Finance & Economics News

[Rasputin]

Russia: Ukraine Accused of Seizing Fuel

Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, accused Ukraine on Friday of diverting fuel intended for Europe and using it within Ukraine. Russia had cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine the day before over a pricing dispute. Ukrainian officials say they are withdrawing only enough gas to operate pumping stations serving the pipelines, while drawing on reserves for internal use. European nations said they had not seen any shortfalls so far. Talks between Russia and Ukraine were stalemated as Ukraine has asked for European Union mediation, an option Moscow rejected.

[Rasputin]

وال استريت ژورنال: آلمان عاشق ايران است

روزنامه ي امريكايي وال استريت ژورنال در مقاله اي تحت عنوان آلمان عاشق ايران است صراحتا آلمان را به خاطر آنچه همكاري اقتصادي با كشوري كه آن را تحت حكومت ملاها خوانده است سرزنش كرده است.

اين روزنامه مي نويسد در سميناري كه اتاق بازرگاني ايران-آلمان در هامبورگ برگزار كرد، راه كارهاي كمك به شركتهاي دو كشور در مقابل تحريمهاي سازمان ملل مرد بررسي قرار گرفته است. اين در حالي است كه آلمان به عنوان بزرگترين صادركننده اروپايي به ايران، قدرت اثرگذاري زيادي بر رژيم ايران دارد. اما برلين آگاهانه از اين قدرت خود استقاده نمي كند. وال استريت ژورنال در انتهاي مقاله ي خود با كنايه به طرفداران فراوان اوباما در آلمان، وظيفه ي نخست وي را مجبور كردن آلمان به جدي گرفتن تحريمها عليه ايران مي داند.

لازم به ذكر است كه بر طبق گزارشي كه هفته نامه ي آلماني شپيگل (Der Spiegel) ماه گذشته منتشر كرد، حجم صادرات آلمان به ايران در سال 2008 در مقايسه با سال 2007 از 2.5 بيليون يورو به 2.8 بيليون يورو افزايش داشته است. وال استريت ژورنال در انتهاي مقاله ي خود با كنايه به طرفداران فراوان اوباما در آلمان، وظيفه ي نخست وي را مجبور كردن آلمان به جدي گرفتن تحريمها عليه ايران مي داند.




حجم صادرات آلمان به ايران از سال 2004 تا سال 2008

اين هفته نامه در گزارشي كه 16 دسامبر 2008 منتشر كرد به بررسي اثر تحريمهاي اقتصادي غرب و امريكا عليه ايران پرداخته است. اشپيگل اعتقاد دارد كه تحريمهاي اقتصادي امريكا و غرب عليه ايران نه تنها باعث نااميد شدن اسراييل و خشم آلمان شده است، بلكه حتي ايران را در نافرماني عليه غرب مصمم تر ساخته است. دولت آلمان قصد دارد باراك اوباما را براي اعمال تحريمهاي شديدتري عليه ايران تشويق كند.
تحريمهاي اقتصادي عليه ايران، آلمان را در موقعيت حساسي قرار داده است. از طرفي اين تحريمها كاركرد موثري در دست كشيدن ايران از برنامه هاي اتمي اش نداشته اند، از سويي ديگر همان طور كه محمد البرادعي اشاره كرده است، اين تحريمها باعث متحد شدن مخالفان رژيم، در حمايت از دولت تحت تحريم شده است.
در مورد موضوع ايران، هيچ كشوري همچون آلمان زير ذره بين قرار ندارد. از سويي آلمان پيوندهاي اقتصادي محكمي با ايران دارد، و از سوي ديگر آلمان هرگز درمورد حق وجود كشوري به نام اسراييل حاضر به كوتاه آمدن نيست. حقي كه از طرف ايران بارها تهديد شده است. در اين رابطه سفير اسراييل در آلمان هفته ي گذشته طي اظهارنظري غيرديپلماتيك گفت: “آلمان يك كارهايي براي منزوي كردن ايران انجام مي دهد، اما اين كارها بدون شك كافي نيست.”

اشپيگل به عنوان نمونه به آقاي مارتين هرنكنخت اشاره مي كند كه مالك يك يك شركت معظم تونل سازي در آلمان است. وي در طول 30 سال حيات شركتش تقريبا در هر كشوري فعاليت داشته است. ايران شايد تنها كشوري باشد كه اين شركت به آن راه پيدا نكرده است. اين شركت شش ماه است كه منتظر پاسخ مقامات آلماني براي درخواست اجازه ي كار در پروژه ي تونل سازي اي در ايران مي باشد. اين در حالي است كه هيچ چيز درمورد قوانين تجارت با ايران روشن نيست. ايران همچنان به غني سازي اورانيوم مي پردازد، در حالي كه در سوي ديگر سازمان ملل تحريمهاي هدفداري را عليه اين كشور تصويب مي كند. هرچند تجهيزات حفاري تونل صراحتا در فهرست اقلام تحريمي وجود ندارند، اين امكان وجود دارد كه از اين تجهيزات زيرزميني براي امور نظامي استفاده شود. اگر اين شركت موفق به حضور در اين پروژه ي چند ده ميليوني بشود، اين پيام به جهان مخابره خواهد شد كه آلمان چندان در تحريمها عليه ايران جدي به نظر نمي رسد.

[Rasputin]

New York - Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to pay $1.55 million to resolve a U.S. government lawsuit accusing the securities firm of discriminating against an Iranian employee. The government accused the firm of refusing to promote Dr. Majid Borumand and later firing him on the basis of his national origin and religion.


The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the lawsuit in a New York district court in June 2007 under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. According to the five page complaint, Borumand, at the time a Quantitative Analysis and Vice President at the firm, was subject to hostile and bigoted remarks by his coworkers, passed over for promotion, and unlawfully fired in 2005.

Borumand said he was prohibited from sitting on the trading floor with his peers and placed in an office on a different floor. He was told ``the reason that you are not allowed on the trading floor is because you are from a country which has a high risk factor and a threat, according to the federal lawsuit.

Borumand has a doctorate in theoretical physics and a master’s degree in mathematical finance. He is originally from Iran and began working for Merrill Lynch in 2002 on an H-1 visa.

Under the settlement, Merrill will pay Borumand $713,333 in back pay, $356,667 in compensatory damages, and $480,000 for legal fees.

“We are pleased with the resolution of this case,” said EEOC senior trial attorney Michael J. O’Brien in a statement December 31. “Not only in terms of the significant monetary benefits, but also for the injunctive relief which will help foster a discrimination-free workplace.”

According to the consent decree settling the litigation, Merrill will institute a one hour training course on religious discrimination for its technology-equity sector employees. The firm also pledged not discriminate against employees because of national origin or religion or fire personnel for protesting discriminatory practices and agreed to report any similar employee complaints to the EEOC in the future. The EEOC says it will monitor the firm to ensure compliance.




The case is the latest of a series of similar discrimination cases after September 11, 2001, when EEOC began upping its focus on anti-Middle East discrimination, considered “retaliatory backlash.” In the two years immediately following 9/11, the EEOC reportedly received over 800 charge filings by individuals alleging discrimination due to perceived Middle Eastern identity.

While all complaints are pursued, the agency elevates 'very, very few' cases to the level of a lawsuit, according to George L. Lenard, a managing partner at the employment law firm Harris, Dowell, Fisher & Harris in St. Louis. 'And when they do, they put a lot of resources into it, and they do at least as good a job as any private litigator.'

But Borumand said he remained unconvinced. “I was extremely frustrated by the whole process.”

[Rasputin]

The economic slowdown has forced Germany's largest retailer, Metro, to cut 15,000 jobs or 5% of its workforce.

The cuts are a part of a plan, called Shape 2012, to increase profits by 1.5 billion euros (£1.4bn;$1.9bn) within the next three years.

The company, which owns supermarkets, cash-and-carry outlets and electronics retailers, said it hopes to avoid compulsory redundancies.

It employs 300,000 people and has 2,200 stores in 32 countries.

The plan will reduce costs by simplifying the group's structure and improving productivity and efficiency.

The company said it hoped the job cuts would come from natural wastage.

"The aim is to ensure profitable growth of the company in the long term," said Dr Eckhard Cordes, Metro Group chairman.

"With the new structure, we are giving the sales divisions significantly more freedom in the operating business. Critical areas of the company will be put to right and put on their feet."

Metro announced last week that overall sales increased by 5.9% to 68 billion euros last year.

But it saw a marked change in the last three months of the year.

"In the course of the last quarter, the economic environment drastically deteriorated further. Also the momentum of company's business development, especially outside of Germany, slowed."

"Last year was a challenging year for the retailing industry," said Dr Cordes.

He added: "Customers will think twice on where and on what they will spend their money."

[Rasputin]

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have agreed to work closely to try to overcome the current downturn, but they still have very different ideas about how their economies should be run.


Ludwig Erhard was Chancellor of West Germany 1963 - 1966
The year was 1948, and Germany had already been carved up by the victors of World War II. All through the conquered country, the economy lay in ruins.

But in the "Bi-Zone" - the area under the control of British and American troops - the foundations were being laid for a brand new economic system. Something that would be able to help the future West German state rise from the ashes and transform itself into a prosperous, democratic country.

The idea they came up with was the "social market" and its architect was a future Chancellor, Ludwig Erhard.

The concept was very simple: West Germany would have capitalism with a market economy, but the government would provide a significant amount of regulation to ensure fair play; much more regulation than in Anglo-Saxon capitalism, the system which had developed in Britain.

Over the years, the social market has been modified, updated, and sometimes even questioned. But the system that fuelled Germany's post-war economic miracle has not only survived: with the global economy in collapse, many Germans are hailing it as the only show in town.

'Casino capitalism'

In recent weeks, an ideological row has erupted between supporters of the social market and proponents of Anglo-Saxon capitalism.

Germany is facing its worst recession since World War II and many Germans blame that on the under-regulated and over-risky financial systems of countries like Britain and the US.

They believe it was those economies which triggered the credit crunch that dragged the global economy down the tube.

There's definitely something in our history and philosophy that makes us Germans demand more regulation

Economist, Ralph Brugelmann

On 14 January, the head of the German trades' union federation Michael Sommer vented his fury. He raged against "brutal, casino capitalism".

"The Anglo-Saxon economic model," he declared, "had blown it and would disappear." It would be replaced, he predicted, "by Germany's socially regulated and socially responsible version of capitalism."

After hearing that, I rushed off to consult an expert. If the social market really was the new way forward for the planet, then I wanted to learn a little more about it.

'Closer eye'

When I arrived at the Institute for the Economy, I admit I was rather apprehensive.

I am from Britain, after all, and perhaps in the current atmosphere I would be suspected of being a "casino capitalist" and driven out of town.

But when I rang the bell they let me in and economist Ralph Brugelmann was more than happy to chat.

Mr Brugelmann told me that the origins of the social market predated 1948. They extended far back into the mists of German history.

Ralph spoke of German philosophers - such as Hegel and Kant - and of Prussian kings, whose subjects expected their rulers to shape their lives and take care of them.


Angela Merkel is reluctant to "spend" in order to overcome the recession
"There's definitely something in our history and philosophy," Mr Brugelmann concluded, "that makes us Germans demand more regulation."

That goes for western Germany, but it applies even more to eastern Germany which for 40 years existed as a separate communist state.

Many people there grew used to the authorities providing for them and controlling all aspects of their lives. It was the state that gave citizens a flat, a job and a free holiday by the sea.

Of course there is a big difference between the social market and socialism.

Few Germans today enjoy the luxury of free accommodation or guaranteed employment. But the German state does keep a closer eye on the whole economic system than perhaps we are used to in Britain.

Germany has been urging the rest of the world to do the same for some time.

The world stage

Two years ago, when Germany held the presidency of the G8, I can remember Angela Merkel tried hard to convince world leaders to sign up to greater transparency on the global money markets and in hedge funds.

Back then no-one was interested. But now - after the crash - what is the British government suddenly calling for? That's right, greater transparency for the world's financial markets.

Not surprisingly, the Germans believe this proves they were right all along. That their system may be more cautious, less sexy than laissez-faire capitalism, but that it is a better, safer, fairer way of organising a society.

Germany had no housing bubble waiting to burst, Germans were not seduced by credit to the extent that people in Britain, the US or Spain were.

You can see why Germany's finance minister has been so quick to defend Germany's way of doing things - and to criticise Britain.

Of course, no system is perfect. Germany's unemployment rate is higher than Britain's.

The German economy is forecast to suffer just as badly as Britain's.

The German car industry is taking a big hit. But few Germans are casting doubt on their system, on the social market.

As the German proverb declares: "Order is half of life."

[siamak]

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/28/markets/stockswatch/?postversion=2009012809

[Rasputin]

هشدار بخش خصوصی نسبت به حذف یارانه ها

یحیی آل اسحاق رئیس اتاق بازرگانی تهران، به علی لاریجانی رئیس مجلس و روسای کمیسیون های اقتصادی و کمیسیون ویژه بررسی لایحه حذف یارانه ها نامه نوشته است
در حالی که نمایندگان مجلس ایران سرگرم بررسی لایحه حذف یارانه ها هستند، اتاق بازرگانی تهران با ارسال نامه ای به مجلس، نسبت به پیامدهای تصویب این لایحه هشدار داده است.

اتاق بازرگانی تهران که بزرگترین تشکل بخش خصوصی در اتاق بازرگانی ایران به حساب می آید در نامه ای به مجلس، انتقادهای تندی را نسبت به لایحه حذف یارانه ها مطرح کرده است.

یحیی آل اسحاق رئیس اتاق بازرگانی تهران، در نامه ای علی لاریجانی رئیس مجلس و روسای کمیسیون های اقتصادی و کمیسیون ویژه بررسی لایحه حذف یارانه ها نوشته است: در جهت گیری های این لایحه اثر قابل قبولی که به افزایش رشد اقتصادی منجر شود، به چشم نمی خورد.

بر اساس لایحه ای که دولت به مجلس داده، یارانه کالاها و خدماتی نظیر بنزین، گازوئیل، آب، برق حذف می شود و این کالاها و خدمات به قیمت های منطقه در بازار داخلی عرضه خواهد شد.

قرار است بخشی از درآمدهای حاصل از افزایش قیمت این کالاها به صورت نقدی در میان افراد کم درآمد توزیع شود اما نمایندگان اتاق بازرگانی تهران می گویند که تصویب این لایحه و اجرای آن "فرهنگ مصرفی، بیکاری و رانت خواری" را افزایش خواهد داد.

از نظر نمایندگان بخش خصوصی، پرداخت نقدی باید به حداقل برسد و فقط افراد فقیر را که در دهک های پائین قرار دارند، در بر بگیرد.

به عقیده اعضای اتاق بازرگانی تهران، یارانه نقدی فقط باید بین بیکاران، حقوق بگیران دولتی و بازنشستگان و خانواده های تحت پوشش بهزیستی و کمیته امداد پرداخت شود.

نحوه افزایش قیمت
پیشنهاد اتاق بازرگانی تهران این است که این لایحه در قالب برنامه پنج ساله و بودجه های سالانه گنجانده شود و در غیر این صورت این طرح "ناموفق" خواهد بود.

نمایندگان بخش خصوصی به دولت توصیه کرده اند که قیمت بنزین را در سال اول اصلاح کند، قیمت گازوئیل و نفت سفید طی یک دوره سه ساله و قیمت گاز و برق نیز در یک برنامه پنج ساله اصلاح شود.


حذف یارانه ها و آزاد سازی قیمت ها، برای دولت ایران حدود 40 میلیارد دلار درآمد ایجاد خواهد کرد
هنوز قیمت نهایی محصولاتی نظیر بنزین، گازوئیل، برق و گاز مشخص نیست و تعیین قیمت آن به قیمت جهانی این محصولات وابسته است با این حال نمایندگان بخش خصوصی می گویند که دولت نباید هزینه های خود را مبنای تعیین قیمت قرار دهد چون "ناکارآمدی بخش دولتی توسعه خواهد یافت و هزینه آن بر مردم تحمیل خواهد شد."

اتاق بازرگانی تهران پیشنهاداتی را نیز برای لایحه دولت ارائه داده و از نمایندگان خواسته تا در بررسی این لایحه نظرات بخشی خصوصی را نیز در نظر بگیرند.

یکی از مشکلاتی که بخش خصوصی را نگران کرده این است که حذف یارانه مواد سوختی باعث شود تا بخشی از صنایع و واحدهای تولیدی با افزایش قیمت سوخت، دچار زیان سنگین شوند و قدرت رقابت خود را از دست بدهند.

بنابر بررسی هایی که مرکز پژوهش های مجلس انجام داده بیشتر از ۴۰ درصد از انرژی در بخش حمل و نقل مصرف می شود و ۱۶ درصد نیز در بخش صنعت و ۲۵ درصد در بخش خانگی مصرف می شود.

برآورد دولت این است که از محل آزاد سازی قیمت ها با در نظر گرفتن قیمت هر بشکه نفت بین ۳۵ تا ۴۰ دلار، سالانه ۴۰ هزار میلیارد تومان درآمد داشته باشد.

قرار است ۶۰ درصد از این درآمدها به صورت نقدی به خانواده های کم درآمد پرداخت شود و ۲۵ درصد نیز صرف هزینه ها جاری و عمرانی می شود و تنها ۱۵ درصد از این درآمدها برای جبران خسارت های ناشی از افزایش قیمت ها در بخش های صنعت، معدن و کشاورزی هزینه خواهد شد.

اگر درآمد حاصل از افزایش قیمت ها حدود ۴۰ هزارمیلیارد تومان (چهل میلیارد دلار) باشد سهم بخش صنعت، معدن و کشاورزی حدود شش میلیارد دلار خواهد بود اما کارشناسان مرکز پژوهشهای مجلس معتقدند که خسارت ناشی از آزاد کردن قیمت ها بر روی این بخش ها بسیار بیشتر است و این مسئله نگرانی ها را بیشتر کرده است.

برخی کارشناسان می گویند که به دلیل کاهش شدید قیمت نفت، دولت ایران در سال آینده با حدود 30 میلیارد دلار کسری بودجه روبه رو خواهد شد و برای همین سعی دارد نمایندگان مجلس را به تصویب این لایحه قانع کند تا از محل افزایش قیمت ها بخشی از کسری بودجه سالانه را تامین کند.

[siamak]

Time Warner Inc., the world’s largest media company, said earnings will be little changed this year as it spends about $250 million to cut jobs at its Warner Bros. film studio and AOL Internet unit.

Adjusted profit from continuing operations will be similar to 66 cents a share last year, New York-based Time Warner said today in a statement. They exclude results at the cable-systems unit, which Time Warner expects to separate this quarter.

Revenue and earnings fell more than analysts estimated in the fourth quarter as advertising sales at AOL and Time Inc.’s magazines declined. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bewkes is downsizing the company through the planned separation of Time Warner Cable Inc. and the search for an AOL deal.

“Jeff Bewkes has to deliver on the promise of the cable spinoff, which has already been delayed by months,” Fred Moran, an analyst at Stanford Group in Boca Raton, Florida, said before the results. “Then he needs to find a way to end the bleeding at AOL either through asset sales, partnerships or rebuilding the business.”

Time Warner reported a $16 billion loss in the fourth quarter, its first in 14 quarters. The loss of $4.47 a share compares with net income of $1.03 billion, or 28 cents, a year ago. Sales fell to $12.3 billion, compared with the $12.8 billion average of 14 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Excluding some items, profit of 23 cents a share missed the 26-cent average of 17 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Time Warner advanced 35 cents to $9.78 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The 39 percent slide in the shares last year compared with a 38 percent drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Disney Results

Walt Disney Co., the second-largest U.S. media company, said yesterday that fiscal first-quarter profit declined 32 percent, because of shrinking sales at TV networks, theme parks and its film studio. News Corp. plans to report earnings after the market closes tomorrow.

Bewkes has been trimming jobs across the company to cope with the U.S. recession. Time Inc. said in October it would cut 600 jobs, or 6 percent of its workforce. The Warner Bros. film and television unit is eliminating or outsourcing 800 positions. AOL plans to cut as much as 10 percent of its workforce because of the “deepening economic recession,” the unit told employees in a memo last week.

Last month, the company said that it would record a $25 billion goodwill writedown in the fourth quarter to reflect the declining value of cable-system, publishing and Internet assets. A $281 million verdict against its Turner Broadcasting System and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., a tenant in the Time & Life building, also hurt results.

In December, Bewkes said Time Warner was having discussions with Yahoo! Inc., Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. about a deal involving AOL, without elaborating. He’s said he would weigh potential agreements against keeping the unit or spinning it off.

[siamak]

U.S. joblessness is at its worst level in decades, and further deterioration is in the cards.

The Labor Department reported Friday that 598,000 private sector jobs were lost in January, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.6%, up from 7.2% in December. (See "U.S. Jobs Hemorrhage In '08.") Economists had expected only 540,000 jobs would be eliminated, with an unemployment rate to 7.5%.

The amount of Americans out of work will probably grow. The labor market lags behind economic output, and with the U.S. economy widely expected to contract in the first half of the year, the unemployment rate could reach 9.0%. Even with the best-case scenario of an economic turnaround in the second half of 2009, the labor market wouldn't see an improvement at least until the end of the year.

"It's going to get worse before it gets worse," said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist for Channel Capital Research.com.

The massive jobless figure actually led to significant market gains Friday, as investors bet the shock would move Congress into passing President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package.

Mark King, chief investment officer for Bell Investment Advisors, said it would take a double-digit employment rate to provoke a decline in stocks, indicating that Wall Street has already built a lot of pessimism into stock prices.

U.S. Treasury bonds, on the other hand, fell sharply, as bond investors expected the data to lead to massive government debt issuance, an inevitable consequence of federal bailout and stimulus plans that investors seem to have overlooked until the past few weeks. The bellwether 10-year Treasury note's decline raised its yield to 2.99% from 2.90% on Thursday and up from 2.08% late last year.

December job losses were revised to 577,000, from 524,000. More than 11.6 million Americans are now unemployed, and since December 2007, 3.6 million jobs have been lost, about half in the final three months of 2008.

The speed and scale of the January layoffs were staggering. In the past week alone, Macy's laid off 7,000, Eastman Kodak announced 4,500 job cuts and Starbucks let go of 6,700 workers, to name only a few as payroll cuts were made throughout sectors and industries. The only exceptions in the January data were education, health and government jobs.

"Businesses are rushing to cut as rapidly as possible and the more they cut now, the less we will see being cut three or four months down the road. They are shortening the adjustment period," said Joel Naroff, an economist at Naroff Advisers. In fact, the job losses did slow a bit in the opening week of February. (See "The Weekly Layoff Report: Feb. 6, 2009.")

The massive job loss in the United States has led to a vicious cycle of spending cuts. "Consumers will continue to pull back on spending, and become more cautious given the negative job outlook," said Terrin Griffiths, an economist with the California Credit Union League, "and this contributes to the lack of business spending, which results in more job losses."

That cycle has already caused the U.S. gross domestic product to fall at the fastest clip in more than 20 years during the final quarter of 2008, as businesses and consumers react to the spasms of a deepening credit crisis and the housing quagmire that sparked it. (See "U.S., Data Point Down.")

President Barack Obama has reacted aggressively to surging unemployment with an approximately $900.0 billion economic stimulus package that now awaits Senate approval.

Thing is, there's little it could for jobs in the near-term if was even passed today. "Based on what the package looks like now, as much as two-thirds wouldn't hit until next year, or the year after," Roberts said. "That leaves one-third as a short-term stability bill, but the question is how much of that initial third would be productive."

The so-called "bridges to nowhere" and other projects billed as "shovel-ready" that may not foster meaningful economic growth. "I don't write off the bill at once. I have some hope for it, but people have to believe. I think we'll get something from the stimulus package, but it's going to take awhile," said Naroff.

The grim government data do not include the growing group of Americans who have given up on finding a job or who cannot land a full-time position and so settle for something part time instead. The number of workers considered underemployed in the United States "has been shooting through the roof," according to Michael Feroli, an economist at JP Morgan Chase. "Underutilization in the labor force is worse than it seems, and it seems pretty bad."

Among the unemployed, the number who ended up with temporary jobs increased to 7.0 million in January. This measure has grown by 3.2 million during the past year.

[Rasputin]

گزارش شده است که شرکت فرانسوی توتال مذاکرات خود با ایران را برای اجرای پروژه گاز مایع در پارس جنوبی از سر گرفته است.

خبرگزاری ها از قول "ایو لوئی داریکارر" مدیر اکتشاف و تولید شرکت توتال گزارش داده اند که این شرکت با ایران بر سر اجرای پروژه گاز مایع (ال ان جی) در تماس است اما مذاکرات به کندی پیش می رود.


به گفته این مقام شرکت توتال، تا زمان تصمیم گیری نهایی برای سرمایه گذاری زمان زیادی باقی مانده است.

آقای داریکارر همچنین گفته است: " ما باید مطالعات خود را در باره طراحی این پروژه و هزینه های آن انجام دهیم ولی مطالعات هنوز در حدی نیست که برای سرمایه گذاری تصمیم بگیریم."

تابستان سال گذشته میلادی شرکت توتال اعلام کرده بود که به دلیل تنش های سیاسی در ایران، سرمایه گذاری تازه ای در پروژه های نفت و گاز این کشور انجام نخواهد داد.

توتال از جمله شرکت های نفتی است که در سالهای اخیر همکاری گسترده ای با ایران برای توسعه پروژه های نفت و گاز این کشور داشته است.

تولید گاز مایع
یکی از مهمترین پروژه هایی که مدتهاست شرکت توتال و ایران سرگرم مذاکره بودند، تولید گاز مایع در پارس جنوبی است.

پروژه گاز مایع موسوم به "پارس ال ان جی" در میدان گازی پارس جنوبی اجرا می شود که نیمی از ذخایر گاز ایران در آنجا قرار دارد.


ایران این میدان عظیم گازی را به ۲۴ فاز تقسیم کرده که بیشتر از نیمی از آنها هنوز آغاز نشده است.


شش فاز از این میدان به بهره برداری رسیده اما فازهای هفت تا ده میدان گازی پارس جنوبی با تاخیرهای طولانی مواجه است و عملیات اجرایی بخشی از این فازها که قرار بود حدود دو سال و نیم پیش به بهره برداری برسند، هنوز به پایان نرسیده است.


تاخیرهای طولانی در اجرای پروژه های گازی و ناتوانی در جذب سرمایه گذاران خارجی برای توسعه میدان های گازی، مهمترین مانع افزایش تولید گاز بوده است.



نیمی از ذخایر گاز ایران در میدان گازی پارس جنوبی قرار دارد
در اجرای ده فاز اول این پروژه عظیم بیشتر از ۳۰ میلیارد دلار سرمایه گذاری شده و شرکت های خارجی و موسسات مالی بین المللی در اجرای آن همکاری و مشارکت داشته اند.


طرح "پارس ال ان جی" نیز که در فاز ۱۱میدان گازی پارس جنوبی قرار دارد برای تولید گاز مایع در نظر گرفته شده است.


شرکت توتال و شرکت پتروناس مالزی چهار سال پیش قراردادی دو میلیارد دلاری برای استخراج و صدور گاز مایع طبیعی(LNG) با ایران امضا کردند تا یک شرکت با سرمایه گذاری مشترک برای استخراج و صدور گاز مایع تاسیس کنند اما بعدها شرکت پتروناس از این طرح کنار رفت.

همکار قدیمی
شرکت توتال همکاری گسترده ای در ۱۲ سال گذشته با ایران داشته است. این شرکت در سال ۱۹۹۷، قراردادی با دولت ایران امضا کرد تا همراه با شرکت روسی گازپروم و شرکت مالزیایی پتروناس در زمینه اکتشاف و بهره برداری از میدان گاز پارس جنوبی با این کشور همکاری کند.


این طرح مشترک مربوط به فازهای دوم و سوم میدان گازی پارس جنوبی بود که چهار سال پیش به بهره برداری رسید است.


شرکت توتال در حالی سرمایه*گذاری در طرح های نفت و گاز در ایران را آغاز کرد که شرکت آمریکایی کونکو در اسفند ۱۳۷۳(مارس ۱۹۹۵) به واسطه تحریم آمریکا علیه ایران از بزرگترین قرارداد خود با ایران چشم پوشید.


سال گذشته هنگامی که توتال از متوقف شدن همکاری اش با ایران خبرداد برخی آن را به فشارهای آمریکا نسبت دادند.


کارشناسان می گویند حضور باراک اوباما و احتمال تغییر سیاست های آمریکا نسبت به ایران می تواند بر تصمیم شرکت توتال تاثیر گذاشته باشد در عین حال که توتال همه چیز را به آینده و "شرایط بین المللی"موکول کرده و منتظر است تا گرد و غبار حاکم بر روابط ایران غرب بر سر پرونده هسته ای فرو بنشیند.


در سه سال و نیم اخیر به دلیل بی اعتنایی ایران به قطعنامه های شورای امنیت سازمان ملل و فشارهای غرب، سرمایه گذاران خارجی برای همکاری با ایران با تردید مواجه شده اند و بسیاری از پروژه های نفتی و گازی ایران به دلیل مشکلات مالی و ناتوانی در تامین تکنولوژی مورد نیاز در بلاتکلیفی به سر می برند.

[Rasputin]

WASHINGTON – Texas financier R. Allen Stanford was tracked down Thursday in Virginia, where FBI agents served him with legal papers in a multibillion-dollar fraud case.

FBI agents, acting at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission, served Stanford papers in Fredericksburg, Va., said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko.

Stanford is not under arrest and is not in custody.

In a civil papers Tuesday, the SEC alleged Stanford and three of his companies committed an $8 billion fraud that lured investors with promises of improbable and unsubstantiated high returns on certificates of deposit and other investments.

Until regulators got help Thursday from the FBI, the SEC had not been able to find Stanford.

A law enforcement official said the billionaire was served around 1:45 p.m. while sitting in a car, and authorities do not believe he had been purposely hiding or fleeing. Under the terms of the court case, Stanford had to surrender his passport. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss specifics of the case.

Stanford has not been charged with any crime, though federal agents continue to investigate the case.

The fallout from the fraud case is already rattling around the global financial system.

Venezuela on Thursday seized a failed bank controlled by Stanford after a run on deposits there, while clients were prevented from withdrawing their money from Stanford International Bank and its affiliates in a half-dozen other countries.

Stanford's father, James Stanford, told The Associated Press in Mexia, Texas, on Thursday that he hopes the allegations aren't true. "I have no earthly knowledge of it," said the elder Stanford, listed as chairman emeritus and a director for Stanford Financial Group. "I would be totally surprised if there would be truth to it. And disappointed, heartbroken."

Asked what advice he would give his son, Stanford, 81, said: "Do the right thing."

Stanford, 58, is a larger-than-life figure in the Caribbean, using his personal fortune — estimated at $2.2 billion by Forbes magazine — to bankroll public works and cricket tournaments.

He also is a major player in U.S. politics, personally donating nearly a million dollars, mostly to Democrats. At 6-feet-4 and 240 pounds, he towered over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while giving her a warm hug at the Democratic National Convention last year.

He owns a home in the U.S. Virgin Islands and operates businesses from Houston to Miami and Switzerland to Antigua, where he holds citizenship and the government knighted him in 2006 in recognition of his economic influence and charity work.

In an e-mail to his employees last week, Stanford said his company was cooperating with the probe and vowed to "fight with every breath to continue to uphold our good name and continue the legacy we have built together."

A federal judge appointed a receiver to identify and protect Stanford's assets worldwide, including about $8 billion managed by the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, which has affiliates in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

Also frozen were assets of Houston-based Stanford Capital Management and Stanford Group Co., which has 29 brokerage offices around the U.S.

[Rasputin]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/business/2009/03/090310_nh_imf_meeting.shtml

[Rasputin]

متکدي ميلياردر چهارمحال وبختياري درگذشت. يوسف باقري قاضي پرونده اين متکدي گفت : از منزل مسکوني اين متکدي 70 ساله حدود 100ميليون ريال وجه نقد،چندين فقره اسناد ملکي گرانبها و مقداري اشياء عتيقه وزيورالات بدست امد که براورد دقيق اين اموال در دست بررسي است .

دربين زيور الات اين متکدي گوشواره هاي متعلق به دوران سلطان محمد قاجار وجود دارد و اسناد نگهداري شده در منزل اين متکدي شامل املاک تجاري /زمينهاي ملکي زيادي در شهرکرد وزمينهاي کشاورزي و...بوده است.

جسداين متکدي 75 ساعت پس از مرگ طبيعي از طريق اطلاع همسايه ها توسط پليس کشف شد.

[Rasputin]

http://news.gooya.com/columnists/archives/085699.php

[Rasputin]

یک روزنامه انگلیسی با انتشار لیستی ده نفره از مقامات جهان اعلام کرد که نخست وزیر سنگاپور بیشترین حقوق را در بین مقامات جهان دریافت میکند.

به گزارش خبرنگار عصرایران به نقل از روزنامه تايمز چاپ لندن در این فهرست بعد از لي سيين لونگ نخست وزير سنگاپور که با حقوق سالانه دو ميليون و470 هزار دلار در رتبه نخست قرار دارد ، دونالد سانگ مدير اجرايي منطقه هنگ کنگ با دريافت حقوق سالانه حدود 516 هزار دلار در جای دوم قرار گرفته است.

بر اساس این گزارش ، باراک اوباما رئيس جمهور امريکا نيز سالانه 400 هزار دلار دريافت مي کند و به این ترتیب از نظر میزان حقوق سالانه سومین مقام بلند پایه جهان است.

برايان کوئن نخست وزير ايرلند هم با 341 هزار دلار حقوق سالانه در رتبه چهارم و نيکلا سارکوزي رئيس جمهور فرانسه با دريافت حقوق سالانه در حدود 318 هزار دلار در رتبه پنجم قرار دارند.

انگلا مرکل صدراعظم آلمان ،گوردون براون نخست وزير انگليس، نخست وزير کانادا ، نخست وزير ژاپن و نخست وزير استراليا به ترتيب در مکانهای ششم تا دهم اين فهرست ده نفره قرار گرفته اند