Kriz-Zwittkovits takes over Vienna Chamber of Commerce

Margarete Kriz-Zwittkovits has become the first woman to lead the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, following Walter Ruck’s resignation, ORF Wien reported. She said she would introduce a more open leadership style but would retain the chamber’s statutory compulsory membership.

Kriz-Zwittkovits, born in Eisenstadt in 1959, founded her first trading company in 1986 and later opened a cosmetics institute in Vienna, where she also completed her master craftsperson examination. She became vice-president of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce in 2020.

She took over from Ruck, who resigned last week over an affair involving leaked transcripts of conversations. The transcripts reportedly quoted Ruck as saying that Kriz-Zwittkovits had withdrawn from another bid to become the top ÖVP candidate in Döbling on his “order”, in favour of his son Alexander.

“I was somewhat shocked by the statements,” Kriz-Zwittkovits said in an interview with ORF Wien. However, she said her mandate had already expired and that it had been clear to her at the time that she did not want to run as the top candidate. She said she had not yet discussed the conflicting accounts with Ruck.

Kriz-Zwittkovits initially described a reported remark by Ruck about SPÖ finance councillor Barbara Novak as a “flippant comment”. She now views the matter more critically. “I did not know Ruck to make such statements in personal dealings,” she said, adding that his resignation had been unavoidable.

Her appointment as president came unexpectedly. She said she had been asked to attend a meeting of the chamber’s executive committee about half an hour before it began and was then asked whether she wanted to take over. “And I said yes,” she said.

As president, Kriz-Zwittkovits said she wanted more direct contact with business owners, greater cooperation between the chamber’s specialist departments, and more openness and transparency.

She said the chamber would focus on attracting businesses and company headquarters to Vienna. Tourism also required adjustments, she said.

Kriz-Zwittkovits defended compulsory membership of the chamber as “the basis of a community of solidarity”. She said sole proprietors and small businesses also benefited because many of the chamber’s services would otherwise be unaffordable.

She said the traditionally good cooperation with Vienna’s city government should continue, while the chamber would remain firm on substantive issues.

Kriz-Zwittkovits said she would personally welcome future ÖVP participation in Vienna’s government. She served as an ÖVP representative for Döbling on the city council from 2021 to 2025 and was deputy leader of the Vienna party under former party chiefs Gernot Blümel and Karl Mahrer. Asked whether she wanted an ÖVP mayor in Vienna, she replied: “That question will not arise.”

She was also open to requiring public advertisements for senior positions within the chamber’s sphere of influence, including at the Vienna Business Agency. The agency’s appointment of former Vienna ÖVP leader Manfred Juraczka without an advertisement had drawn criticism. Although an advertisement had not been mandatory, Kriz-Zwittkovits said one could “certainly be offered” for future vacancies.