Mit - Index

Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_05_št.10 - Index

BUSInESSBUsinessBUSInESSBUsinessBUSInESSBUsinessBUSInESS
with sales in Benelux, the economic union in Western Europe
that includes neighbouring states Belgium, the Netherlands,
and Luxembourg. Of its sales in Benelux, three quarters of the
products are sold under the premium and high-end ATAG,
ETNA and Pelgrim brands. Gorenje intends to pay for a part
of the acquisition by taking up extra debt and through a share
transaction that will make Dutch firm Home Products Europe
a qualified shareholder of the Velenje-based group. Under the
contract, approximately 1,000,000 Gorenje shares (7.14% of
total issue) will be transfered to Home Products Europe at a
price corresponding to Gorenje’s six-month average value on the
Ljubljana Stock Exchange. According to Bobinac, this amounts to
around EUR 37m.
MINISTER OF FINANCE SAYS Eu
TACkLING ECONOMIC SLOWdOWN WELL
The EU is doing well in general in tackling the global economic
slowdown, Minister of Finance Andrej Bajuk has said at the
meeting of the G-8 group of the seven most developed countries
and Russia. The EU’s growth will be lower than planned in 2008
and 2009, but not by much, the Ministry of Finance quoted Bajuk
as saying in Osaka on 14 June.
The ministers adopted a declaration at the close of the two-day
meeting in which they stressed the insecurity and inflationary
pressures that the economy was facing. Higher prices of goods,
especially food and oil, present a serious threat to stable growth,
they agreed. According to a press release by the Slovenian EU
Presidency, the ministers discussed macro-economic prospects,
including developments on financial markets, food and crude oil
prices, and climate change.
Conditions on the financial markets have improved somewhat
recently, but tensions still remain, in particular in financial and
credit markets, Bajuk said in presenting the EU position.
The Minister added that “the EU has reacted promptly to the
turmoil and adopted measures to increase the resistance capacity
of our financial sector. Under Slovenia’s Presidency, a series of
important decisions have been taken, aiming at financial stability
in the EU.” “One of the most significant decisions was to sign
a memorandum of understanding on co-operation between
finance ministries, central banks and supervisory authorities
for providing financial stability. The Memorandum was signed
by 118 signatories and entered into force on 1 June 2008,” the
Minister is quoted as saying in the press release. Touching on
the growing oil and food prices, Bajuk said that it was of the
utmost importance for the EU that inflationary expectations be
eased, which required a more co-ordinated global approach to
responding to the supply side shocks. Climate change was also
on the agenda, with the ministers welcoming and supporting
the creation of a new instrument for financing environmental
projects, which is to provide money for clean technologies,
preventing deforestation and sustainable development of
economies in developing countries. “Climate change can be
efficiently tackled only at the international level,” Bajuk said and
pointed to the EU’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
20% by 2020 and increase the use of renewable energy. Bajuk
also met his Japanese colleague Fukushiro Nukaga for bilateral
talks, discussing possibilities for co-operation in renewables and
on concluding an agreement on avoiding dual taxation. Bajuk
was attending the meeting in his capacity as the chair of the
Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). He will now
travel to South Korea for a meeting of European and Asian
finance ministers (ASEM) to take place on Sunday and Monday,
according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance.
23
BAJuk STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF ASEM
PARTNERSHIP
Seoul, 15 June (STA) − Minister of Finance and current Ecofin
President Andrej Bajuk participated in South Korea in a meeting
of finance ministers from Europe and Asia (ASEM). Bajuk took
part in a debate on the challenges of the EU-Asia partnership,
calling for close ties that go beyond traditional co-operation.
Bajuk stressed at the meeting, held on Jeju Island, that Asia has
become the main trade partner of the EU, as Europe conducts
a third of its trade with Asia, while at the same time pumping
a third of its foreign direct investment into the continent, the
Finance Ministry said in a press release.
The EU is trying to establish closer ties which go beyond traditional
modes of co-operation. Thus, deepening relations with Asia is a
priority of EU foreign policy. “We should be proud of the ASEM
partnership, which already brings together 43 Member States. Its
capabilities are big, as it together accounts for half of the world’s
GDP, almost 60% of world population and 60% of global trade.
In its budget, the EU has earmarked EUR 5.2bn for co-operation
with Asia between 2007 and 2013,” Bajuk said. He said the ASEM
process in itself was a powerful tool of co-operation, which has
yielded in 12 years more than 100 different initiatives, including
the Jeju initiative on mutual co-operation in public-private
partnerships. “ASEM countries have enormous capabilities and
Europe is honoured that Asian partners are willing to learn from
the EU’s experience. This includes past success as well as failure,
since it is much cheaper to learn from the mistakes of others,”
the Minister concluded. On Saturday in Osaka, Bajuk attended
the meeting of G-8 finance ministers, and said that Europe was
dealing relatively well with the global economic slowdown.
vIENNA BOuRSE TO TAkE OvER
LJuBLJANA STOCk EXCHANGE
Austria’s Wiener Böerse can acquire a 81.01% stake in the
company that operates the Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE) as
the highest bidder in the last round of bidding for Ljubljanska
borza, representatives of its owners said on 20 June.
According to the news portal of the public broadcaster TV
Slovenija, the Vienna stock exchange offered EUR 1,401 per
share, which puts the value of Ljubljanska borza at EUR 47m.
Wiener Böerse CEO Heinrich Schaller said in a statement that
the new majority owner would invest intensive efforts in the
development of the neighbouring stock exchange. According to
a press release from Wiener Böerse, he said that the Vienna stock
exchange was a long-term investor in the Slovenian market and
would conduct co-operation primarily at the level of products,
exchange of data and indices. With today’s move, the Vienna stock
exchange boosted its position on the capital market of Central
and South Eastern Europe. In the next few weeks it will increase
its stake in the Budapest bourse from 12.5% to 37.7%, while it
also co-operates with stock markets in Bucharest, Sarajevo and
Banja Luka. Apart from Wiener Böerse, applying due diligence,
the consortium of owners of Ljubljanska borza picked Greek
Hellenic Exchanges as the best bidders in April, but then opted
for the Vienna stock exchange. The selected bidder will sign
contracts with all the companies selling their stake in the stock
exchange on Tuesday, said Arkas, the company co-ordinating the
sale. Before the ownership transfer, the buyer will have to acquire
the go-ahead of the Competition Protection Office.
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