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The planned move of the Federal Environmental Agency, which employs around 500 people from Vienna to Klosterneuburg via the city limits, is now set. "The final decision was made," Environment Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP) said Friday at a press conference. The new and expensive 57 million euro new construction project is already financed, notably thanks to the liquidity injection from the province of Lower Austria.
This is happening despite the widespread skepticism about the project by employees and the city of Vienna. Already a year ago, the city of Vienna had proposed eleven alternative sites in Vienna to retain authority in the city. On Thursday, Vienna's municipal councilor for the environment, Ulli Sima, again tried to build a plot of land in the city's development zone, City Gate, in the 21st district. In vain, the relocation is stopped.
Among the proposals of the city of Vienna did not meet the requirements of the planned new building, badured Köstinger. The most recently proposed area in Floridsdorf – at U1 Aderklaaer Straße – would have been a bigger trip for employees than for Klosterneuburg.
The relocation project comes from the former ÖVP Minister of Agriculture, Andrä Rupprechter, who described the project as a revitalization of rural areas. The office is currently spread over four sites in Vienna. It is planned to completely dissolve the four offices and laboratories located in the federal capital. This will move about 500 employees into the new headquarters, which is expected to be completed in 2023. Only the so-called ring test facility in Handelskai remains in the capital.
– APA
Three location options for Klosterneuburg
In Klosterneuburg, the new Federal Agency for the Environment (UBA) is expected to arrive, is still open. There are currently three options, said CEO Georg Rebernig. The final decision is expected in the spring of 2019 i.a. according to aspects such as transport links or construction criteria. For the staff, it should – keyword shuttles – a "package", promised Köstinger.
"It is important for us that employees are involved," said the minister. We are already in discussion with the company committee and confident in the fact that they can submit the corresponding offers. In addition, about 500 UBA employees were informed on Friday along with the relocation press conference in about five years.
Köstinger and Rebernig stressed in unison that a refurbishment of the current headquarters in Spittelauer Lände would cost much more than a new building – all the more so as the Vienna headquarters is a building the Klosterneuburg head office will, however, belong to the Office. "We had that calculated by the accountants," badured the minister. Rebernig said that there had been discussions with the Vienna City Hall, "but apparently it is difficult in Vienna to find a location for a building of this size near the city center".
More specifically, 56.8 million euros are budgeted for the new building in Lower Austria. 35 million will be provided by the ministry, 12 million will come from the province of Lower Austria and the remaining 9,8 million will be provided by the UBA itself, but the city of Vienna has made no commitment reimbursement, Köstinger said.
Sima: "impudence"
Councilor Sima did not accept this. Because a new building in Vienna would be cheaper anyway than the tax number. Travel allowances and business travel alone would cost around € 760,000 per year. With regard to the employees' work routes and the resulting environmental impact, Klosterneuburg was clearly at a disadvantage compared to a location with a direct connection to the metro, she said.
"Obviously, there were other reasons," suggested Sima, a "political agreement." According to the statements of Köstinger (ÖVP) and Grebernig, in Vienna, it seems that there is no suitable place to meet the needs of the new headquarters, Sima described as "impudence": "L & # 39; Last year, we launched an almost urgent offer for proposals nobody cares about. "Neither the ministry nor the UBA had solicited the interview. For Sima, hope is not yet quite dead: "We do not give up the subject."
Mikl-Leitner is happy
Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP), governor of Lower Austria, said she was delighted. "Currently, there is not five percent of Austrian federal institutions outside the federal capital, Germany or Switzerland, that is after all about 25%," he said. she declared. In this regard, this decision is also to be welcomed with regard to jobs and added value for the Länder: "It is impossible to explain to anyone that a place in the Tyrol, Burgenland or Lower Austria is worth less than in Vienna. " The 12 million euros announced by the state were "money well invested," said the head of state.
Markus Wölbitsch, a friend of the party, non-executive city councilor in Vienna, put a stop to the jubilation. For him, the city government is guilty of the move of the UBA. "The state government of Vienna apparently did not make any effort for the federal environment agency for a second," he criticized the local location policy. The Vienna ÖVP had – like all the other factions of the town hall – the year before, a resolution had been taken to determine where the Federal Environmental Agency was located in the federal capital. He today reminded his team of the director of the Rathaus-SPÖ club, Josef, by a broadcast. And he comes to the conclusion: "Köstinger whistles on the Vienna ÖVP".
(APA / red).
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