After balance sheet falsification

voestalpine

voestalpine - here CEO Herbert Eibensteiner - has prepared for gas bottlenecks. The company is also in good spirits with regard to the claim against the tax authorities for overpayment of taxes.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Markus Wenzel (2))

Over a period of 12 years, false bookings were used to inflate the figures by up to EUR 99.5 million - a serious balance sheet falsification at a voestalpine company came to light in February of this year. While the steel group is currently working on the mail to the tax office, the German public prosecutor's office rejected the charges against two ex-managers.

A legal dispute between OMV and Gazprom Export is causing a tense situation on the gas market: because an arbitration court awarded the Austrian energy group more than 230 million euros, the Russians stopped supplying OMV on Saturday.

What does this mean for major gas consumers such as voestalpine? The Linz-based steel group is relying on the promise of its suppliers to receive the contractually agreed quantities even in the event of a supply interruption from Gazprom Export, according to the company managed by Herbert Eibensteiner. Gas is also procured from various international sources, it emphasizes. Thanks to a storage facility built in 2022, operations would also be secured for three to even four months from these reserves.

We were recently informed by the German public prosecutor's office that the proceedings we reported will not be continued for reasons of the statute of limitations. This does not now concern Austria, nor does it concern any civil law claims against the former managing directors.

Herbert Eibensteiner, Vorstandschef der voestalpine

Apart from this, voestalpine is still dealing with the falsification of the balance sheet in a German company of the Metal Forming Division, which was uncovered in February and had been going on for twelve years: The company wants to reclaim overpaid taxes of EUR 17 million from the tax office; the corrected and audited tax returns required for this should be submitted soon.

What has become of the criminal charges against two former members of the management of the company in question? Fix: The responsible public prosecutor's office in Germany is not continuing the proceedings due to the statute of limitations; in Austria it is ongoing.