This was closed for more than 13 months and support was therefore necessary. There may have been a slight overfunding here or there, but on average each company only received around 16,000 euros. “Nothing happened in a legal vacuum,” said Kraus Winkler in the “Ö1-Mittagsjournal”. Regarding the Court of Auditors’ extensive criticism of the Covid aid agency COFAG, Kraus-Winkler said that COFAG falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance. Regarding the high salary of COFAG Managing Director Bernhard Perner, the Secretary of State for Tourism said that one must also see the responsibility that a manager has.
“Now everything is instrumentalised”
Kraus-Winkler commented on the numerous allegations of corruption against the ÖVP that she had experienced a lot in “political systems” at a young age. “Then I ask myself what is being discussed now? (…) “I’ve never experienced that politics wasn’t about coordinating the circumstances (…) And now everything is being instrumentalized,” so the Secretary of State for Tourism.
The fact that some large companies, such as cable cars or large hotels, have received large sums of money must also be seen in relation to their costs. In addition, numerous larger companies have not yet received their submitted sums.
Whether lifts and snow cannons should be shut down in the event of a gas emergency? She doesn’t want to “paint the buck on the wall” right now, says Kraus-Winkler. In any case, the government is doing everything to ensure that everyone has enough gas. The Secretary of State for Tourism also remained vague on the question of whether corona-positive people (without symptoms) should work in restaurants and hotels. Every operator has to decide this for themselves.
With the lack of staff and the associated criticism of remuneration and working conditions in guest care, Kraus-Winkler sees too little consideration that more people are currently employed than in the pre-Corona year 2019. Better pay is difficult because the margins in the industry are relative are low, according to the Secretary of State for Tourism, who was previously the chairwoman of the hotel industry association in the Chamber of Commerce.
Source: Nachrichten
