Today in Austria: A roundup of today’s news on Friday
Every weekday, The Local brings you an English-language summary of the news you need to know in Austria.
Putin threatens to turn off the gas
Vladimir Putin has threatened to cut off Western nations from Russia’s natural gas supplies. This could affect energy prices in Austria, which imports 80 percent of its gas from Russia.
Putin has signed a decree that foreign countries they must start paying for gas in Russian roubles or it will halt supplies. The new rules start on Friday April 1st.
The German government said on Wednesday that Putin had assured German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a telephone call "that nothing would change for European contractual partners". The payments would continue to be made exclusively in euros and, as usual, would be transferred to Gazprombank, which is currently not affected by sanctions. The bank would then convert the money into roubles.
However, speaking on the broadcaster ORF’s ZIB2 programme, head of the Economic Research Institute (WIFO), Gabriel Felbermayr, did not rule out the possibility that Putin could turn off the gas tap at any time. He said this would plunge Germany and Austria into recession.
Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer tweeted late on Thursday “Germany and Austria stand side by side: We will keep calm and not relax the sanctions against Russia.”
READ MORE:
- Austria activates alert system over gas supply
- What does the government’s gas alert mean for Austria?
Epidemiologist says everyone will need second booster by autumn
The epidemiologist Gerarld Garthlehner has said that everyone in Austria should get a second booster Covid-19 jab before the autumn, with vulnerable individuals getting boosted even earlier.
“We should all get the second booster sometime before autumn,” he told broadcaster ORF. He also said the government’s new scaled down testing regime was enough to keep people safe.
The modelling expert Peter Klimek also told ORF reducing testing in Austria was epidemiologically justified due to the waning omicron wave. However, he expects a new wave of infections at least by autumn, if a new variant does not emerge before then.
Vienna’s new bike share scheme WienMobil Rad starts today.
The new rental bike system WienMobil Rad will be rolled out in Vienna on Friday. This will be the successor to the previous city bikes scheme. The new rental bikes will be made available by Wiener Linien. In future there will be bike rentals available to all districts.
The new bike sharing scheme will cost Vienna 2.3 million euros annually, with the contract running until 2031.
There are also one-off construction costs of 7.5 million euros, with 200 stations planned by autumn. In addition to the districts that already have Citybike stations, there will be twelve stations in Simmering, 16 in Floridsdorf, 21 in Donaustadt and seven in Liesing.
The standard rental rate is 60 cents for 30 minutes, and the bikes can be unlocked with a QR code and an app or a phone call.
READ MORE: Everything that changes in Austria in April 2022
Test reductions are ‘bad April Fool’s joke’ according to Krone tabloid
The Kronen Zeitung newspaper has said the new reductions in tests planned by Austria's Federal Government are like a “bad April Fool’s joke”, pointing out unlimited tests are available if you are prepared to say your throat is sore or you want to see your grandparents.
It writes: “In some federal states you have to lie to those responsible for possible symptoms in the face, in others a wrong tick online is enough for the right result - the next free test!"
The newspaper points out there are so many exceptions and loopholes in the changes to testing, anyone who wants extra tests will be able to get them. Anyone who has hoarded tests at home can carry out a total of ten PCR tests in April, and those living in Vienna just have to click a box of one of the “exceptions” to receive a sixth gargle test in the Bipa store.
In addition, testing centres (Teststraßen (test streets), Gurgelboxen (Gurgle boxes) and Schnupfen-Checkboxen (sniffle check boxes) will remain open in the capital, and pharmacies in Vienna will continue to carry out tests.
However, a government spokesman told the newspaper that people could end up paying for tests if they didn’t have a plausible reason why they needed one.
READ MORE: I've stashed away Covid tests. Can I use them from April?
Men in Austria are not taking any more paternity leave under new system
In 2002, a new child care allowance was introduced in Austria. replacing the earlier parental leave allowance. However, a study by the Institute for Family Research shows that it has not had the desired effect of getting more fathers to take time off to care for their young children.
The new system intended to get 30 percent of fathers taking time off work to care for their kids. However, only 11.4 percent did this, about the same as under the old system.
The new model, which made it possible for just the mother to receive the allowance for two years, had wide take up, showing the traditional division of parenting roles.
However the partnership bonus, which paid out in a split of 50:50 or 60:40 between both parents, was used in only 1.3 percent of cases. The goal was three percent.
In addition, the family time bonus, known as Papamonat (Daddy month), under which men have a legal right to stay at home for a month immediately after the birth and receive a payment of 700 euros, was used much less frequently than expected.
On average, there were 6,000 cases in 2019 and 2020 instead of the expected 32,800, but measured in terms of annual births there was at least a slight increase (to 8.5 percent of births in 2020), broadcaster ORF reports.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: What you need to know about parental leave in Austria
Construction on Vienna’s new subways ‘not affected’ by shortage of raw materials
The lack of raw materials and the resulting increase in construction costs are causing problems for several large projects in Austria.
However, the subway construction project in Vienna has not yet been greatly affected. According to Wiener Linien, price fluctuations were priced into the 2.1 billion euro U2 extension and the new U5 line, broadcaster ORF reports.
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Putin threatens to turn off the gas
Vladimir Putin has threatened to cut off Western nations from Russia’s natural gas supplies. This could affect energy prices in Austria, which imports 80 percent of its gas from Russia.
Putin has signed a decree that foreign countries they must start paying for gas in Russian roubles or it will halt supplies. The new rules start on Friday April 1st.
The German government said on Wednesday that Putin had assured German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a telephone call "that nothing would change for European contractual partners". The payments would continue to be made exclusively in euros and, as usual, would be transferred to Gazprombank, which is currently not affected by sanctions. The bank would then convert the money into roubles.
However, speaking on the broadcaster ORF’s ZIB2 programme, head of the Economic Research Institute (WIFO), Gabriel Felbermayr, did not rule out the possibility that Putin could turn off the gas tap at any time. He said this would plunge Germany and Austria into recession.
Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer tweeted late on Thursday “Germany and Austria stand side by side: We will keep calm and not relax the sanctions against Russia.”
READ MORE:
- Austria activates alert system over gas supply
- What does the government’s gas alert mean for Austria?
Epidemiologist says everyone will need second booster by autumn
The epidemiologist Gerarld Garthlehner has said that everyone in Austria should get a second booster Covid-19 jab before the autumn, with vulnerable individuals getting boosted even earlier.
“We should all get the second booster sometime before autumn,” he told broadcaster ORF. He also said the government’s new scaled down testing regime was enough to keep people safe.
The modelling expert Peter Klimek also told ORF reducing testing in Austria was epidemiologically justified due to the waning omicron wave. However, he expects a new wave of infections at least by autumn, if a new variant does not emerge before then.
Vienna’s new bike share scheme WienMobil Rad starts today.
The new rental bike system WienMobil Rad will be rolled out in Vienna on Friday. This will be the successor to the previous city bikes scheme. The new rental bikes will be made available by Wiener Linien. In future there will be bike rentals available to all districts.
The new bike sharing scheme will cost Vienna 2.3 million euros annually, with the contract running until 2031.
There are also one-off construction costs of 7.5 million euros, with 200 stations planned by autumn. In addition to the districts that already have Citybike stations, there will be twelve stations in Simmering, 16 in Floridsdorf, 21 in Donaustadt and seven in Liesing.
The standard rental rate is 60 cents for 30 minutes, and the bikes can be unlocked with a QR code and an app or a phone call.
READ MORE: Everything that changes in Austria in April 2022
Test reductions are ‘bad April Fool’s joke’ according to Krone tabloid
The Kronen Zeitung newspaper has said the new reductions in tests planned by Austria's Federal Government are like a “bad April Fool’s joke”, pointing out unlimited tests are available if you are prepared to say your throat is sore or you want to see your grandparents.
It writes: “In some federal states you have to lie to those responsible for possible symptoms in the face, in others a wrong tick online is enough for the right result - the next free test!"
The newspaper points out there are so many exceptions and loopholes in the changes to testing, anyone who wants extra tests will be able to get them. Anyone who has hoarded tests at home can carry out a total of ten PCR tests in April, and those living in Vienna just have to click a box of one of the “exceptions” to receive a sixth gargle test in the Bipa store.
In addition, testing centres (Teststraßen (test streets), Gurgelboxen (Gurgle boxes) and Schnupfen-Checkboxen (sniffle check boxes) will remain open in the capital, and pharmacies in Vienna will continue to carry out tests.
However, a government spokesman told the newspaper that people could end up paying for tests if they didn’t have a plausible reason why they needed one.
READ MORE: I've stashed away Covid tests. Can I use them from April?
Men in Austria are not taking any more paternity leave under new system
In 2002, a new child care allowance was introduced in Austria. replacing the earlier parental leave allowance. However, a study by the Institute for Family Research shows that it has not had the desired effect of getting more fathers to take time off to care for their young children.
The new system intended to get 30 percent of fathers taking time off work to care for their kids. However, only 11.4 percent did this, about the same as under the old system.
The new model, which made it possible for just the mother to receive the allowance for two years, had wide take up, showing the traditional division of parenting roles.
However the partnership bonus, which paid out in a split of 50:50 or 60:40 between both parents, was used in only 1.3 percent of cases. The goal was three percent.
In addition, the family time bonus, known as Papamonat (Daddy month), under which men have a legal right to stay at home for a month immediately after the birth and receive a payment of 700 euros, was used much less frequently than expected.
On average, there were 6,000 cases in 2019 and 2020 instead of the expected 32,800, but measured in terms of annual births there was at least a slight increase (to 8.5 percent of births in 2020), broadcaster ORF reports.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: What you need to know about parental leave in Austria
Construction on Vienna’s new subways ‘not affected’ by shortage of raw materials
The lack of raw materials and the resulting increase in construction costs are causing problems for several large projects in Austria.
However, the subway construction project in Vienna has not yet been greatly affected. According to Wiener Linien, price fluctuations were priced into the 2.1 billion euro U2 extension and the new U5 line, broadcaster ORF reports.
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