As a witness, the ÖBAG supervisory board member is supposed to present her views on the appointments to positions in the state holding company. She is the daughter of the industrialist Klaus Ortner, a major donor to the ÖVP. She didn’t see any connection between the donations and her order.
First, Ortner was supposed to tell the judge how she came to be a supervisory board member. The process began with a call from the then Finance Minister Hartwig Löger (ÖVP) in the first half of January 2019. He asked her whether she was fundamentally interested in the position. “I was very surprised” by this offer, the witness said. But first she had to clarify for herself whether a job as a supervisory board member was compatible with her role in the family business – as managing director of the IGO Group.
Video: Dannhauser (ORF) on the short trial
In the second half of January she received another call from the Ministry of Finance, which was followed by a meeting with the then Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance, Thomas Schmid. He should explain to her what exactly the job as a supervisory board member would look like. However, Schmid’s later application to become ÖBAG boss was not an issue.
She was finally appointed as a supervisory board member on February 15, 2019. At this supervisory board meeting she also got to know the other board members for the first time. The fact that she might become chairman of the supervisory board was “never an issue,” but if it had been so, “I would have rejected it,” said Ortner. Sebastian Kurz knew her from “several evening events” at the time, but Bonelli didn’t know her.
Image: ROLAND SCHLAGER (APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)
On March 27th, the supervisory board was ultimately informed that there had been ten applicants for the ÖBAG boss, four of which had made it to a shortlist. One person withdrew their application, and anonymous CVs were submitted to the supervisory board from the remaining applicants, said Ortner. However, the personnel consultant said that “the clear favorite was Thomas Schmid” and also mentioned his name. Schmid then introduced himself “very competently and convincingly”, whereupon he was unanimously elected ÖBAG boss. She only found out that he was applying for this job on that day; apart from that on January 21, 2019, she did not have a personal conversation with him.
Klaus Ortner’s company was the ÖVP’s largest donor in the 2017 election year
With just over a million euros, Klaus Ortner’s companies were the ÖVP’s largest donors in the 2017 election year. It was assumed in an advertisement that his daughter Iris joined the ÖBAG supervisory board in return. “Instigating” through correctly processed party donations is not a criminal offense, even if the party subsequently reciprocates, according to the economic and corruption public prosecutor’s office (WKStA)’s reasons for hiring him, which also confirmed Ortner’s professional suitability. After she got the call from Löger, she told her father regarding it, Ortner said. He was “just as happily surprised” as she was. She saw no connection between her father’s donations and her order.
Kurz and Bonelli are accused by the prosecution of having given false evidence as informants before the U-Committee, particularly in connection with the establishment of ÖBAG and the composition of the board and supervisory board of this company. The defendants deny this. Since the trial began on October 18th, six days of negotiations have already taken place to clarify the question of guilt, some of which have extended well into the evening hours.
