With Hlawati, corporate governance according to international standards is now to move into ÖBAG, the aim is a “restart”. An “extended board” is installed, Hlawati wanted two executive directors. It will be Carola Wahl and Robert Stajic. The lawyer knows the state holding and its areas of responsibility as well as associated companies such as OMV, Post and Telekom Austria very well. For decades she acted as an advisor to the predecessor organizations and to ÖBAG. Your law firm Cerha Hempel will no longer accept ÖBAG orders for the time being.
The experts Wahl and Stajic want to involve Hlawati in important decisions. “With this step, we are moving from the previous four-eyes principle to a six-eyes principle for important decisions,” said Hlawati recently. “At the same time, we will also significantly strengthen our technical expertise in the management team and contribute it accordingly to the investments.” It is about which people are sent by ÖBAG to the supervisory boards of the associated companies such as Post, Telekom, OMV and Co.
Probably the most important and tricky question at the moment for the associated companies is that at Telekom Austria, whether transmission masts should be sold and then rented back. After all, this is about strategic infrastructure. On the other hand, the sale could bring in money for new important investments.
The republic has syndicate partners at OMV (Mubadala, United Arab Emirates) and Telekom (America Movil, Mexico). In discussions with these partners, who are not always easy, the 64-year-old can bring all her experience as an internationally experienced commercial lawyer to bear.
Hlawati is already head of the supervisory board at Post and Telekom Austria. She wants to implement a new start and make decisions independently of politics. There should be no political influence, is assured from the ÖBAG environment. Hlawati is said to be close to the ÖVP in the media, although not as clearly as with Schmid.
Reference is made to the technical expertise of the new Executive Directors. Wahl has management experience in the telecommunications industry (Deutsche Telekom) and in the insurance industry (AXA Switzerland). Stajic started his career at the management consultancy McKinsey before he was responsible for the strategy development of the upstream division at OMV and then played a key role in the transformation office.
Hlawati did not want to make a public statement before taking office. She wants to get used to it first. According to the new ÖBAG spokesman Michael Mauritz – he succeeded a confidant of Schmid – the board member, who de jure bears sole responsibility, will be happy to face the media and the public after a few weeks.
The commercial lawyer will earn up to 750,000 euros per year as head of ÖBAG. The basic salary is 585,000 euros. There is also a maximum bonus of 25 percent.
The interim board member Christine Catasta is leaving. However, she remains for ÖBAG in supervisory board positions at the association and Austrian Airlines (AUA). Catasta will also hold her supervisory board mandates at Telekom Austria, OMV, Casinos Austria and BIG until the next ordinary general meetings.
Source: Nachrichten
