Viktor Klima (born 4 June 1947) is a retired Austrian politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ). He served as Chancellor of Austria from 1997 to 2000.
Early life
Born in Schwechat, Lower Austria, in 1947, Viktor Klima was a member of various social-democratic youth organisations during his school years. From 1969 onward, he worked at OMV, Austria's then state-owned oil company, where he was appointed to the executive board in 1990. During his time at the company, he was involved in significant restructuring measures, including a cutting of approximately 3,000 positions, which was implemented without major labour unrest. Alongside his career, he studied business administration and business informatics at the TU Wien and the University of Vienna, graduating in 1981 with a magister degree.
Political career
In 1992, SPÖ Chancellor Franz Vranitzky brought Klima into his government, where he served as Minister of State Industry and Transport until 1996. In that position he oversaw the restructuring and partial privatisation of major state-owned enterprises. He also negotiated a transit agreement with the European Union, with Austria being a key transit country in Central Europe. Within the SPÖ, Klima’s leadership has often been associated with the loss of the party’s three-decade hold on the chancellorship in 2000.
Post-political career
In October 2000, Klima took up a senior management position with Volkswagen in Argentina, and later advanced to the company’s South American executive leadership. During his time in Argentina, he also served as an advisor to President Néstor Kirchner and subsequently to his wife and successor Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Since retirement, he has lived with his family on a cattle farm near Buenos Aires.