Wolfgang Anzengruber becomes Austria's Ukraine special coordinator!

Wolfgang Anzengruber becomes Austria's Ukraine special coordinator!

Vienna, Österreich - The Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger has now appointed Wolfgang Anzengruber as a special coordinator for the Ukraine resistration. She announced this decision after the Council of Ministers approved in the afternoon. Anzengruber, who was CEO of Verbund AG from 2009 to 2020, has valuable experience from his time in management functions at Salzburg AG and the Palfinger Group. His appointment falls into a phase in which Ukraine has to experience urgency in reconstruction after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in February 2022. Austria has already mobilized more than 300 million euros in financial and humanitarian aid to help the affected people and to support the infrastructure.

Meinl-Reisinger has declared Ukraine one of its focus and hopes for great opportunities for Austrian companies in the reconstruction of this war-destroyed country. The national “Point of Contact” in the Foreign Ministry is already a contact point for coordination and support. According to the Ukrainian Vice Parliament President Olena Kondratiuk, Austrian aid amounts to around 2.9 billion euros, with around 1,000 Austrian companies, including 200 with their own branches, about 25,000 workers in Ukraine. Before the war, Austria was the sixth largest foreign investor in Ukraine.

experiences and goals of the new special coordinator

Wolfgang Anzengruber will be located in his new role in the Foreign Ministry. International reconstruction conferences have been held in recent years to develop perspectives for Ukraine, whereby Austria was actively involved. The last conference took place in Berlin, while the next is planned for June 10th and 11th in Rome. These conferences are crucial for mobilizing international support and expertise to restore the infrastructure in Ukraine.

The ceasefire appointed by President Selenskyj, which was rejected by Russia's President Putin, once again shows how critical the situation in Ukraine remains. Nevertheless, the hope of progress in reconstruction is strong, especially with a solid tour of people such as Anzengruber, who understand how important operational strategies and international collaborations are. Austria's commitment is seen as a declaration of will to bring back both humanitarian and economic stability in the country.

A virtual platform for reconstruction already exists to bundle domestic expertise. Anzengruber's appointment could therefore be an important step, not only for the Austrian companies, but also for Ukraine itself, which rely on international support in order to counter the immense challenges of reconstruction.