Today in Austria: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Russian gas flowing again through Austria, long queues for postal services, Austrian professor awarded a Nobel prize and more news from Austria on Wednesday.
Russia's Gazprom resumes deliveries through Austria
The Italian energy company Eni will again receive gas - albeit only part of what it requested - from Russian supplier Gazprom after the company said it had issues dispatching through Austria earlier this week.
On Saturday, Eni said the supplies would be at zero for the following days, and Gazprom said the disruption was due to regulatory changes in Austria. Austria's energy regulator stated rule changes had been presented to market players months before they were set in place on October 1st.
READ ALSO: UPDATED: Will Austria have enough gas for this winter?
ÖBB and the City of Vienna extend free train travel for Ukrainian refugees
Austria’s national rail operator ÖBB has confirmed that Ukrainian refugees can continue using public transport free of charge until the end of October, as The Local reported on Tuesday.
Ukrainians must show a travel document as proof of status to use the transport network.
Additionally, Ukrainian refugees can continue using Wiener Linien services and the Verkehrsverbund Ostregion (VOR) public transport for free until October 31st.
READ ALSO: ‘Stressful learning German’: How a Ukrainian family is adapting to life in Austria
Austrians face long queues for postal services
Lines at the Post, Austria's postal service, have been long recently, Austrian media reported. The main issue is that Post branches are also home to the bank99, the state-run lender used by the government to pay social benefits to the population.
Currently, people who live in Austria have been able to draw money or exchange vouchers for money with the bank99 for a series of benefits, including pension payments, AMS (unemployment) money, and the Klimabonus.
Additionally, postal services have also been in high demand as Austrian citizens can vote by mail for president - the elections are on Sunday, October 9th.
READ ALSO: Reader question: I’ve received my Austrian Klimabonus as a voucher, now what?
Government presents €4 billion pension package
Without seeking a final agreement with the senior citizens' representatives, the ÖVP and the Greens agreed on next year's pension increase, as The Local reported on Tuesday.
The law stipulates that pensions are automatically adjusted to inflation every year. However, the calculation period is quite far back. In the current case, the inflation from August 2021 to July 2022 is decisive. This results in an increase of 5.8 percent - but inflation has already climbed to over ten percent.
According to the coalition government, there will be a gradation system and some 200,000 people can expect a 10.2 percent income increase.
READ ALSO: What the Austrian government’s new pension package means for you
Tyrol: coalition talks underway between ÖVP and SPÖ
A new government should be in place in Austria's Tyrol state by October 25th, public broadcaster ORF reported as coalition talks between centre-right ÖVP and centre-left SPÖ are underway.
The two party leaders, Anton Mattle (ÖVP) and Georg Dornauer (SPÖ), said they would promote a new "style" of government by working more intensively with the other parties in the provincial parliament.
Ideas and proposals, also from the opposition, should be taken up "undiluted and without amendments", said Dornauer. Problems should be "solved jointly", he added.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who will be Tyrol’s new governor?
French-US-Austrian trio win physics Nobel for quantum mechanics work
A trio of physicists on Tuesday won the Nobel Prize for discoveries in the field of quantum mechanics that have paved the way for quantum computers, networks and secure encrypted communication, AFP reported.
Alain Aspect of France, John Clauser of the United States and Austria's Anton Zeilinger were honoured "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science," the Physics Prize jury said in a statement.
Zeilinger, a professor of physics at the University of Vienna, said he had not expected to be honoured.
"I was actually very surprised to get the call," Zeilinger told a Stockholm press conference via telephone.
Zeilinger was highlighted for his work on "quantum teleportation, which makes it possible to move a quantum state from one particle to one at a distance," the jury said.
"It is not like in the 'Star Trek' films or whatever. Transporting something -- certainly not the person -- over some distance. But the point is, using entanglement, you can transfer all the information which is carried by an object over to some other place where the object is reconstituted," Zeilinger said.
Weather
Screenshot from ZAMG
The last patches of fog in the valleys dry quickly and the sun prevails everywhere, Austria's meteorologic institute ZAMG said.
However, some clouds pass by at high altitudes and somewhat dim the sunlight. The wind will be light at the eastern edge of the Alps and moderate from southeast to southwest during the day. The daily high temperature is 17 to 24 degrees.
If you have any questions about life in Austria, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
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Russia's Gazprom resumes deliveries through Austria
The Italian energy company Eni will again receive gas - albeit only part of what it requested - from Russian supplier Gazprom after the company said it had issues dispatching through Austria earlier this week.
On Saturday, Eni said the supplies would be at zero for the following days, and Gazprom said the disruption was due to regulatory changes in Austria. Austria's energy regulator stated rule changes had been presented to market players months before they were set in place on October 1st.
READ ALSO: UPDATED: Will Austria have enough gas for this winter?
ÖBB and the City of Vienna extend free train travel for Ukrainian refugees
Austria’s national rail operator ÖBB has confirmed that Ukrainian refugees can continue using public transport free of charge until the end of October, as The Local reported on Tuesday.
Ukrainians must show a travel document as proof of status to use the transport network.
Additionally, Ukrainian refugees can continue using Wiener Linien services and the Verkehrsverbund Ostregion (VOR) public transport for free until October 31st.
READ ALSO: ‘Stressful learning German’: How a Ukrainian family is adapting to life in Austria
Austrians face long queues for postal services
Lines at the Post, Austria's postal service, have been long recently, Austrian media reported. The main issue is that Post branches are also home to the bank99, the state-run lender used by the government to pay social benefits to the population.
Currently, people who live in Austria have been able to draw money or exchange vouchers for money with the bank99 for a series of benefits, including pension payments, AMS (unemployment) money, and the Klimabonus.
Additionally, postal services have also been in high demand as Austrian citizens can vote by mail for president - the elections are on Sunday, October 9th.
READ ALSO: Reader question: I’ve received my Austrian Klimabonus as a voucher, now what?
Government presents €4 billion pension package
Without seeking a final agreement with the senior citizens' representatives, the ÖVP and the Greens agreed on next year's pension increase, as The Local reported on Tuesday.
The law stipulates that pensions are automatically adjusted to inflation every year. However, the calculation period is quite far back. In the current case, the inflation from August 2021 to July 2022 is decisive. This results in an increase of 5.8 percent - but inflation has already climbed to over ten percent.
According to the coalition government, there will be a gradation system and some 200,000 people can expect a 10.2 percent income increase.
READ ALSO: What the Austrian government’s new pension package means for you
Tyrol: coalition talks underway between ÖVP and SPÖ
A new government should be in place in Austria's Tyrol state by October 25th, public broadcaster ORF reported as coalition talks between centre-right ÖVP and centre-left SPÖ are underway.
The two party leaders, Anton Mattle (ÖVP) and Georg Dornauer (SPÖ), said they would promote a new "style" of government by working more intensively with the other parties in the provincial parliament.
Ideas and proposals, also from the opposition, should be taken up "undiluted and without amendments", said Dornauer. Problems should be "solved jointly", he added.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who will be Tyrol’s new governor?
French-US-Austrian trio win physics Nobel for quantum mechanics work
A trio of physicists on Tuesday won the Nobel Prize for discoveries in the field of quantum mechanics that have paved the way for quantum computers, networks and secure encrypted communication, AFP reported.
Alain Aspect of France, John Clauser of the United States and Austria's Anton Zeilinger were honoured "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science," the Physics Prize jury said in a statement.
Zeilinger, a professor of physics at the University of Vienna, said he had not expected to be honoured.
"I was actually very surprised to get the call," Zeilinger told a Stockholm press conference via telephone.
Zeilinger was highlighted for his work on "quantum teleportation, which makes it possible to move a quantum state from one particle to one at a distance," the jury said.
"It is not like in the 'Star Trek' films or whatever. Transporting something -- certainly not the person -- over some distance. But the point is, using entanglement, you can transfer all the information which is carried by an object over to some other place where the object is reconstituted," Zeilinger said.
Weather
The last patches of fog in the valleys dry quickly and the sun prevails everywhere, Austria's meteorologic institute ZAMG said.
However, some clouds pass by at high altitudes and somewhat dim the sunlight. The wind will be light at the eastern edge of the Alps and moderate from southeast to southwest during the day. The daily high temperature is 17 to 24 degrees.
If you have any questions about life in Austria, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
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