Two board members wanted

Very well-paid top Tiwag jobs are in high demand

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Two top-paid jobs in Tyrolean companies close to the province will be up for grabs in June: a Tiwag board member and the CEO. 60 applications are said to have been received.

The regional energy supplier Tiwag is to be reorganized in terms of personnel and structure. This is the wish of owner representative LH Anton Mattle (ÖVP). The cornerstones were agreed at the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday and the public interest in low energy prices was enshrined in Tiwag's constitution - for the first time in 100 years. Until now, Tiwag's management had been committed solely to stock corporation law and profit maximization, as the AK Tirol sharply criticized last year.

Supervisory Board Chairman Wallnöfer (right) plays a decisive role in the replacement of the Tiwag Executive Board with Chairman Entstrasser.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Fierce dispute with AK Tirol
The personnel reorganization has apparently been delayed somewhat as a result of the electricity ruling and the dispute over repayments to Tiwag/IKB customers. The decisive hearings with the Supervisory Board are now to take place in June. According to reports, 30 candidates have applied for the position of CEO Thomas Gasser. The often mentioned IKB board member Thomas Pühringer is not among the candidates.

Board member wants to become chairman
A further 30 energy experts, including Gasser himself, are interested in the position of CEO Erich Entstrasser, who has held the position since 2016 and will retire in 2025.

Greens identify closeness to ÖVP at agency
The application period ended on February 24. The top jobs were advertised throughout Austria by a Viennese recruitment agency. A former employee of the then ÖVP Vice-Chancellor Michael Spindelegger is said to have accepted the applications, as Green Party leader Gebi Mair explained at the Tiwag special state conference in January. He identified "post haggling" and criticized the fact that the Supervisory Board was made up of "ÖVP and SPÖ party hacks".

Tiwag is now lagging behind others when it comes to investments in photovoltaics, wind power and storage technology.

Gebi Mair, Tiroler Grünen-Chef

In fact, this supervisory board under the leadership of Eduard Wallnöfer plays an important role: six of the 60 applicants are said to have been selected for each function in the meantime. Further hearings are scheduled for the near future.

Exact figures in the dark
Including bonus payments, the five board members of Tiwag and Kommunalbetriebe (Gasser is on both) are said to earn a total of more than 2 million euros per year.

"Half-hearted and despondent"
The opposition expressed little enthusiasm for the result of the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday: "Now the next step must follow," said Green Party leader Mair: "In contrast, Tiwag is now lagging behind others when it comes to investments in photovoltaics, wind power and storage technology." Markus Sint (Liste Fritz) criticized the Mattle proposal to amend the articles of association as "half-hearted and despondent". "The amendment of the Tiwag statutes is a credit to the FPÖ, Liste Fritz and the Greens and not to LH Mattle," emphasized FP leader Markus Abwerzger.

Driving forward grid expansion
On Tuesday evening, Tiwag explained the results of the meeting: "The goal for the future is and remains for Tiwag to be one of the cheapest regional energy suppliers," said LH Mattle. Tiwag must also press ahead with the expansion of the grid, explained Wallnöfer.