Business View

The Asturian Government today launched a “categorical requirement” to the Industry Minister, José Manuel Soria, to negotiate with the mining unions, with whom the Spaniard Executive shares the budget cuts that the sector is the immediate closure of the mines.

The Minister of Economy and Employment, Graciano Torre, has put it at a press conference as President of the Principality following a meeting of regional government chief, Javier Fernandez, with the general secretaries of the mining sections of the CCOO and UGT Asturias, Maximino Garcia and Jose Angel Fernandez Villa.

After more than two hours of meeting, Torre has said that the Asturian Government is convinced that if the PP does not change the financial amounts for mining in the Budget for 2012 closure of the mines will be immediate and that this is not a “statement free of unions, “but it is true from any scrutiny.

“A year ago reluctantly admitted the closure of mines in 2018, but we can not accept the closure in 2012,” said the Minister of the Principality.

Also, Torre has warned the Ministry of “uncontrollable actions” in which can lead to the strike.

Garcia stressed the harmony with the Government of Asturias, has denounced the “numantina position” of Spain and denounced police actions in which “crushed” to miners and handcuffed, while Villa believes that the government does policy, but that casts a “pulse” of mining to see who wins, because its purpose is to eliminate the labor movement.

The risk measurement agency Fitch has applied today a massive lowering the rating of the long-term debt of 18 Spanish banks, after yesterday slashed in two steps of the two largest groups, BBVA and Santander.

In a note, the company justified its decision on the lowering of the rating itself from Spain last week, and the possible deterioration of the credit portfolio of some banks if the economic situation worsens.

“It is particularly true for those banks whose loan portfolio is heavily exposed to construction and real estate, and those with a low capital base,” he noted Fitch in a statement.

With widespread cuts, long-term debt of Banco Popular, the group BMN, Liberbank, the Bank Castilla La Mancha, Unicaja and Cajamar are left with an approved low, accessible in the “junk bond” (BBB-).

Of this group, the entity Unicaja stop is worse, since Fitch’s downgrade of three steps, followed by Liberbank, the Bank and Cajamar Castilla La Mancha, with two steps, and to a lesser extent the People and BMN group, with a notch.

The People’s Bank rating remains negative outlook, Fitch is threatening to cut back BMN notes, and the Bank Liberbank Castilla La Mancha, as the three entities are under surveillance.

With a pass, BBB, similar to the classification of long-term debt of the Kingdom of Spain Plaza, stay CaixaBank and La Caixa, Civic Banking, Bankia, Banco Sabadell and Banco Guipuzcoano, the ECSC, the Cooperative Bank, BBK and Bank KutxaBank CajaSur, Caja, and the Iberian cooperative group.

Of these entities, who are most cut by Fitch, two steps have been CaixaBank and La Caixa, KutxaBank CajaSur Bank and BBK.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that aid to Spanish banks lead “of course conditionality”, although it will be “different” to the bailouts that affect the whole country.

On the Day of the Economic Council of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the head of the German government praised the reforms introduced in recent months by the Spanish president, Mariano Rajoy, and described as “correct” decision to go to Madrid to help European financial clean up its banking system.

Merkel explained to his fellow that the consequences of a “housing bubble ten years,” not a nation can face alone and argued that to solve these problems exactly are the mechanisms of financial support from the European Union.

The Chancellor said that Spain, like Greece, Ireland and Portugal, must “shoulder its responsibilities”, continue with the “tough” reforms proposed and confront the “grand challenges” ahead.

“It would be fatal now in Europe where some countries have begun working in the right direction, this is interrupted and that (these countries) remain within half way,” he said.

In addition, Merkel again rejected outright the possibility of establishing so-called “Eurobonds”, as it believes that “force” an equalization of the interest paid by all eurozone countries to place their debt “is not supportive.”

He explained that the introduction of the euro brought a sharp reduction in interest rates in the eurozone and that it significantly eroded the competitiveness of some countries.

“We (the Germans) are in solidarity,” underscored the Chancellor: “But we must learn from past mistakes.”

The head of the German Government also called for improving banking supervision in the EU, suggesting that the above controls have been inadequate, and noted that this leads to a hopeless assignment of “national powers” at the European level.

Venezuela supports the candidacy of Ecuador to the general secretariat of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a subject that will be discussed on Thursday in Vienna, during the ministerial conference of the group 161.

“We are going to support the, the candidacy of Ecuador, yes,” said today the Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez in response to a question about the position of Caracas to the aspiration of his Ecuadorian counterpart, Wilson Pastor, to take OPEC’s secretary general from January 1, 2013.

The Government of Ecuador announced last Friday that was formalized at the organization’s bid Pástor oil to replace its current secretary general, Abdullah El-Badri Libyan, whose second three-year term expires on December 31 this year.

“We think it would be a refreshing element within the organization,” Ramirez told a group of reporters, referring to the possibility of Ecuador, the smallest oil producer in OPEC (less than 500,000 barrels per day, compared to 10 million barrels of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter), assume the highest office of the organization.

He acknowledged, however, that the decision still require a debate within the group of twelve countries.

“There are many candidates, that’s good because it opens the discussion,” said the minister, and was referring to the fact that Pastor compete for the position with three other candidates.

The Saudi government has sent Mohammad al-Monif, current permanent governor to OPEC, while Iraq has opted for Tamir Ghadhban, adviser to Prime Minister on oil issues.

Iran, according to several unofficial sources has presented to former Minister Gholam Hosain Nozari Oil as their candidate.

“They are all good (…) the strength of each candidate, which we will discuss there,” Ramirez said.

Venezuela and Ecuador are the only Latin American member of OPEC, an organization founded in 1960 to coordinate the petroleum policies of its members to defend their income.

The Bank Restructuring Fund (FROB) has filed a complaint with the Court against the previous management of Banco de Valencia for various actions that could constitute a crime.

This is stated in the communication sent by the FROB to the Court of Instruction No. 3 of Valencia, as reported Efe Diego Muñoz-Cobo attorney, counsel for a group of small shareholders who filed a lawsuit against members of the Board of Directors of the Bank Valencia, seized by the Bank of Spain in November 2011.

The holder of the court had requested information from the FROB in the area of ​​complaint, which sought information from that body and had also asked the prosecutor.

The FROB has communicated to the court to draw up an expert report which has been reported orally to the Court and which demonstrate actions that may constitute various offenses.

Understanding these actions correspond to the High Court, according to the FROB, by its nature, the number of possible affected the conditions of the listed company and the impact on the national economy.

Now both the High Court as the Court of Valencia should be determined on the competence of the facts, according to Muñoz-Cobo, who believes that the court should be number 3 as “the only judicial body that knows these facts.”

In addition, he recalled that ordinary competition is the place of the offense, although there are exceptions that refer to frauds and machinations to change the price of things.

The complaint filed by small shareholders who represent about 1% of its capital was declared admissible in March this year and she reports the crime of making false accounts and unfair administration.

It is intended for members of the Board of Directors and other governing bodies, including José Luis Olivas is on behalf of Bancaja, which owned 39% of Banco de Valencia, Antonio Tirado, Domingo Parra, Celestino Aznar and Agnes Noguera, and the representative of Deloitte.

In the Shareholders’ Meeting of Banco de Valencia held on May 14 one of the administrators of the institution operated, Juan Antonio Iturriaga, and announced they were reviewing the actions of previous managers in the near future and begin “any legal action significant “if detected irregularities.

At that meeting, the 98.99 percent of shareholders approved the entrance of the FROB in the capital by increasing to a maximum of one billion euros, which would mean about 91% stake.

The Minister of Development, Ana Pastor, said today that the loan of up to 100,000 million euros to the Spanish financial sector is “very positive” because it implies that Europe is “confident and believes in us and for the euro”.

During a breakfast briefing organized by Europa Press, the Minister of Public Works has considered that in Europe “believe that we are able to get out of this situation.”

This “is positive because the situation is very complex,” he added, since the lack of liquidity “can crash the system.”

He assured that the Government’s objective is to work for Spain to return to economic growth and job creation and it has carried out many reforms.

This, added that “there is a before and after” of the reform of budgetary stability, labor reform or restructuring the public sector.

“The events of recent days do nothing but reinforce it.” “We have a great country with solid pillars,” added Shepherd.

The help of Brussels is “a line of credit, a loan” to financial institutions and it is they “who have to return it,” he pointed to the minister, while he assured that “70% of the financial sector is strong” .

The Minister of Public Works has indicated that Spain will address the recapitalization of the financial sector “in work, effort and dose of confidence.”

Regarding the requests launched by different political and social actors to appear the prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, the Minister of Public Works has said that already do “with any regularity and normality in Parliament, the media and in national and international forums. ”

“Some people and there are to speculate who is dedicated to work,” he highlighted. “This is the time to pitch in and work to build trust financial institutions in Spain and abroad.”

An advisor to the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, today traveled Spain to “negotiate” with Gas Natural Group, responsible for electricity distribution in the country, a solution to the problem of fraud in the payment of the service, to losses of 80 million dollars annually to the sector.

“I leave today for Spain to negotiate with the Spanish government and the owners of the distributors” in the hands of Gas Natural Group, told reporters on the presidential economic adviser, Bayardo Arce.

According to Arce, evasion of payment of electricity has created a “crisis situation” in the distribution sector which, together with any increase in oil prices could force the Government to declare a further increase in the rates for the second half of this year.

Fenosa Gas Natural owns and Dissur Dissnorte that distribute electric power in Nicaragua from 2000 to for a period of 30 years.

Spanish power gave the Nicaraguan state in May 2008 to 16 percent of the shares of its affiliates as payment of a debt by $ 11.5 million.

According to Arce, the distributors have informed the Government that have losses of 80 billion dollars annually primarily for non-payment of consumers.

To solve the problem “posed to them recognize more technical losses by fraud, by people who do not pay energy” and on “we have opened a negotiation,” said the advisor.

In the electricity sector in Nicaragua, “we have two problems: first is the impact (in rates) the price of oil in our energy (thermal) and the other problem is the crisis that we make the distribution energy, “said Arce, without being specific.

The electricity tariff increased by 9 percent from last January in Nicaragua, 11.2 percent less than planned due to funding by $ 26.1 million obtained by the Nicaraguan Government initiative Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).

Tokyo is the world’s most expensive city for foreigners, followed by Angola Luanda and Japan’s Osaka, according to a study by consultancy Mercer, which includes six European and two South American cities in the top 25.

The Brazilian Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are located in positions 12 and 13 respectively, while Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the two Spanish cities in the ranking, are at positions 78 and 85 respectively.

Among the South American ranked 29 Caracas, Bogota, 53, Santiago, Chile on 74, 99 Havana, Montevideo 118, Lima 120, Buenos Aires 121.

This year, Tokyo is situated in front of a ranking that analyzes the cost of living for expatriates in 214 cities on five continents, a list that in 2011 led Luanda.

According to rankings released today, which takes into account the prices of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment Moscow is the fourth most expensive city in the world, while the Swiss Geneva and Zurich are in the fifth and sixth respectively.

The Helvetic also Berne (14), Oslo (18), Copenhagen (21) and London (25) are the other European cities in the top 25 of the list.

The study is based on the cost of living in those cities for an American visitor, so that the position of local currencies against the dollar affects the evaluation of each.

The British capital, where the summer Olympics are held, this year again placed ahead of other cities like New York tourism potential, ranked 33, Paris, 37, and Rome, 42.

According to the study, rent an apartment “fancy” unfurnished, two-room in London costs 2,800 pounds (3,450 euros), compared with 1,925 pounds (2,360 euros) worth in Paris and 1,506 pounds (1,850 euros) Rome.

Another price that values ​​the report is to cinema tickets, which in London are sold at an average of twelve pounds (14.70 euros), nearly double that in other European capitals such as Rome, Madrid and Berlin .

The consultancy Mercer said that most cities in the eurozone fell in their study included some positions in the ranking, while others gained positions in emerging Asian countries.

The emergence of African cities such as Luanda, N’Djamena (Chad) and Libreville (Gabon) on the top of the list is, according to the investigators, the extra cost involved in security for expatriate workers.

The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday he feels “really encouraged” by the European agreement on a credit line for Spanish banks, but Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, repeated today that Canada will not provide money to the IMF for a European fund.

Harper said today during a speech at the International Economic Forum of Montreal he was encouraged by the agreement agreed this past weekend between eurozone members to “stabilize the banking situation in Spain.”

Canadian Prime Minister added that “this is the type of measures that Europeans are able to undertake for themselves, and must undertake to advance its economy. This is the kind of self that Canada favors.”

While in Parliament, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Canada refuses to participate in any action of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Europe.

Flaherty said Canada will not send “thousands of millions of dollars of Canadian tax dollars to support European banks.”

Canadian Finance Minister also said that the situation in Europe is the consequence of “failure to promote growth and achieve fiscal surplus.”

Canada, which until the 2008 financial crisis 11 years chained fiscal surplus, more than any other G7 country, has refused to participate in any fund to help the European Union (EU) on the grounds that European countries have sufficient resources to address the crisis.

Harper also said in Montreal that Canada’s message on the next G20 Summit in Los Cabos (Mexico), is that you can have both “fiscal discipline and economic growth.”

“Est Canada will be the message in the G20 Summit: economic growth and fiscal discipline are not exclusive; go together.”

“In fact, Canada’s strong fiscal discipline is the reason why we have weathered the economic crisis better than many others,” said Harper, who recalled that Canada will have a balanced budget in 2015.

Harper also defended free trade “to create growth and jobs and ensure long-term prosperity.”

Canada, the country that has free trade agreements signed or under negotiation with Latin American countries, is in the middle of negotiations to sign a trade agreement with the European Union.

Chilean Finance Minister Felipe Larrain, today described as “good news”, the Spanish bank bailout but warned that the initiative does not solve the serious problems of Europe.

“This is good news. But I repeat that this does not solve Europe’s problems. What this does is give peace of mind that will be the resources to capitalize the Spanish financial system, Spain is an important country within the European Union, but we still have to know the details of the plan, “he said.

Larrain said it’s good to see a Europe that stands, improving “but that will be a long-term,” he said.

Spain agreed on Saturday with the Eurogroup, composed of the 17 economies of the euro, a ransom of EUR 100 billion to clean up its financial system.

Larrain Minister said that “to have secured funding does not replace the reforms that are often difficult changes, drives that have undertaken the governments of Spain and Italy with great courage, but that in itself will be a long process. We have a complex scenario in Europe and we know that the most likely scenario is that of a recession, “he said.

He added that while this announcement is a sign of confidence on the part of the eurozone to Spain, and is good news for the markets, does not solve the problems of Europe and it remains to know the detail about the source of funds.

The head of finance of Chile reiterated that the government is monitoring the situation minute by minute European financial and liquidity conditions in the local market.

He recalled that on Friday there was a special meeting of the Financial Stability Board “and were reviewing the situation of the financial system and we see no reason for worry in our country.”

Larrain said the government has set as one of the central elements of the anti-crisis contingency plan to ensure liquidity and access to credit.