Hubert Gorbach

Template:Short description Template:Expand German Template:Infobox officeholder Hubert Gorbach (Template:IPA; born 27 July 1956)<ref name="cv parliament">Template:Cite web</ref> is an Austrian politician and a member of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ). Gorbach graduated from a Template:Lang (a type of secondary school focussed on business, accounting and economics), before working in the textile industry in his home state of Vorarlberg for a decade.<ref name="cv parliament" /> Until April 2005, he was a leading member in the Freedom Party. Born in Vorarlberg, he was vice-governor (Template:Langx) of Vorarlberg until 2003.

In 2003, he succeeded Herbert Haupt as Vice-Chancellor of Austria. From February 2003 until June 2004, Gorbach was Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology in Austria in a coalition government headed by the People's Party.

Controversies

After attending the 2010 Belarusian presidential election as an election observer, Gorbach praised Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> stating its elections are "up to West European standards" and likening the elections to a "folk festival".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In October 2011, Hubert Gorbach lost his driving licence because of driving under the influence.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was alleged to have been 0.19 percent. Gorbach's driving licence was suspended for a period of 6 months, which led to allegations of preferential treatment on the part of the local authority in Feldkirch.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There were reports that Gorbach's license had been reinstated a few days after the incident.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After retiring from politics, Gorbach received more than Template:Currency from Telekom Austria. These payments were seen as payoff for favourable policies Gorbach enacted for the company during his tenure in government.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although Gorbach denied all allegations, he accepted a conditional discharge, which allowed him to avoid a criminal indictment by paying a fine of Template:Currency. Moreover, Gorbach had to pay partial restitution to Telekom Austria in the amount of Template:Currency as well as partially covering the costs of the investigation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Commentators saw the discharge as too lenient considering the severity of the alleged offences. The fine was calculated based on Gorbach's net monthly income at the time, which was reported to be approximately Template:Currency.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2025, Gorbach received a fake knighthood from an organisation pretending to be the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Said fake order is alleged to have taken payments from recipients in exchange for fake knighthoods.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

He is married and is interested in horses.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

References

• GORBACH, Hubert International Who's Who. accessed 8 September 2006.
• GORBACH, Hubert Homepage.
• [1] Profil Weekly Newspaper. Accessed 10-22-2011.

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