Press Release: State aid: Commission opens formal investigation into sale of Bank Burgenland to Grazer Wechselseitige in Austria

The European Commission has launched a formal investigation under EC Treaty state aid rules into the sale of Bank Burgenland. Land Burgenland decided to sell the bank in March 2006 to the Austrian insurance company Grazer Wechselseitige Versicherung AG (GRAWE) for €100.3 million, although the tender procedure had also produced an offer of €155 million by an Ukrainian/Austrian Consortium. The Commission has to make sure that the tender was conducted in a non-discriminatory manner and that the sale did not involve incompatible state aid. The opening of an investigation procedure gives interested parties the possibility to comment on the measures under scrutiny. It does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.