The total funding volume amounts to around 5.5 million euros. The FPÖ wants to discuss the request at tomorrow’s Social Committee. “We have often accused Kocher and the Green Minister of Social Affairs Rauch of a lack of commitment in the prosecution of shell companies and the alleged evasion of funding,” said FPÖ social spokeswoman Dagmar Belakowitsch, according to a broadcast on Tuesday. In view of the amount of funding received by the two companies, the ministry’s actions in such cases must be questioned.
According to the response to the query, the majority of the funding went to Palmers, who received AMS funding totaling 5.2 million euros from January 2020 to December 2023. Of this, 4.8 million euros went to short-time work assistance. In addition, around 185,000 euros in funding came from Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (aws) as part of the investment bonus funding program, according to the ministry.
Meanwhile, Hygiene Austria received AMS funding amounting to almost 98,000 euros. A further around 84,000 euros were promised from the aws investment bonus funding program, but no further payment was made because insolvency proceedings were opened.
In January 2024, Hygiene Austria filed for bankruptcy. The reason for the insolvency was severe losses in sales after the end of the corona pandemic. Hygiene Austria was originally founded in March 2020 as a joint venture between Lenzing and Palmers, and Palmers is now the sole owner. In 2021 and 2022, the company attracted a lot of attention because it presented itself to the outside world as a company with products “made in Austria”, but it later became known that protective masks were purchased from China.
