Styria Greens demand answers over construction cartel

The Styrian Greens will submit an urgent inquiry about the construction cartel at the state parliament’s next session on November 24, accusing the government of a scandal and a “blue-black capitulation,” ORF reported.

Their 28 questions will be directed to Governor Mario Kunasek of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), who is also responsible for the constitutional service. They include asking when the state began negotiations with the Association of Industrial Construction Companies Austria, why it signed a confidentiality agreement with the affected construction firms, and whether any third parties could benefit from a settlement.

Green party lawmaker Lambert Schönleitner said the state should not settle for only a fraction of the damages. The cartel operated for 10 years and was one of the biggest construction scandals in Austria’s Second Republic, he said. With billions of euros at stake nationwide, Schönleitner said, it was surprising that the state government was negotiating a settlement with companies he described as fraudulent.

He added that, given the state’s strained finances, it was unclear why the government might seek to recover only a fraction, perhaps a tenth, of the losses. The Carinthian state government had recovered 12 million euros from construction companies, he said, and cartel penalties had already been imposed, so responsibility was no longer in question.

Schönleitner also questioned why the state was asking municipalities to recover all the money while apparently not doing so itself. The state government, in its role overseeing municipalities, had urged them to pursue recovery through lawsuits, he said. Kunasek would have to provide clear answers at the November 24 session.