VIENNAAustrian Finance Minister Hans
Joerg Schelling said on Wednesday he expected that an offer
could be made to creditors of “bad bank” Heta before
the end of the year if talks and preparations go smoothly.

Schelling signed a 1.2 billion euro ($1.29 billion) final
agreement with the German state of Bavaria to settle a dispute
over Heta, said he expected talks with other creditors to start
within weeks.

“We expect talks with creditors and (the province of)
Carinthia to start within weeks,” said Schelling during the
signing ceremony with Bavaria’s Finance Minister Markus Soeder
in Vienna.

“If everything goes smoothly and we have all the laws and
preparations in place, we should be able to table an offer this
year,” he added.

Heta is winding down the assets of now defunct Hypo, whose
failure sparked multiple lawsuits in Germany and Austria, with
claims and counter-claims adding up to about 16 billion euros.

($1 = 0.9330 euros)

(Reporting by Karin Strohecker, editing by Louise Heavens)