Mercosul from Areva.

Mercosul from Areva. На Кипре убит российский предприниматель. 08:50 «Вести.Ru». На южном побережье Кипра в городе Лимасол убит российский предприниматель Юрий Курилов. Его тело было обнаружено накануне на пляже неподалеку от отеля «Аматус». Согласно данным полиции, убийство, скорее всего, произошло в ночь с воскресенья на понедельник. 61-летний Курилов, занимавшийся продажей недвижимости, постоянно проживал на Кипре. Его тело было замечено с балкона жилого дома. Оно было наспех прикрыто ветками и находилось рядом с прогулочной дорожкой на набережной. Установлено, что Курилов был задушен. Представители властей уже связались с его сыном, который также проживает на острове, передает ИТАР-ТАСС. Ведется расследование.

Portugal works as mediator on Honduras' situation in Ibero-American Summit. www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-01 05:38:59. LISBON, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's Exterior Minister Luis Amado said on Monday that Portugal is working as a mediator among the Ibero-American countries to achieve a consensus that allows the approval of a joint declaration of the 19th Ibero-American Summit countries on the political situation in Honduras. "The goal of the Portuguese presidency is to find a common ground about the political situation of Honduras, not only in relation to the recent elections occurred in the country," Minister Amado told the press. The minister added that "at the moment the members have very different positions," which may pose some difficulties to achieve the joint declaration. Minutes before, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Relations Miguel Angel Moratinos had declared that "Spain neither recognizes nor ignores the elections occurred in Honduras." "The goal we all share is to achieve a political solution for Honduras," said the head of the Spanish diplomacy, adding that from these elections will emerge a new actor to dialog with deposed President Manuel Zelaya. Additionally, Minister Amado said that, as a mediator, Portugal cannot talk about the elections, since its goal is "to listen to the positions of all involved parties, particularly Honduras' neighboring countries," in order to achieve, by tomorrow, an official position of the summit which is positive for the development of a political and diplomatic process which allows the stabilization of Honduras. MNE com alto interesse no reinício negociações UE-Mercosul. segunda-feira, 30 de Novembro de 2009 | 19:46 Os ministros dos Negócios Estrangeiros de Portugal, Espanha e dos países do Mercosul manifestaram hoje «alto interesse político» num rápido reinício das negociações para um acordo de associação UE-Mercosul, segundo um comunicado. O texto foi divulgado depois de um encontro informal, realizado à margem da Cimeira Ibero-Americana, de ministros dos quatro países membros do Mercado Comum do Sul - Argentina, Brasil, Paraguai e Uruguai - e dos chefes das diplomacias de Portugal, Luís Amado, e de Espanha, Miguel Angel Moratinos. «No final do encontro, foi manifestado o alto interesse político num rápido reinício das negociações» para um acordo de associação inter-regional entre a União Europeia e o Mercosul, afirma o comunicado. Diário Digital / Lusa

Warsaw's electric tram was hit twice by the sniper. Snajper strzela w poniedziałki. Marek Kozubal 30-11-2009, ostatnia aktualizacja 30-11-2009 22:41. Adam Mularz, szef stołecznej policji, powołał specgrupę, która ma wyjaśnić, kto niszczy tramwaje i autobusy. – Szukają snajpera, choć nikt oficjalnie tego nie powie – mówi policjant. Szefowie policji już w ubiegłym tygodniu podjęli decyzję o skierowaniu tylko do tej sprawy kilku doświadczonych funkcjonariuszy. – W specgrupie są policjanci z Wydziału Kryminalnego KSP – powiedział Marcin Szyndler, rzecznik komendanta stołecznego. Szef policji zdecydował się na ten krok, bo tajemniczym snajperem zaczęły się interesować media. Rzecznik policji Marcin Szyndler utrzymuje, że nie ma dowodów na to, by autobusy i tramwaje zostały ostrzelane. Dlaczego? – Bo nie znaleźliśmy na miejscu śrucin czy kulek – mówi. Również wczoraj twierdził, że strzałów nie było. Policjanci operacyjni nie mają jednak takich oporów. – Ktoś strzela do autobusów i tramwajów – twierdzą. Na razie poruszają się po omacku. Dysponują jedynie notatkami z przesłuchań motorniczych i kierowców. – Niemal wszyscy twierdzą, że słyszeli huk, potem pękła szyba. Nic nie widzieli – mówi oficer policji. Tylko jeden z kierowców sugeruje, że strzały mogły paść z samochodu. Nie jest jednak w stanie podać jego marki, bo było ciemno. Kryminalni mają do dyspozycji protokoły z oględzin wozów. Miały one nie tylko pęknięte szyby, ale także niewielkie wgniecenia na karoserii. – Lakier był odpryśnięty jakby od kuli – mówi policjant. Taki ślad znaleziono wczoraj na drugim wagonie tramwaju nr 33. Można przypuszczać, że snajper oddał do miejskich pojazdów kilkanaście strzałów, uszkodził osiem pojazdów. Pewne jest, że jako dzień ataku wybrał poniedziałki. 9 listopada po godz. 20 ostrzelał dwa tramwaje i dwa autobusy w al. Waszyngtona. 23 listopada pomiędzy godz. 18 – 19.30 trafił w trzy autobusy w al. Wilanowskiej i na ul. Wawelskiej. Celuje wyraźnie w głowy pasażerów lub kierowców i motorniczych. Na broń automatyczną wskazuje to, że szybko pada kilka strzałów. Dotychczas pojazdy były niszczone po zmierzchu, wczoraj jednak ktoś wypalił do tramwaju nr 33 na Bielanach w biały dzień, o godz. 13.20. – Przypuszczam, że to głupia zabawa kogoś, kto kupił sobie broń. Niewykluczone, że porusza się po mieście samochodem – mówi policjant. Marcin Szyndler apeluje zaś do świadków, którzy coś mogli widzieć, aby zgłaszali się na policję.

GE and Vivendi agree NBC Universal deal. December 1 2009 01:20. General Electric has agreed to pay Vivendi $5.8bn for the French group’s 20 per cent stake in NBC Universal, according to a person familiar with the negotiations, paving the way for the conglomerate’s planned sale of 51 per cent of the US media group to Comcast. The valuation is at the high end of expectations and essentially equates to one fifth of the valuation the Comcast deal puts on NBCU, once debt is stripped out. However, it is slightly below the stake’s current valuation in Vivendi’s books. GE and Vivendi had been haggling over the valuation since the French group’s annual window for exercising a put option on the stake opened on November 15. It was not immediately clear, however, whether GE would pay Vivendi the full $5.8bn upfront, or seek to stagger the payment over a period, given that the Comcast deal is expected to take as long as a year to clear regulatory hurdles. Comcast’s deal to buy a 51 per cent stake in NBCU for $30bn was expected to be announced last week, but was delayed by GE’s negotiations with Vivendi over the value of the stake. The two sides sought to bridge a gap of close to $1bn, people familiar with the matter said. Vivendi declined to comment. Comcast’s deal to take control of one of Hollywood’s biggest movie studio and television networks will give Comcast unrivaled control over the creation and distribution of news and entertainment in the US. Brian Roberts, chief executive of Comcast, the largest US cable operator, has long coveted content following a failed hostile bid for Disney in 2004. Mr Roberts’ run for NBC Universal runs against current media industry conventional wisdom as rivals have failed to generate value out of owning the production and distribution of content. Time Warner this year spun off its cable division and will complete a spin off of AOL in December. Under the terms of an agreement dating back to Vivendi’s sale of its interest in Universal Studios to GE, the French group behind properties such as Universal Music and Activision Blizzard could have pursued the alternative option of pushing for an initial public offering of NBC Universal. However, such a move could have yielded a smaller sum for its stake and complicated GE’s plan to cut its exposure to its only media asset. The $5.8bn settlement with GE, first reported by WSJ.com, will ease pressure on Vivendi’s balance sheet after its $4.2bn takeover of 54 per cent of GVT, a Brazilian broadband operator. The deals with Vivendi and Comcast will begin GE’s gradual withdrawal from a business that brought glitz – and, in its heyday, big profits – to a conglomerate once known to many solely for its light bulbs and toasters. But with NBC Universal’s struggles now a drag on GE’s growth prospects, and given the media industry’s uncertain future, company executives had grown concerned the business might sap resources best placed with their industrial divisions. While the eventual disposal of NBC will sever another link to the Jack Welch era at GE, Mr Welch himself had by the early 1990s tired of the media business’s volatile results. He sought a buyer for the division before ultimately deciding to hold onto it, leaving the call to his successor, Jeff Immelt. The spinoff, along with Mr Immelt’s decision to shrink the conglomerate’s financial services arm, will also mark a return to GE roots as an industrial powerhouse. The group will focus on engineering know-how, government infrastructure work and a massive installed base of customers whose service contracts provide the company with reliable revenue stream years after they buy their first GE gas turbine or aircraft engine.

Fury as French steal march on €4bn Areva buy. November 30 2009 23:37. Alstom and Schneider Electric of France on Monday night trumped foreign rivals GE of the US and Toshiba of Japan with a €4.1bn bid for the transmission and distribution arm of state-owned nuclear group, Areva. Areva’s supervisory board announced it would enter exclusive negotiations with the two French bidders after a marathon meeting lasting more than three hours. The announcement is likely to spark accusations of protectionism, as the French bid was not the highest and the government had in recent days appeared to delay a decision in order to give Alstom and Schneider time to revise their offer. In the end the French consortium improved its bid by dropping performance conditions that would almost certainly have cut the value of the €4bn offer by €400m. The French offer values the equity at €2.3bn, against Toshiba’s €2.4bn. People close to the disappointed bidders said they were “very, very angry”, while Toshiba is considering a legal challenge over the process. “They told us the bid would be judged on four criteria but it turns out there was a hidden one,” said a person close to one of the bidders who did not want to be named. “You have to be French.” GE said it was “disappointed” in the result. “GE made a strong, competitive bid for the Areva T&D business, addressing the financial, industrial and social aspects of the sale,” the company said. “GE was committed to a fair and open bidding process and complied with the requirements throughout the bidding.” People close to the process said the government had been concerned by plans from both foreign bidders eventually to cede stakes in the T&D business – either to sovereign wealth funds or through a flotation on the market. Nonetheless it has been clear from the start that some government advisers favoured a French solution. Many feared attracting criticism for selling state assets to foreign groups. There is also deep suspicion of foreign bidders after the government allowed the sale of French aluminium group Péchiney to Alcan of Canada in 2003. Despite assurances on jobs and factories, today little remains of Péchiney in France. But the French bid has also been controversial, as it will mean dividing the world’s third largest supplier of transmission and distribution equipment in two. Schneider will take the medium voltage distribution arm, while Alstom intends to take the high tension business. Management has publicly opposed a sale to Alstom and Schneider, while unions have unusually declared their preference for a foreign bid which would leave the business intact. The French bidders, meanwhile, argue that the split will create two world champions instead of one, with Schneider becoming the equal of market leader ABB in medium tensions and Alstom one of the world’s biggest in the transmission equipment market. Areva has been forced by its government shareholder to sell the business to fund a €10bn investment programme. It acquired the T&D activities from Alstom in 2004 for €920m as part of a government orchestrated rescue of the trains and turbines group led by current President Nicolas Sarkozy, then finance minister.