State councillor is certain

“There was no alternative for us to buy the Au”

The state bought the Antheringer Au in 2022.

(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

The Salzburg State Court of Audit would also have considered leasing the Antheringer Au possible. The then nature conservation councillor Daniela Gutschi (ÖVP) sees things quite differently and does the math.

The purchase of the Antheringer Au by the state in 2022 will continue to occupy local politicians in the coming weeks and months. As reported, the opposition is requesting a special session of the state parliament. In its preliminary report, the Court of Audit found that the price for the floodplain was too high. The Ministry of Agriculture is also said to have considered it excessive in 2022.

Daniela Gutschi (ÖVP), the nature conservation councillor at the time, arranged the deal and defends the procedure. "There was no alternative to buying the Antheringer Au for renaturation," says Gutschi. Markus Graggaber, Head of Department 5, Nature and Environmental Protection, in the state, also sees it this way: "We can't put areas under water that we don't even own." The planned measures, such as the widening of the Salzach in the area, can only be carried out on land that is owned. In the case of a lease, the interest would also have reached the purchase price after 30 years.

The floodplain would become a large nature reserve.

(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

Gutschi adds: "The state only has to bear 26 percent of the costs and gets 100 percent of the land in return. This is because the European Union and the federal government have contributed several million through the Resilience Fund and the Biodiversity Fund. The state has to pay 15 million euros for the entire project, with total costs amounting to 58 million euros. The purchase price of Max Mayr-Melnhof's Au - he did not wish to comment on the matter when asked by "Krone" - was 35.6 million euros.

Social Democrats plan committee of inquiry
The opposition, led by the SPÖ, has already announced a special session in the state parliament.

However, the Social Democrats want to go even further and ask both the federal government and the EU whether the funds received from them have been and are being used for the intended purpose. They also want to launch a committee of inquiry into the issue after the special session. Each party has the opportunity to do this once during the legislative period. There have been three committees of inquiry in Salzburg since 2000. The last one on the financial scandal in 2013.