Special coordinator: “Austria can learn a lot from Ukraine”

From the renewal of the infrastructure, the expansion of Lviv into a logistics hub, the conversion to European rail width in rail transport, agriculture and forestry, housing, medicine, to the restructuring of the energy industry and much more.

Because Austria did not want to miss this economically highly lucrative reconstruction opportunity, the government appointed a coordinator last year for those domestic companies that have enough courage to invest in Ukraine. Coordinator Wolfgang Anzengruber says we are already working on the future approach with around 250 local companies. Some of them are already on site. “If we wait until there is peace and then start, it will be too late. Now the claims are being staked,” says Anzengruber.

The local competition is already huge: companies from China, Japan, South Korea, Canada and European countries are already staking out their interests. As Anzengruber describes, it’s not just about bringing together domestic companies with potential Ukrainian partners. Rather, guarantees must be developed, risks assessed and good connections with international financial institutions established.

The first measurable successes of Austria’s latest efforts can already be seen in the trade balance: exports to Ukraine rose by 16 percent last year, which is the first time in many years that Austria has achieved an increase.

Learn from Ukraine

Wolfgang Anzengruber was in Ukraine four times within a year – and learned “that Austria can learn a lot from Ukraine: for example in resilience or in the IT sector”. The former Verbund boss Anzengruber also had to repeatedly flee to shelters during the air raids and was often unable to sleep through the night. In Ukraine, he says, people have repeatedly told him that they are preparing for a continuation of the war. It is now important to think about how the next winter can be survived.

Austrian companies have good opportunities, particularly in the energy sector, explains Anzengruber. Ukraine wants to move away from large, central power plants – and not just to avoid the risk that a third of Kiev cannot be heated if Russian missiles hit a central thermal power plant. Ukraine also wants to increasingly switch from fossil energy to renewable energy sources. Wolfgang Anzengruber is convinced that “there are opportunities for us,” especially when it comes to green hydrogen.