"Good testimony"

COFAG committee: Kogler defends corona aid

Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) also appeared before the COFAG-U committee on Wednesday.(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) eloquently defended the corona aid during his appearance at the COFAG committee of inquiry on Wednesday. In his opening statement, he referred, among other things, to the Economic Research Institute (Wifo), which had given the corona aid a "good report card" "on the whole". Prior to this, Finance Minister Magnus Brunner and his predecessor Gernot Blümel (both ÖVP) also answered questions from the committee.

At the start of his questioning, which began in the afternoon, Kogler recalled the beginning of the pandemic: at that time, it was primarily about saving lives, he emphasized, referring to the measures taken to contain the coronavirus. It was, of course, an "impact" on the economy. The corona aid had saved the economy from an even more massive slump, he said.

Kogler did not see "special instrument"
In response to criticism of the Covid financing agency COFAG, Kogler said that he had not recognized that "a special instrument had been constructed" to benefit donors to the "Ballhausplatz project". "I don't think you can accuse COFAG, the acting bodies and various people in positions of responsibility in the Ministry of Finance of that." Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement, he conceded in retrospect.

FPÖ MP Christian Hafenecker questioned COFAG Managing Director Marc Schimpel's green post haggling. Kogler said that Schimpel had been proposed by the head of cabinet of Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler due to his expertise. Schimpel used to be office manager in the Green parliamentary club, but - according to Kogler - "was never a Green member".

Blümel with gaps in his memory
Before Kogler, who closed the committee day, former Finance Minister Blümel had sifted through his memories to give the MPs information about his time in office. However, the former politician, who has since moved to the private sector, provided hardly any concrete information on Wednesday. The gaps in his memory led to some pointed questions from the MPs.

Finance Minister Brunner kicked off the last regular week of questioning in the COFAG-U committee in the morning. According to him, Signa companies owe the state millions in taxes. Brunner spoke to the MPs of a "double-digit million amount", the figure referring to the registered claims in the insolvency proceedings.

Benko to arrive in May
The refusal of Signa founder Rene Benko caused annoyance among the MPs. Entrepreneur Siegfried Wolf also canceled his appearance this week. However, due to the threat of a police summons, Benko made a binding commitment for May 22 via his lawyer Norbert Wess.