Economic Association: Statement on the Die Presse article “Greens: ÖVP wants to throw money at rich companies”

2023-10-13 20:35:41

Vienna (OTS) – In the “Die Presse” article, Green budget spokesman Jakob Schwarz claims: “The ÖVP wants to throw money at rich companies with the energy cost subsidy 2.” A statement that is met with complete incomprehension by the business association and is firmly rejected. The EKZ 2 is a more than urgent measure to cushion the still high energy costs. The energy cost subsidy 1 was mainly used by micro, small and medium-sized companies. The figures from the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) show that of the 11,239 applications, 96 percent came from SMEs. The commitments also went almost exclusively to the smallest (42 percent), small (40 percent) and medium-sized companies (13 percent).
WB General Secretary and Deputy e.g. NO. Kurt Egger sees budget spokesman Schwarz’s statement as a complete derailment: It’s time for the Greens to assume their government responsibility again and stick to their word. We have already seen with the energy cost subsidy 1 that the aid was mainly used by micro, small and medium-sized businesses, the backbone of our economy. To claim that entrepreneurs enrich themselves from energy aid is cynical and simply wrong. Business bashing is nothing new for the Greens, but injustice is.”