There was not much sign of a Christmas peace between the SPÖ and the Greens towards the end on Thursday evening at the last meeting of the “City Parliament” in the Sparkasse City Hall. The reason for this was the twelfth and final agenda item “Energie Ried GmbH – Supervisory Board remuneration”. Mayor Bernhard Zwielehner gave the official lecture. This was about the remuneration of the new supervisory board of Energie Ried, which has been in office since the summer, the OÖN reported. The mood between Oberwagner and the leaders of the ÖVP, SPÖ and FPÖ has been more bad than good for some time.
Between 10,000 and 13,000 euros per year
The chairman of the supervisory board should therefore receive 13,000 euros annually, his deputy 11,500 euros and the three remaining supervisory board members each 10,000 euros per year. The remuneration for 2023 will be prorated for the year. “With the depoliticization and downsizing of the supervisory board of Energie Ried GmbH, corresponding expertise has now been brought into the supervisory board. This should be remunerated accordingly and the remuneration of the Supervisory Board should be adjusted to the market. The remuneration regulations only apply to the representatives sent by the municipality of Ried through the general meeting and not to the members to be sent to the supervisory board by the works council,” it says in the official presentation.
Oberwagner: “What is customary in the market is an ambivalence”
Before the local council members voted on this agenda item, Green Party city councilor Lukas Oberwagner, the former supervisory board of Energie Ried, spoke up. Oberwagner was chairman of the energy company’s supervisory board from December 2021 to July 2023. He announced his resignation on July 13 before a city council meeting.
“ Depoliticization was addressed. This is always something political. To paraphrase Rosa Luxemburg, you often just don’t notice it,” said”said Oberwagner, who celebrated his 38th birthday on Thursday. “What is usual in the market is an ambivalence. You can also compare yourself with Signa, where there are a few million, or with Messe Ried, where there is an expense allowance,” said Oberwagner and added: “What else I would recommend: You should look at the articles of association with regard to the division of authority between the supervisory board and the general meeting.”
Stummer went on the offensive verbally
SPÖ deputy mayor Peter Stummer didn’t let that stand. He verbally targeted the Green Party politician for his quite explosive, lengthy statement. At the beginning he asked Oberwagner to prove the truth of a statement made in an OÖN interview on November 12th. At that time, Oberwagner described the ÖVP/SPÖ/FPÖ as a “unity party”. This is about abusing the Ried energy as a “milking cow.”
He notes that Energie Ried, with managing director Fritz Pöttinger and the commitment of the employees, has left the past behind it, repositioned itself and become “an efficient and service-oriented company again” that one can be proud of. The deputy city leader of the Social Democrats defended the remuneration for the new supervisory board. A company always needs external expertise and services.
In the past two years, Energie Ried, under the chairmanship of Supervisory Board Oberwagner, has “spent several hundred thousand euros on consulting services without any lasting effect,” said Stummer. On top of that. Ried’s SP boss also reported on “close involvement with the Green party leaders in the state of Upper Austria.” Stummer spoke specifically about a member of the state parliament club. According to the SPÖ deputy mayor, someone who is also part of the Energie AG supervisory board was employed and paid as a consultant for Energie Ried from July 2022.
There are several invoices that would prove that that person “went in and out” of Energie Ried. It was also planned that the said politician would have worked as a consultant for Energie Ried projects from September 2022. “The Energie Ried supervisory board chairman, who is off duty, can certainly give you more information on this topic,” Stummer once again personally addressed the Green politician.
Stummer defended the considerable “expense allowances” for the current supervisory board members. It was absolutely necessary to depoliticize the Energie Ried supervisory board and bring “captains of industry” on board.
Application for compensation passed by majority
Oberwagner didn’t speak up again, the city council and the four other Green Party council members reacted rather calmly to Stummer’s statements. The application for compensation was ultimately approved by a majority. There were five votes against (Greens) and two further abstentions.
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Source: Nachrichten
