Mirko Kovats

Mirko Kovats ( born August 3, 1948 in Vienna) is an Austrian entrepreneur, best known for his role as founder, majority owner ( indirectly, through his private foundation MUST) and Chairman of the insolvent Austrian company A-TEC Industries.

Curriculum vitae

Private life

Kovats was born in 1948 as son of Hungarian immigrants in Vienna. He studied business administration at the University of Economics and earned his doctorate at the age of 23 years.

Mirko Kovats is considered reclusive. He is married and has two sons.

Early activities ( until 1997)

After his studies, Kovats operated in the 1980s and 1990s, first as a distributor of machines with the COMECON countries.

After the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1989 he sought a new field of employment, developed office and hotel projects and invested in real estate. In the 1990s, Kovats participated together with his partner Francis Mock at several nightclubs (including the club U4, A2 south pole in the multiplex Voesendorf, Tanzpalast -Baden, night work, Vienna, Dorian Gray Korneuburg, Miami -Hagen Brunn, events in Sofiensäle 1998 in Vienna).

Little successful was the renovation of the First Austrian gear factory and the Vienna bridge and iron construction AG.

Structure of A-TEC

From the late 1990s Kovats began to build his group A-TEC Industries. The foundations he laid in 1997 by acquiring 50 % stake in the Salzburg Machine Tools Emco. Later followed other main pillars of the group: ATB Austria Antriebstechnik, the mining Brixlegg and Austrian Energy & Environment. Through acquisitions Kovats extends its industrial holding company. Usually he buys economically troubled company with a high " turnaround potential " at a reasonable price, and it succeeds in this to clean up a few years and make a profit. Today, more than 70 companies with more than 10,000 employees belong to the group achieved a turnover of well over 1 billion euros.

Not always Kovats is but an unqualified success:

• 2002 failed, for example, a takeover of the Semperit work of Continental and a takeover of the Vienna Grundig works.
• 2003 attracted Kovats stir together with partner Ronny Pecik with the purchase of close to 20 percent of the shares in VA Tech Industry Group and in 2004 with the profitable but controversial resale of these shares to Siemens AG.
• 2005 Kovats participated, again with partner Pecik, the Swiss company Unaxis (now OC Oerlikon ). In early 2006, Kovats retired from the Board of the Group. In return Pecik rose, apparently from because of differences with Kovats, at A -TEC.
• In 2005, he tried the Austrian province of Burgenland abzukaufen Bank Burgenland. The sale was rejected by Parliament, which demanded an examination by the Court, whereupon Kovats withdrew its offer and also other planned investments in Southern Burgenland in Spielberg (Styria ) had burst.
• In 2007, Kovats gave a takeover battle with the North German copper manufacturer Affinerie (NA ) to the Belgian Cumerio. A-TEC wanted Cumerio assume that rejected the NA and the favorite. However, before the NA could come into play, Kovats blocked the business by increasing its share in Cumerio and boarding also at NA. The standoff lasted until April 2008.
• 2007 tries Kovats, to take over the Serbian copper producer RTB Bor.
• 2010 In June 2010, A- Tec wanted to emit a bond, but failed. A-TEC, however, did not publish any ad hoc report on the failure of the emission. In 2012, the Financial Market Authority therefore imposed a fine in the amount of 130,000 EUR over Mirko Kovats and Christian Schmidt.

October 5, 2010 presented A- Tec in an ad -hoc bulk orders with a volume of just under a billion in a view. Since the Financial Market Authority 's view was already known at that time that the funding was not assured, there was in 2012 a further penalty in the amount of EUR 200,000 for Mirko Kovats, Christian Schmid and Franz Fehring.

On 20 October 2010 A- Tec announced bankruptcy. This is the third-largest bankruptcy in the Austrian economic history.

In July 2011, the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office conducted a search warrant at A -Tec by as following a complaint investigations, among other things because of fraudulent bankruptcy and false accounting against several boards, including Mirko Kovats ran.

2012 acquired Kovats together with Jan Air mining rights for gold in Sierra Leone.

Kovats and climate are Managing Director and owner of K & K Oil and Gas Ltd.

On November 14, 2012, the creditors of A-Tec receive a quota paid in the amount of 39 percent.

According to business magazine "Format" wants to set together with investors, the A- Tec after payment of the quota as a holding company for industrial enterprises newly Mirko Kovats. Are planned activities, among others in the fields of oil, gas and copper. He sees the possibility of synergies with the K & K group (meaning apparently the K & K Oil and Gas GmbH, which he runs together with Jan climates). This intention was reaffirmed in January 2013 Kovats, where he makes acquisitions in the original 4 fields in views. However, a prerequisite is the resumption of trading of A-TEC stock, what would be done with the stock market calls. The Financial Market Authority was known, however, that it had instructed the Vienna Stock Exchange to investigate reasons for the revocation of the admission to trading of A-TEC securities.

In January 2013 it was announced that the A -TEC 600 000 EUR to have been withdrawn. In an interview with the business newspaper Mirko Kovats confirmed a complaint by the bankruptcy trustee. A comparison was made with the CII AG, which belongs to his foundation agreed. Here, a tee and a longer payment period has been agreed.

Furthermore, there are allegations of tax evasion against Mirko Kovats, however, denies this. The allegations go, among other things there that he had " used his network of companies to finance his private land purchases in the Bahamas and to obtain tax benefits ." Specifically it is the Capital and Industrial Investment AG (CII ), a subsidiary of MUST Private foundation, owns the investments in the Bahamas. The real estate in the Caribbean to be sold until 2014.

In addition, include the following companies to the holdings of capital and industry Investment AG (CII AG):

• CII Resources GmbH (CEO Mirko Kovats )

• K & K Investment GmbH ( indirectly; CEO Mirko Kovats and Jan Klima)

• K & K Oil and Gas GmbH ( indirectly; CEO Mirko Kovats and Jan Klima)

• K & K Natural Resources GmbH (formerly: I 2 C Investment GmbH; indirectly; CEO Mirko Kovats and Jan Klima)

• CII Mining Industries Ltd (Director: Emil Vassilev Kotzev and Franz Fehring; Supervisory Mirko Kovats [ Chairman ], Stoyan Staykov Staykov, frankness Dobretsberger ) The company was founded in 2009 and has to date ( May 2013) disclosed no financial statements, although § 277 of the Commercial Code provides that it has the latest nine months after the balance sheet date to be carried out.

• CII Transport Investment GmbH in Liquidation ( 51% are via CII Resources GmbH CII AG, 49 % of the E-TEC participation Verwaltungs GmbH, a subsidiary of the insolvent A-TEC Industries AG ); she went into liquidation in August 2012 and was deleted after its completion in April 2013 from the Companies Register.

20 shareholders have the criminal proceedings against Mirko Kovats already as a private party, and more will do so yet.

Kovats owns indirectly through his private foundation TOSE several properties, including the Artis Hotel in Vienna and the Schlosshotel Krumbach. In March 2013 it was announced that the also belonging to him Artis Hotel Semmering is to be sold on to an Austro- Ukrainian investor group.

Before the Independent Administrative Senate (UVS ) in April 2013 Kovats said that he had no assets, no income and live on credit. The UVS - process relates to the penalties of financial market supervision, which were imposed in 2012 because of incidents in 2010 (see above)

Criticism

Because of his unconventional business practices and methods of financing and its sometimes spectacular transactions were repeatedly accused Kovats risky, unfair or even criminal activity. In the early phase of its activities (before 1997), numerous companies in which Kovats was directly or indirectly involved went into bankruptcy.

Multiple Kovats was sued under private law. Also, he was criminally charged twice:

Small investors accuse Kovats that his business practices shame the reputation of A-TEC and have influenced the share price performance massively negative. They demand more transparency. The A- TEC stock was in December 2006 to 100 euros (after a previous share split this emission rate would correspond to a value of 25 euros per share) issued and reached after the announcement of bankruptcy in October 2010, a historic low of 1.85 euros.

After the failure of reorganization and takeover by new investors, the stock in October 2011 fell to 84 cents. " The experienced bankrupt with over 30 bankruptcies " no one is conscious of guilt and blames the bankruptcy and the failure of rehabilitation in others.

The documentary, released in 2008 Let's Make Money by Erwin Wagenhofer shows him at highly controversial statements about working conditions in its Indian factories.

Works

• Mirko Kovats: The Soviets were right: 62 Theses a lateral thinker Edition a, ( 2010); ISBN 3-990-01015-8.