Unexpected windfall

“Carinthia is rich”: how Hypograb turned into profit

The former Hypo headquarters in the east of Klagenfurt

(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

When Jörg Haider once sold the Carinthian Hypo-Bank to Bavaria, he cheered "Carinthia is rich". An emergency nationalization and many problems later, it looks as if the cheeky prophecy will surprisingly come true after all - because Carinthia can suddenly book the bank scandal as a profit!

Who would have thought it? When the Carinthian Hypo-Bank was nationalized 15 years ago, it was to save Carinthia from bankruptcy due to liabilities. The province struggled for years to reach an agreement with its international creditors. Now it looks as if Carinthia could come out of the affair much better than expected - with a profit!