law failed to feature anything but declarations of intent. Representatives of the parliament’s opposition factions put into question whether SPÖ and ÖVP would manage to lower public health service spending expenditure in the coming years this way as substantial reforms of the sector were not in sight.

Stöger’s predecessor recently said she had great doubts that the domestic health sector would be reformed anytime soon. Andrea Kdolsky, who left politics after serving as ÖVP health minister for around one and a half years until 2008, told the Kurier: “I have always said that there is a savings potential of 2.8 billion Euros. (…) What is missing is the courage to make out significant changes. When I hear that the state and the insurance companies agree on intensifying their cooperation, I have to ask myself what kept them from doing so in the past 15 years?”

Austrian police get Facebook fake IDs.

Austrian police have been given the go-ahead by the justice Ministry to create fake Facebook accounts to help them with criminal investigations.

It means that undercover police detectives will not just be able to operate in plain clothes in the real world – but also in the virtual world by creating fake Facebook accounts.

Interior Ministry legal adviser Manfred Burgstaller confirmed that undercover Facebook investigations had been given the go-ahead.

The move is part of a general clampdown on social networking being used increasingly by criminals. Austria is also now decided to give the go-ahead to police who want to seize data from Facebook accounts.

Officials gave the example of using Facebook to plan a crime, where the accounts of those involved could be seized and studied.

Austrian budget can handle extra Greek hit: Fekter.

Austria’s budget can absorb an extra hit of up to 400 million euros from credit default swaps (CDS) that Greece’s debt restructuring triggered at a nationalised bank, Finance Minister Maria Fekter told a newspaper.

She was also quoted on Sunday by the Oesterreich paper as saying Austria would not have to revisit a near-28 billion euro ($36.73 billion) package of spending curbs and tax hikes that aims to balance the budget by 2016.

KA Finanz, the “bad bank” split off after Austria had to nationalise Kommunalkredit in 2008, faces up to 424 million euros in costs for a CDS portfolio triggered by the Greek debt revamp.

Combined with other losses, that could require the Austrian state to provide it with up to 1 billion euros in fresh aid, although it has already made provisions for 600 million of this.

“I guarantee that even a worst-case topping up (of funds) for Kommunalkredit can be accommodated in the budget,” Fekter said.

“We have taken precautions for these looming problems, for instance via additional income from advance taxation of pensions.”

She was referring to the government’s plan to let owners of some private pensions pay reduced tax rates on them in advance so they would be largely free from income tax on the pensions in retirement.

The scheme could raise 900 million euros this year, the finance ministry says. Critics say the estimate is too high.

Credit rating agencies are keeping an eye on the support Austria may have to provide its relatively large banking sector.

Austria has agreed to take a stake of up to 49 percent in ailing lender Volksbanken in a second bailout for that bank which will cost the state more than 1 billion euros in writedowns, fresh capital and guarantees.

Hypo Alpe Adria, which the state took over in 2009, might also need more help if it is unable to get rid of risky assets.

Central bank governor Ewald Nowotny denied at the weekend a newspaper report that Hypo Alpe Adria could need 10 billion euros in additional state support.

Officials would determine by mid-year whether and how much additional aid Hypo might need, he said in a radio interview.

“You can’t rule out it will need more help, but (it would be) in a completely smaller order of magnitude,” he said.

Austria Recommends a Name Change

for ‘Discriminatory’ Foods.

Your menu has a dirty mouth, and you might not even realize it. That spicy pasta – spaghetti alla puttanesca – literally means “whore’s spaghetti.” In the U.K., you’ll find “spotted dick” on store shelves. In Alpine Europe, double-baked rye bread is called “Negerbrot.” (The last part of the word means “bread,” and you can probably figure out the first part.) They’re all legitimate food items, but Austria is hoping some of these names have caused offense for the last time.

The country routinely serves up traditional dishes whose names point to a time far past. “Zigeunerschnitzel” is a typical pork cutlet topped with a sauce made of peppers and onions. But when you order it, you’re asking for a plate of “Gypsy steak.” “Mohr in Hemd” is a dessert made with chocolate cake and whipped cream. Translated, its name means “Moor in a shirt,” a nod to the North Africans that have migrated to Europe throughout the centuries.

“Discrimination is no laughing matter, even when it happens unwittingly or because of tradition,” Alexander Pollak, a spokesman for Austrian equality organization SOS Mitmensch, told the Tiroler Tageszeitung. And Austria’s national catering association says these politically incorrect dishes would taste just as sweet if they were named “chocolate cake with cream” and “very dark bread.” That’s why the organization is looking to strike all negative names from the nation’s menus, based on a recommendation in its most recent newsletter. “Are discriminatory food labels really necessary?” they ask, recommending that chefs and maîtres d’hôtel consider changing the dishes’ names.

But is this request taking political correctness too far? Harald Ultsch of the Tyrol Chamber of Commerce says that these are traditional dishes that are “absolute classics.” He worries that this sensitivity over a cultural name like the Moors could force the renaming of other traditionally-named foods including the Hamburger and Frankfurter. While this is simply a recommendation from Austria’s catering association, it comes from a presumably high level, so perhaps some restaurants will heed its naming advice. This raises the age-old dilemma: should civility trump custom?

Sweden’s Myhrer wins World Cup slalom for 3rd

career victory; Austria’s Hirscher skies out.

Andre Myhrer of Sweden won the season’s penultimate men’s World Cup slalom Sunday, while Marcel Hirscher of Austria straddled a gate in the opening run and failed to score points for the overall championship.

Myhrer held on to his lead after the first run and finished in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 40.99 seconds to win his first title of the season and third overall.

Myhrer beat second-place Cristian Deville of Italy by 0.49. Alexis Pinturault of France was 14th after the opening run before a blistering final run saw him jump to third, 0.58 behind.

“It was a good day, I had a good feeling starting No. 1,” Myhrer said. “The skiing has been there all season but the top spot wasn’t there so I really went for that today.”

Defending overall champion Ivica Kostelic of Croatia finished 16th to extend his lead in the slalom standings over Hirscher to 50 points. Myhrer is now another 16 points back in third with one race remaining.

“It’s great to be there in the fight for the globe,” Myhrer said. “It will be tough but I am going to try my best. Ivica and Marcel are also in for the overall title so maybe they get a bit nervous.”

Mike Janyk of Whistler, B.C., was 19th and Brad Spence of Calgary was 26th.

Hirscher was 0.09 behind Myhrer at the first intermediate time but skied out shortly afterward.

As a result, Beat Feuz of Switzerland, who skipped the race, remains in the overall lead with 1,250 points. Hirscher is second with 1,195 and Kostelic third with 1,064. Fourth-placed Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway is also in contention for the World Cup’s biggest prize on 1,031 points.

There are four races left at the World Cup finals in Schladming, Austria, from Wednesday until Sunday. A win in each event is worth 100 points.

“The fight for the overall title is more or less over now,” Hirscher said. “I can relax a bit now and will do what I like the best — go out and just fully attack.”

It was the fourth time in 10 slaloms this season that Hirscher failed to finish. The Austrian, who won five of the other six races, said his aggressive style of skiing includes the risk of straddling gates, which leads to an immediate disqualification.

“This style of skiing has also won me a couple of races,” Hirscher said. “It’s part of the game. Of course I could have held back a bit more, but finishing 10th or so doesn’t bring me many points for the big crystal globe.”

Kostelic could have clinched the slalom title by finishing first or second, but dropped from 8th position after the opening run to 16th. The Croat returned this weekend from a four-week break following knee surgery and complained about his back hurting.

“After Marcel went out, I put pressure on myself to score as many points as possible,” Kostelic said. “That’s not the way I like to ski, it slowed me down. It will get tight next week.”

Will Brandenburg of the United States had two clean runs and finished sixth for his best career result.

“It’s been a long two years of trying to break through and get to that result. I am really excited,” said Brandenburg, whose previous best on the World Cup circuit was 22nd in a slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland, in January.

“I tried to keep a positive attitude this season and keep moving forward from race to race,” he said. “I have the speed but sometimes I take too much risks. Today I skied smart. My coaches and I have worked a lot on my line and tactics. I took the right tactics today. That was a great day.”

American teammate Ted Ligety, who won the GS on the same hill Saturday, was not surprised by Brandenburg’s achievement.

“Not at all because he’s had that kind of speed for the last two years,” Ligety said. “It’s great to see him putting it together. It’s more of a surprise he didn’t have a top 10 before.”

Ligety took ninth for his third straight top-10 finish in slalom.

“I skied pretty well, especially in the second run on the top half,” the world GS champion said. “That was very good. I am happy with three top 10s in a row … I hope to move up for top 15 in the slalom standings.”

Both the men’s and women’s World Cup circuits travel to Schladming for the final races of the season. The event will open with both downhills on Wednesday.

To get acquainted with the wedding rituals and customs of the Austrians, it is best to drive off away from the city. It was there – in rural areas – they kept the most complete form, although, of course, over the years, somewhat modified and simplified. But even in two neighboring villages, wedding ceremonies are different. Such is the specificity of Austria: in every village a way of life, their customs and even its own dialect! However, some traditional practices in one form or another can be found anywhere in Austria. About them and will be discussed.
Preparing for a wedding
The Austrians, as a people solid, start to prepare for the wedding in advance for six months, or even a year. And this can be found explanation. After all, that the Russian people – a wedding, for the Austrian – a necessary formality. Wedding in Austria, deeply Catholic country, do not usually celebrate the day of civil marriage, and the day of the wedding. And such a serious step as marriage in the church, takes a long time podgotovki.Za few months before the wedding the priest appointed meeting young (usually 3 – 4), which should prepare the future spouses to family life (Ehevor-bereitung). At one meeting with the young priest is the script of their wedding, on the other – talking to them about family life based on Christian values. In these meetings the young should also talk with an experienced married couple, but with the doctor.
Of course, preparing for the wedding does not end there. Young should make the guest list, find the appropriate restaurant to agree on the decoration of the church … But let’s not talk about it in detail, since all these procedures are well known and generally celebrate russkim.Svadby Austrians in the summer and fall – then they are not original. Very popular is the Carnival (Fasching), as well as the month of May (where the discrepancy with the Russian custom, there is – in Russia in May did not marry). Not accepted to play a wedding during Advent – in December, as well as during Lent.
An interesting detail: at the wedding in Austria is preparing the joint efforts of the bride and groom and their parents, all charges must take on the bride’s father. But, for obvious reasons, this practice is somewhat out of date. As for gifts, the Austrian approach to this matter very thoroughly. Usually the bride and groom before the wedding gifts make the list (Hochzeits-liste), which they would like to get, and leave it in a big store where you can buy everything you need for home: bed linen, kitchen utensils, appliances. Invitees come into the store and choose from a list of what they most prefer. Convenient, is not it?

Wedding: Before and After
The wedding day can begin with a salute (the bride groomsmen awake), and later a procession of decorated cars should be the church. From this point on and begin custom wedding ceremonies … to publish as much noise on the road to the church – very old. Thus our ancestors scared of evil spirits and other evil spirits to protect the young in the upcoming marriage. (Perhaps that is why in Russia so loud honking cars wedding convoy.) Austrians, by the way, with the same purpose, like the machines to tie old boxes and other stuff.
Children, most often a boy and a girl can carry a young small baskets with flowers, and strew them after their wedding the way married couples. With this rite of fertility gods have attracted people who cared about the rich potomstve.U exit from the church the bride and groom have to drink a glass of wine (125 ml – ein Achterl Wein) to the bottom and then throw it ozem if glass is broken, the marriage will be happy . After that the young have to overcome obstacle: they must be pre-stretched TprorvatsyaU via a rope or tape – just a young family will overcome all difficulties will be encountered on her journey.
If the newly minted couple from the church throw grains of rice, in their family is not anything bad to happen. The evil spirits that could ruin the joy of youth, now calm down. This ritual also brings a lot of kids happy and bogatstvo.Perenosit bride over the threshold – also an ancient custom, which was distributed in the Russian weddings. And it is from the fact that, according to legend, evil spirits inhabit just under the threshold.
Many wedding ceremonies connected with the overcoming of Austria married couples of various obstacles on the road from the church to the restaurant. Only after certain jobs, spouses may move forward. So check their “strength.” Here, imagination is unlimited. Here are a few options: give the young couple saw – it must cut it along the tree trunk;
husband and wife have the right to hang wet laundry mountain, her husband give a wooden board and a few dozen large nails, which he must hammer a small hammer, etc.

Although no such thing as a toastmaster in Austria did not exist, its functions often take on the groomsmen. The restaurant (Gasthaus), which usually are celebrating the wedding, it does not stop eating and drinking refreshments fine Austrian wines. The culmination of the festival is bride kidnapping (EntfYahrung der Braut). Friends distract the groom and witnesses, kidnapped the bride with a bouquet and they brought her in one of the nearby restaurants, which, however, may not be very close. To search for her fiance goes along with the bride’s father. And here begins the procedure of redemption, as is well known in Russia. The groom should carry out various tasks: singing, dancing, answering questions about his beloved, etc. And all this to him suggested a way forward. For each task unfulfilled bride’s father must pay a ransom (Auslsung). Austrians – are big fans make fun of. And when the holiday is coming to an end, the tests do not end with the newlyweds. They still have to work hard to get into his house. The custom of young couples is to create all kinds of obstacles on the road to the house and then to the marriage bed, in Austria, is very popular. There are also many options:
sometimes erect this wall of bricks in front of the door so that the young have found some other way to enter the house – for example, to climb out the window, so that the younger Ohno simply could not enter the bedroom, her refusal to fill everything: glasses of water inflated balloons, etc. The main principle – to bar the way married couples to the marriage bed, before they meet the job step by step.
Needless to say that sometimes the execution of these “tasks” takes a lot of time … After the wedding
After the wedding the young trouble does not end. It’s time to thank all those who attended the church, was at a party at a restaurant or just sent a young greeting card. In general, newlyweds choose one of the best wedding photo and send it with all the words of thanks. And it’s not just a formality – this “little things” in this small country are paying attention.

Two-thirds of the territory occupied by the Alps – truly global in distribution of responsibilities, God singled her for winter fun.

The first ski resorts, the first ski school and even now a popular style of carving – it all went from that place.
Hardly syschetsya the world a different country, in which all life would be so closely associated with downhill skiing. Recommend specific resorts in Austria – the task is almost hopeless. Here you always waiting for good quality and recreation – all it needs and vozmozhnostyah.No is still one place that is equally suitable and the masters of downhill, and green for beginners. This area of ​​Kaprun and Zell am See, to receive calls the name “European sports region.” The region that is truly unique in the variety offered opportunities for sport, recreation and entertainment. It pulls and the Europeans and Americans, and Japanese. And the Russian language is increasingly heard on the streets of the old Zell am See. This is because both the ski area – Purpose and Kaprun – well balanced price / quality ratio.
Getting here is easy: the whole season (from December 20 to March 1) operates a charter flight Moscow – Salzburg – London. From Salzburg to Zell for about an hour away by avtobuse.Vozmozhnosti skiing in the region are endless. If the vast Tselskoe lake on the shores of which are resorts, lies at an altitude of 1000 meters, numerous lifts (almost 60 of them here, including the famous funicular to the glacier above Kaprun) lift skiers to an altitude of 3200 meters. Up there in the top-Kittssteyn Horn, now located “skiing El Dorado.” Ibid, at an altitude of 3,000 meters, is an excellent restaurant, which is especially nice in front of downhill cup of coffee on the Viennese.
The region has 11 ski schools. For $ 150, going 6-day training course, you have every chance of a beginner “teapot” to become a good skier, firmly standing on lyzhah.Dlya those who are eager to ski delights worth a closer look to the resort of St. Anton, famous for its sports and … elitism. It is located in the westernmost part of the province of Tyrol. It is also easy to get through another charter flight Moscow – Innsbruck. Arriving in the capital of two winter Olympics, you’re on the bus a couple of hours to get the most picturesque and snow-covered part of the Austrian Alps – Arlberg.
At the mention of St. Anton in the minds of connoisseurs usually arise famous cliche: “outrageously expensive” and “Celebrity Circus.” Today it is not true, because “Stanton”, as humorously referred to as the English style, this resort and the surrounding towns of Saint-Jacob and Stuben with many guesthouses and hotels are absolutely democratic. A pedestrian zone in the center of St. Anton in bars and pubs, this whole “mile” of youth nightlife. In general, apres-ski (skiing holiday after) is known for its diversity: 10 discos, music bars the same, variety shows, fashion shows, carnivals …. As for the skiing, then, according to experts, it is possible for exceptional: an extensive network of lifts (them – 90!), perfect tracks (total length – 280 km, including nearly 80 miles “black” trails), many of the slopes for a free ride. It is no accident of St. Anton is the cradle of skiing in Austria. Then built the first cable car, here is the biggest ski museum, which preserves the memory of the pioneers of the sport of the century, and now lives there – and has its own hotel – the champion of champions, Karl Schranz, called the Austrians not only as Charles the Great …

Our compatriots who dream of marrying a foreigner, imagine rosy picture – provided, always smiling and courteous man. The stereotype of a rather stable, but, unfortunately, not always appropriate deystvitelnosti.V Austria, for example, men are definitely not enough romance, and good manners (in any case, what we mean by this – open the door to a lady, bring heavy package, file a coat and so on) many, especially younger ones, are no different. In short, if you are meeting with the Austrians, especially in a romantic relationship should not count.
However, the Austria men as husbands rather reliable and caring. This is indicated by many Russian women – so if they decided to start a family, we truly care about his wife, pay great attention to children and are home to many otvetstvenno.Nesmotrya social change, according to the Austrian Institute of Public Opinion, the family still comes first place for 91% of Austria citizens (at the second health -84% – the third success – 52%). And while the birth rate drops dramatically, and many are content to Austria one child, and some do not want to have children, yet classical scheme of the family (father-mother-child) is desirable for most.
Most avstriek to 30 years do not want to think about starting a family, let alone the children especially. Interestingly, the young people of the same age are more likely to normal family life and at least one child. Women often do not know how to cook, and men take the initiative themselves, so that many families are preparing their husbands more often and more tasty than their wives. Men are increasingly positive about the fact that women other than family can engage in his professional career (54%) and the fact that husbands should help with the housework and raising children (58%).
By the way, the household and domestic comfort. The Austria are known for their anxious attitude to cleanliness, comfort and beauty of their homes. They invest a lot of time and money in their homes and called the house a second skin. Interestingly, in the household, regardless of the level of education, welfare, or the size of living space, many people follow the principle Tsdelay itself, and not only men but also women. (Up to independent repair the roof.) And sometimes it do not because they can not hire employees, and for my own pleasure. Of great importance is given to decorating the home, which creates the famous Austrian cosiness. Guests are usually offered rag slippers so as not to violate the purity polov.Detskie rooms are usually full of toys, but sometimes it seems that the main purpose of the latter – to stand on a shelf and not be subject for the games – they are so neatly arranged.
Unlike some European countries, where a tendency to put aged parents in nursing homes in Austria, many care about them sami.Na question that they wished themselves for the future, 83% of respondents wanted to just feel good about themselves and the same – to have strong family, 49% would be for the family more time. It seems that the family remains the most valuable in the life of the Austrians – they want to hide it from the cares and anxieties.
However, adultery these days in Austria, apparently, is quite commonplace, if not condemned by the state. In the past year: write, a law under which adultery can not be considered sufficiently serious ground for divorce (and this is a Catholic country!). But judging by the Austria survey of young people that for them now is the greatest value, loyalty is one of the first places. So, maybe in the future family life will be happier Austria.