http://news-today.info/ ru Business news - The modern news portal, all the latest news collected only here, the news of politics, business, technology DataLife Engine http://news-today.info/business/77-russia-raids-bp-offices-prompting-oil-giants-anger.html http://news-today.info/business/77-russia-raids-bp-offices-prompting-oil-giants-anger.html
The company issued a statement about the raid, saying there were "no legitimate grounds for such a raid," and that the court decision it was based on should not be allowed to stand.

The raid is related to a long-running battle between BP and Russian partner, TNK-BP, over oil exploration in the Russian Arctic.

It comes a day after ExxonMobil signed a deal with Russian oil company Rosneft that includes Arctic exploration, a blow to BP.

BP said the raid targeted a part of the company that was not involved in the dispute with TNK.

It was ordered by a Russian court in the city of Tyumen, BP said.]]> 1 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:51:19 +0400 http://news-today.info/business/76-panel-tallies-massive-waste-and-fraud-in.html http://news-today.info/business/76-panel-tallies-massive-waste-and-fraud-in.html
Washington (CNN) -- A nonpartisan panel reporting to Congress says the United States is wasting $12 million a day among contracts issued in support of American efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting spent the past three years documenting whether American funding went where it was supposed to. The findings show misdirected money has totaled between $31 billion and $60 billion, and that both the government and the contractors are to blame for fraud and waste.

Commissioner Katherine Schinasi told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that the numbers don't seem to have an impact on people concerned about spending.

To make it easier to grasp the magnitude of the problem, Schinasi said, "we've broken it down to $12 million a day."

"We are wasting $12 million a day," she said, "maybe that will make a difference."

The study looked at contracts from 2001 through the projected end of fiscal year 2011.]]> 1 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:50:38 +0400 http://news-today.info/business/75-solyndra-fades-away.html http://news-today.info/business/75-solyndra-fades-away.html
The company has not yet filed its bankruptcy papers, but did say in a press release that it plans to evaluate options that could include a sale of its business and licensing of its technology. It also said that 1,100 full-time and part-time employees will be laid off, effective immediately.

Since being founded in 2005 to build solar panels for commercial rooftops, Solyndra had raised nearly $1 billion in private equity financing. The biggest backer was the George Kaiser Family Foundation, which was listed as holding more than a 35% equity stake when Solyndra filed for a $300 million IPO in late 2009 (it would later cancel the offering, due to "adverse market conditions). Other significant shareholders included Madrone Partners, a VC firm affiliated with Wal-Mart's Walton family, with an 11% stake, U.S. Venture Partners (10.19%), RockPort Capital Partners (7.5%), CMEA Ventures (6.81%), Redpoint Ventures (5.94%) and Virgin Green Fund.]]> 1 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:49:43 +0400 http://news-today.info/business/73-apple-attacked-over-pollution-in-china.html http://news-today.info/business/73-apple-attacked-over-pollution-in-china.html
In a report released on Wednesday, five Chinese non-governmental organisations said the US technology company was using suppliers with public records of environmental violations and taking "advantage of the loopholes in developing countries' environmental management systems".

The accusations escalate a standoff between Apple and Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a co-author of the report, which is threatening to damage Apple's image. The groups have sought to persuade 29 big electronics brands over the past year to work with them on containing pollution in their supply chain, but singled out Apple as unresponsive.

In a highly unusual move for Apple, the company relented just hours before the report's publication, inviting Mr Ma to start a dialogue on his allegations. Mr Ma said Apple told him some of the factories on his list were not the US company's suppliers but gave him no details.

Although Apple does not directly manufacture anything itself and does not disclose, with very few exceptions, the names of its suppliers, the Chinese environmental groups say they used public information and court documents to form a list of more than 20 Apple suppliers with environmental violations to their name. These suppliers also work for other companies.]]> 1 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:48:19 +0400 http://news-today.info/business/72-britain-delivers-millions.html http://news-today.info/business/72-britain-delivers-millions.html
The Royal Air Force delivered 280 million dinars (about 140 million pounds) to the Central Bank of Libya in Benghazi, the statement said.

The money is among billions of dollars ordered frozen by the United Nations when the crisis began.

The money "will be used to pay the wages of Libyan public sector employees, including nurses, doctors, teachers and police officers," the statement said.

It also said the money will be used to pay the disabled and refugees, as well as medicines and food.

Meanwhile, France is releasing up to 1.5 billion Euros frozen at the start of the war in Libya, the French foreign minister told Radio RTL on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France has obtained permission to release the money to the National Transitional Council, the rebel leadership.

"It is money that belongs to Libya -- to the NTC so that it can begin rebuilding," Juppe said.
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Купить детскую мебель в киеве- интернет-магазин. | Ebay amazon has separate websites for following countries.[/noleech]]]> 1 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:47:33 +0400 http://news-today.info/business/10-chinas-oil-groups-ready-for-more-deals.html http://news-today.info/business/10-chinas-oil-groups-ready-for-more-deals.html

(FT) -- Solid first-half profits at China's state-owned oil companies have paved the way for further expansion overseas as the country's oil needs continue to rise.

Sinopec, the world's second-largest oil refiner, said on Sunday it intended to raise up to Rmb50bn ($7.8bn) through the sale of bonds and convertible bonds to fund projects, boost working capital and pay debts. The instruments will be issued or placed with existing shareholders, Sinopec said.

The fundraising plan accompanied the company's announcement of a 12 per cent rise in net profit, to Rmb41bn, in the first half of the year, beating analysts' expectations.

Results were rosier still for offshore producer Cnooc, which reported first-half net profit of Rmb39bn, up 51.4 per cent, despite production disruptions from a recent oil spill.

PetroChina, the listed subsidiary of China's largest oil and gas producer CNPC, reported net profit of Rmb66bn for the first half, up 1 per cent from a year earlier, the weakest profit growth among its peers. Profits at both PetroChina and Sinopec were dented by Beijing's price controls on fuel, which capped gasoline and diesel prices this spring even while Brent soared above $120 a barrel.

Analysts agreed Chinese oil companies were likely to sustain their interest in overseas acquisitions as they seek to grow their production base.]]> 1 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:25:17 +0400 http://news-today.info/business/9-across-the-steppes-new-wealth-emerges.html http://news-today.info/business/9-across-the-steppes-new-wealth-emerges.html
The copper resources aren't new to locals -- after all, for thousands of years locals dug out copper to melt down into things like arrowheads, CNN's Stan Grant reports.

But the massive Gobi Desert copper and gold mine -- a joint venture with foreign mining conglomerates Ivanhoe and Rio Tinto -- is expected to account for one-third of the nation's total economic output by 2020 and boost the average earnings of Mongolia by 60%.

The numbers are staggering. The development phase runs to nearly $5 billion. The mine is projected to produce to 450,000 tons of copper and more than 300,000 ounces of gold. Developers claim there's enough here to mine for the next 50 years or more.]]> 1 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:24:15 +0400 http://news-today.info/business/8-hurricane-irene-damage-could-reach-billions.html http://news-today.info/business/8-hurricane-irene-damage-could-reach-billions.html

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hurricane Irene left 27 people dead, 3 million customers without power and potentially billions of dollars in damage from flooding and wind.

But the economic damage could have been a lot worse, experts said.

"It was much less bite than bark," said Matt Carletti, specialty insurance analyst at JMP Securities. "Rounding up, it's a $10 billion event, not 20 or 30 or 40."

Hurricane damage could total $7 billion, according to Kinetic Analysis Corp., which estimates the impact of natural and man-made disasters on the economy. Less than half of that -- some $3 billion -- will be covered by insurance, the company said.

Eqecat, a catastrophe risk-modeling firm, said that South and North Carolina suffered between $200 million and $400 million in insured losses. And the Caribbean -- including the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and Puerto Rico -- suffered damage ranging from $300 million to $600 million.

"Certainly, the storm was, in terms of damage and losses, less than expected," said Jose Miranda, director of client advocacy for Eqecat. "The fact that the storm hit the U.S. coast three separate times served as the number one factor why it weakened as it moved up the East Coast and mitigated losses."
Damage estimates roll in

As of Monday morning, Vermont seemed to bear the brunt of flood damage from the hurricane, with some towns in the southern part of the state entirely covered by water.]]> 1 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:20:52 +0400 http://news-today.info/business/7-diamond-prices-soar-on-asian-demand.html http://news-today.info/business/7-diamond-prices-soar-on-asian-demand.html

(FT) -- Diamonds have emerged as a haven investment alongside favourites gold and the Swiss franc, with surging demand from Asian buyers driving prices of the precious stones.

Consumption from China and India has helped boost prices nearly 50 per cent since the start of 2010 -- mostly in the past six months -- and pushed them to historic highs, according to industry price lists and gem traders in Antwerp, the global capital of the diamond business.

The value of top-quality polished diamonds of 5 carats, or 1 gramme, has risen to about $150,000 a carat, up from about $100,000-$120,000 a year ago, according to PolishedPrices, which compiles data on the wholesale market. Other categories of polished and rough diamonds have also risen.

Rough-diamond prices were hit hard during the credit crisis, but saw support in 2009 after the leading producers, including De Beers of South Africa, held back supplies to push prices up.

"Constrained supply, particularly for large, high-value stones, looks set to continue for the foreseeable future," said Jon Bergtheil, analyst at Citigroup.

The production cuts depleted inventories, which, combined with the surge in Asian demand, have contributed to record prices, industry executives said.

"In Asia the emerging middle classes are buying their first diamonds," said Pooja Kotwani, the India managing director of Rapaport, a diamond services company. "They are moving from a traditional gold band to a diamond-set ring. This is having a huge effect."

Diamond traders said that the price increase was having an unexpected knock-on effect for grooms in the US and Europe, who are opting for smaller, odd-shaped and cheaper gems for their brides.]]> 1 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:19:04 +0400 http://news-today.info/business/6-european-officials-round-on-lagarde.html http://news-today.info/business/6-european-officials-round-on-lagarde.html

(FT) -- European officials rounded on Christine Lagarde on Sunday, accusing the managing director of the International Monetary Fund of making a "confused" and "misguided" attack on the health of Europe's banks.

Ms Lagarde, the former French finance minister who replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn as head of the IMF in July, used her address at an annual meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to call for an "urgent" recapitalisation of Europe's weakest lenders, saying that shoring up the banking system was key to cutting "chains of contagion" across the region.

But officials said Ms Lagarde's comments missed the point of banks' current difficulties. "The key issue is funding," said one experienced central banker. "Banks in some countries have had trouble securing liquidity in recent weeks and that pressure is going to mount. To talk about capital is a confused message. Everybody -- politicians, regulators, other officials -- is quite concerned."

Officials, nervous that Ms Lagarde's statement would further spook bank investors, said they planned to urge the former French finance minister to clarify her statement.

European politicians and regulators are still struggling to come up with a mechanism that will calm investors' skittishness about banks' exposure to sovereign debt across the southern eurozone. A high-profile pan-European "stress test" of bank balance sheets has failed to allay investors' concerns about their ability to withstand a default by a European government, or a severe deterioration in their credit portfolios across the region.]]> 1 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:17:30 +0400