Former Austrian vice chancellor to head new Ukrainian modernization agency
Xinhua, March 4, 2015 Adjust font size:
Former Austrian Vice Chancellor Michael Spindelegger was appointed as director and coordinator of the newly-founded Agency for Ukraine's Modernization, Austrian media reported Tuesday.
Spindelegger will be based in the Austrian capital of Vienna and will be involved in activities relating to both humanitarian and economic aid for Ukraine, as well as providing "professional assistance" toward reforms.
According to the report, his new job will include the creation of a "master plan" of reforms in the fields of economy, tax, and constitution.
Spindelegger confirmed on Tuesday that in fact there will be three directors of the agency in total, including Austrian politician Karl Schloegl, and German entrepreneur Udo Brockhausen, who has close ties with Ukraine.
He said the modernization program is a private initiative, not a state-sponsored one, and those involved are all people with experience.
Other high-profile members of the new agency are former French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Bernard Kouchner, former candidate for the German Chancellery Peer Steinbrueck, and former European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry Guenther Verheugen.
Spindelegger, who resigned from all of his various political positions unexpectedly in August 2014, was more recently rumored by the Austrian media to be involved in talks for a high-ranking EU position. Endi