Inconsistencies?

Court of Audit to scrutinize sales

The head of the Court of Audit, Günther Bauer, should take care of this

(Bild: Rojsek-Wiedergut Uta)

The Provincial Court of Audit is to investigate whether everything was above board in the sale of provincial assets - with a particular focus on the Ossiacher See vacation village

The Freedom Party won't let up. For years, they have been annoyed by the fact that the provincial parliament does not have to approve the sale of provincial assets - only the provincial government has to do so. As reported, the Carinthian FPÖ had requested that an approval requirement be enshrined in law - internal party consultations and discussions are still ongoing.

However, the topic came up again in the last session of the provincial parliament - in the form of a question to Deputy Governor Martin Gruber on the sale of the Ossiacher See vacation village, who is responsible for this as the investment officer. "The fundamental decision to sell the property was made before I was responsible in 2017 and could no longer be reversed - I had this legally reviewed," Gruber defends himself. 

"The red-black state government has been delaying the implementation of the urgently needed protection of state assets for months and is shifting responsibility back and forth. In addition to the FPÖ's audit request to the State Court of Auditors to review sales such as that of the Ossiacher See vacation village, we have also submitted a motion to set a deadline so that our initiatives to protect the state's assets are finally implemented," explains FPÖ Club Chairman Erwin Angerer impatiently.

Random checks
Now the State Court of Audit is to look into the matter. If the audit request is accepted in the upcoming state parliament session, it will carry out random checks of "sales relating to direct or indirect state assets". The focus will be on the Ossiacher See vacation village and the sale of the provincial youth home in Görtschach to the Kinderfreunde. In the case of the former in particular, it is likely to be questioned why no reversal option - as in the case of Klagenfurt Airport, for example - was agreed in the contract.