Walter Ruck Under Pressure: Wirtschaftsbund Stands by Him for Now – Calls for Resignation Grow Louder

Kriz-Zwittkovits Takes Ruck's Side

In a press release issued by the Wirtschaftsbund, Kriz-Zwittkovits firmly rejected the allegations. She said she had always experienced Walter Ruck „als einen Präsidenten erlebt, der Frauen bewusst fördert“. At the same time, she acknowledged that men tend to talk casually among themselves – „sofern das in dieser Form überhaupt stattgefunden hat“. What matters, she said, is reality: „Was aber zählt ist die Realität ... Und diese Bilanz ist zehnmal stärker als es flapsige Sager in einer Männerrunde je sein könnten“. She also emphasized that there had never been a conversation with Ruck about her withdrawal: „Ich kann festhalten, dass es dazu nie ein Gespräch mit Walter Ruck gab und dies meine freie Entscheidung war, nicht als Spitzenkandidatin zur Verfügung zu stehen“. She justified her loyalty with decades of collaboration: „Wir stehen hinter Walter Ruck, weil wir ihn aus jahrzehntelanger Zusammenarbeit genau kennen“.

Reactions from politics and business have nonetheless been markedly more critical. The opposition parties FPÖ and the Greens demanded Ruck's immediate resignation. According to profil, influential „Spartenobleute“ of the Chamber have already called for him to step down, joined by expressions of displeasure from bank managers and industry representatives. A senior chamber official said on background: „Vieles davon ist für uns nicht neu. Aber wenn er das jetzt politisch überlebt, weiß ich auch nicht mehr“.

Politics and Business Demand Consequences

The industrialist and construction entrepreneur Hans-Peter Haselsteiner was equally unequivocal: „Natürlich ist so ein Verhalten nicht tragbar und es ist bedauerlich, dass sich solche Menschen so lange in solchen Positionen halten können“. profil had previously reported that Ruck, through the Vienna ÖVP Wirtschaftsbund he controls, had also placed his twin sons and his wife in positions within social insurance.

The Vienna ÖVP, led by its chief Markus Figl, responded with a distancing. It distances itself „klar von dem Bild, das hier abgegeben wird. Als Wiener Volkspartei stehen wir ganz klar für ein völlig anderes Politikverständnis als jenes, das in den Medienberichten zum Ausdruck kommt“. However, any personnel consequences would have to be decided by the Vienna Wirtschaftsbund or the Vienna Chamber of Commerce: „Allfällige personelle Konsequenzen muss der Wiener Wirtschaftsbund bzw. die Wiener Wirtschaftskammer treffen“. A statement from the ÖVP Ethics Council was still pending at the time of reporting.

Chancellor Stocker Points to the State Level

Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) declined to make a substantive assessment in remarks to the ORF. „Das betrifft weder mich als Bundeskanzler, noch die Bundesebene“, he said, referring the matter to the state level. As a result, the political burden of decision-making rests solely with the Vienna ÖVP and the Wirtschaftsbund, which holds an absolute majority in the Vienna Chamber of Commerce.

According to profil, the leaked minutes also attribute to Ruck the statement that he had over the past years „ausgeholzt“ the Vienna ÖVP Wirtschaftsbund – that is, swapped out personnel according to his own preferences. In another conversation, he is said to have described how he negotiated with Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) in the wine cellar and later at the Schweizerhaus over a „Stelze“ the controversial appointment of Manfred Juraczka (ÖVP) as the second managing director of Wirtschaftsagentur Wien.

Even before the profil cover story was published, a close confidant of Ruck's had written via WhatsApp to Wirtschaftsbund members: „In den kommenden Tagen werden Berichte veröffentlicht, deren klares Ziel es ist, unsere Organisation und unseren beispiellosen Zusammenhalt zu beschädigen. Ich bin jedoch überzeugt, dass dies wie bisher nicht gelingen wird“. The Wirtschaftsbund itself described the transcripts as „potenziell illegal“ and thereby sided with its president.

Meanwhile, the crisis is also feeding back on Ruck at the federal level. WKO President Martha Schultz took over the leadership of the national Chamber of Commerce at the end of 2025 following the resignation of Harald Mahrer and initiated a course of austerity involving staff cuts, the end of prestige projects, and a gradual reduction of the Kammerumlage 2. Schultz and Ludwig, the WKO President and the Mayor, were on vacation at the time of publication, meaning that the chambers' official response initially rested on the Wirtschaftsbund essentials press release.

The next test of strength is imminent: even before the ÖVP Ethics Council takes a position, pressure from the Spartenobleute and from opposition demands is likely to reach the internal bodies of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce as well.