In November 2025, Manfred Juraczka, the former Vienna leader of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), resigned his mandate in the Vienna City Council and moved directly into a senior management position at the Vienna Business Agency, as first reported by Wiener Zeitung.
The resignation was announced in a brief notice published in late November 2025. It included references to Juraczka’s political career, praise from the ÖVP, and a short mention of his new professional role. A day later, he began work as second managing director of the Vienna Business Agency.
The Vienna Business Agency (Wirtschaftsagentur Wien), a fund wholly owned by the City of Vienna, advises companies and startups and distributes economic development funding worth millions of euros. According to a statement cited by Wiener Zeitung, the agency’s presidium approved Juraczka’s appointment. The position was filled without a public call for applications.
Austria’s Public Appointments Act requires executive board and managing director positions in entities subject to oversight by the Court of Audit to be publicly advertised. This requirement applies to the Vienna Business Agency. The position of first managing director was publicly advertised in May 2024 via the federal government’s official announcement platform. That post was subsequently filled by Dominic Weiss, who was described at the time as bringing extensive management experience and strategic expertise in the municipal sector.
Asked why no public tender was issued for Juraczka’s position, the Vienna Business Agency told Wiener Zeitung that an open call is required only for the first managing director. The second managing director, the agency said, is subordinate, has no independent management or decision-making authority, and does not represent the agency externally. Juraczka did not respond to a request from Wiener Zeitung asking whether he had applied for the role.
Susanne Auer-Mayer, head of the Institute for Labor and Social Law at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, told Wiener Zeitung that public-sector appointments are generally subject to advertising requirements. “If someone is a managing director, I do not see why the position would not need to be advertised,” she said. She also questioned why the agency requires a second managing director without leadership or decision-making powers.
The appointment took place at a time when Vienna was under significant fiscal pressure. By late 2025, the city carried debt of around €15 billion. Spending cuts had been implemented in the social sector, and public transport and parking fees had been increased. In 2024, the city adopted a stricter Corporate Governance Code aimed at improving transparency in appointments at the approximately 140 companies with city participation. Despite this, the Vienna Business Agency did not disclose the salaries of its two managing directors. Under the code, publication of such remuneration is mandatory from 2026 onward.
