Although the company can still raise the currently required sum of 1.75 billion euros with the support of the city to secure future supply contracts, the financial leeway has been exhausted, said the Ministry of Finance with reference to a letter from City Councilor Peter Hanke (SPÖ).

It is expected that the federal government will have to step in for the city’s further financing requirements. In a letter from Vienna City Councilor Peter Hanke (SPÖ), the city’s financing requirements for passing on to Wiener Stadtwerke GmbH and Wien Energie were estimated at EUR 6 billion, according to a statement on Monday. Details on the necessary requirements are currently being worked out between representatives of the City of Vienna, Wien Energie, the Finanzprokuratur and the Ministry of Finance.

Federal aid promised

According to Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) and Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP), Wien Energie has asked the federal government for financial support. “Of course we promised this help yesterday at a crisis summit,” Gewessler wrote on Twitter on Monday morning. In order to be able to help, however, you have to clarify “unresolved questions with the City of Vienna as the owner”.

According to Hanke Bund, Vienna asked for a general “protective shield”

The owner representative of Wien Energie, City Councilor for Finance Peter Hanke (SPÖ), spoke for the first time on Monday afternoon about Wien Energie’s financial needs. In an interview with the APA, he explained that the federal government had been asked to create a “protective shield” for domestic suppliers, since “moon prices” were currently being demanded on the exchange for electricity. Wien Energie is particularly affected because its own production is lower.

However, he confirmed that it was an economically healthy company that was not making any losses. The city has recently provided guarantees itself, i.e. beyond those that are usually provided by the company itself. “These are not lost sums,” asserted Hanke. Rather, these would flow back after the transaction was completed.

But now the federal government is also being asked to become active here. How high such a protective shield would have to be is difficult to say, since the prices would change every day, he emphasized. The protective net could also amount to up to 10 billion euros. The Vienna City Councilor for Finance suspects that other energy companies may also need further guarantee lines.

According to Hanke, Vienna’s proposal to the federal government roughly corresponds to what has already been implemented internationally. Such models already exist in Switzerland or Germany. It is “high time” to take appropriate steps here.

Due to the sharp rise in gas and electricity prices, utilities and energy traders have to deposit significantly higher securities for future energy deliveries (futures).

Wien Energie denied corresponding media reports that the energy supplier was insolvent. “No, Wien Energie is not insolvent/bankrupt,” it said in a written statement on Sunday evening. “Wien Energie and Wiener Stadtwerke are solid, economically healthy companies with excellent credit ratings.”

“Securities for energy trading are necessary for long-term security,” the energy supplier explained in a broadcast on Monday afternoon. “There are no losses to compensate.” Wien Energie pointed out that energy suppliers in Germany would face the same problems as in Germany and would already use the state-guaranteed margining financing instrument there. So far there is no comparable insurance instrument for suppliers in Austria.

FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl called for a special session of the National Council on the financial turbulence at Wien Energie on Monday. A third of the MPs are needed to convene a special session during the current summer break. Since the FPÖ does not have this, Kickl appeals to the other groups to support the application.

The opposition in Vienna is now urgently demanding clarification of the financial situation of Wien Energie. Federal support is also promised. If the federal government can help to stabilize Wien Energie, which is in financial difficulties, “then of course it should do so,” said the Viennese ÖVP club chairman Markus Wölbtisch, “of course with the simultaneous participation and full transparency of the city of Vienna”. The party leader of the Viennese Greens, Peter Kraus, also urged a quick clarification.

According to the Minister of Finance, other state energy suppliers are not currently in financial difficulties. “At the moment it’s just about Wien Energie,” said Brunner in “ZIB2” on Sunday.