Austrian government sells Hypo Bank offices in the Balkans

The Austrian government has made a decision to resolve the issue of debt-ridden Hypo Alpe Adria Bank by setting up a private "bad bank," which means that its subsidiaries in the Balkans will be put up for sale very soon.

This decision was announced at Friday's press conference in Vienna by Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger, who added that the province of Carinthia would have to pay money to "the fund of the future," explaining that Hypo was not going to go bankrupt because the attached risk was much too big.

Ewald Nowotny, who led a government task force on the Bank, pointed out that the "bad bank" would not have state guarantees, meaning that it would be able to go bankrupt just like every other private company.

Speaking about subsidiaries in the Balkans, Mr. Nowotny said that they should be sold as soon as possible, assessing that that could be done as early as 2014.