Putin Undermines Gazprom as Ukraine Pact Freezes Out Yushchenko
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By Lucian Kim
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- As Russia and Ukraine reached a mid- January accord in their long-running natural-gas dispute, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had at least one thing to cheer him up.
He had frozen his pro-Western nemesis, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, out of the negotiations, reaching an agreement instead with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, who had shuttled back and forth to Moscow during the crisis.
At home, this left Yushchenko looking ineffectual: One opinion poll put his approval rating at 3.4 percent even before the settlement. Yushchenko is a Russia basher; Timoshenko isn’t. Her poll numbers are rising, and she has voiced a desire to run for Yushchenko’s job in the next elections, which could take place at year’s end.
During Putin’s eight year presidency, which ended in May 2008, he made it his goal to strengthen Russia’s position as the dominant European gas supplier while becoming a global energy power with sway over energy supplies and policies far and wide.
To that end, the Ukraine gambit is part of Putin’s ongoing strategy to divide Europe and thwart the U.S., which is concerned that Russia intends to exploit its energy dominance to influence European politics.
Rough Test Ahead
Marginalizing Yushchenko was one tactical Putin victory; that the West could do little more than issue statements and grumble at Russian temerity was another. The European Union’s helplessness was reminiscent of its inaction during Russia’s invasion of Georgia in August. Putin’s gamesmanship is in for a rougher test as oil prices drop and the Russian and global economies slump. He also must deal with a blow to the credibility of OAO Gazprom, Russia’s gas monopoly, which he employed as his proxy in the Ukraine fight.
Still, Putin plows onward. He has used the Ukraine crisis as an opportunity to flog two new pipelines, known as Nord Stream and South Stream, as a way to break what he has characterized as Ukraine’s monopoly on European gas deliveries. The new pipelines would also increase Russia’s export capacity to Europe by 50 percent from current volumes; Russia now supplies about 25 percent of Europe’s gas.
“You’ve got to give Putin credit, he’s outplayed the West,” says Chuck Wald, former deputy commander of U.S. armed forces in Europe. “It’s not as easy now without $100 oil, but he’s driving the issues.”
Huge Losses
Two developments could yet derail or at least stall Russia’s energy ambitions. One is the 70 percent drop in oil prices, which peaked at $147 a barrel in July 2008 before falling to a low of under $34 a barrel on Dec. 19. The other is that Europe, jarred by the Russian gas cutoff, is now seriously thinking it needs to diversify its energy supplies.
“We must not allow ourselves to be placed in this position in the future,” said European Commission President Jose Barroso as gas started flowing again through Ukraine’s Soviet-era pipelines on Jan. 20.
Putin’s actions also caused Gazprom to bleed. By the company’s own estimates, the Ukrainian dispute cost it more than $2 billion in lost revenue.
“Was this agreement worth such efforts, such costs?” Putin said in a Jan. 25 interview with Bloomberg Television. “I think yes, because at some point you need to move to normal civilized market relations.”
‘Political Tool’
Those losses were piling up at a time when Gazprom was saddled with 1.1 trillion ($31.4 billion) in debt; that and sharply declining revenue could weaken the company’s ability to raise outside capital as global credit markets dry up.
“De facto, Gazprom is being used as a political tool,” says James Beadle, chief investment strategist at Pilgrim Asset Management, an investment fund in Moscow. “It’s not functioning as a corporate enterprise, putting business and reputation first.”
Other casualties could include the Nord Stream project, estimated to cost 7.4 billion euros ($9.6 billion) and scheduled to go online in 2011, and South Stream, projected to cost about $20 billion and slated for completion in 2013. “The question is, where is Gazprom going to get all the financing?” says Keith Smith, an energy analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
He contends that the projects are primarily political, as it’s prohibitively expensive to find and develop the Arctic fields that hold the gas with which Russia plans to fill the pipelines. Gazprom’s position as a natural-gas provider isn’t going to shield it from falling oil prices -- European gas prices are pegged to the oil market, lagging crude prices by six to nine months.
Optimistic Projection
Not everyone is that pessimistic. Nord Stream, a 1,200- kilometer (750 mile) route under the Baltic Sea, would cut out transit countries by linking Russia directly to Germany. “They’re going under the assumption that expanded sales will pay for Nord Stream,” says Ronald Smith, chief strategist at Moscow based Alfa Bank. “It will justify itself, even at $40 oil.”
South Stream, on the other hand, a 900-kilometer pipeline under the Black Sea that would link Russia to Bulgaria, is less realistic, he says -- and not just because of its price tag.
Should Europe get serious about importing more liquefied natural-gas and relying more on nuclear energy, demand for piped gas could stagnate, he says. Russia may find it difficult to keep on track many of the long-planned projects necessary to replace declining production, much less undertake ambitious new ones. Domestic crude output fell for the first time in a decade last year, declining to 488 million tons from 491 million in 2007.
Many of the fields brought online by the last wave of Soviet investment three decades ago are drying up, forcing producers to explore in ever more remote regions in Russia’s Arctic and eastern Siberia.
Cold Comfort
One example is Gazprom’s Shtokman field -- an Arctic offshore project with enough reserves to meet world gas demand for more than a year. The field is financially feasible at a per barrel oil price of $50-$60, according to project chief Yury Komarov. Delays to the development, projected to provide 11 percent of Gazprom’s gas output by 2020, could also affect exports to Europe, since part of Shtokman’s gas is expected to fill the proposed Nord Stream pipeline.
Merrill Lynch & Co., which had originally forecast 2009 average prices at $90 a barrel, cut that to $50 a barrel in November. Finam Investment Co. of Moscow estimates that 2009 oil prices will average $52 a barrel, while its “pessimistic” scenario projects $37 a barrel oil. Extraction taxes and export duties on oil and gas provide almost half of Russia’s revenue. Russia’s Finance Ministry, in one scenario projecting Russia’s Urals export blend to average $32 a barrel this year, is forecasting a 2009 deficit of 4 trillion rubles, or about $111 billion -- Russia’s first shortfall in a decade.
Staying the Course
Gazprom insists that despite a looming recession, dropping oil prices and the global credit squeeze, its energy plans are going forward. “All of our projects in production, distribution and transportation will be realized regardless of any difficulties,” Alexander Medvedev, Gazprom’s deputy chief executive officer, said at a January press conference.
Western energy companies, desperate to get in on Russia’s still considerable untapped oil and gas reserves, may bail Russia out as they have in the past. “Russia is the biggest prize left on the planet for international energy majors,” says Chris Weafer, chief strategist at UralSib Financial Corp. in Moscow. “If they have to secure their position by shouldering a disproportionate share of the financing, history shows they will do it.”
For example, France’s Total SA and Norway’s StatoilHydro ASA are already partners in Shtokman, while Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips may be roped into developing the isolated Arctic Yamal peninsula. Gazprom plans to build Nord Stream in partnership with German energy companies E.ON AG and BASF AG; South Stream is proposed as a joint venture with Italy’s Eni SpA.
Putin’s Irritation
On the surface, the latest Ukrainian dispute, which erupted on Jan. 1, was about Gazprom’s attempt to discontinue selling gas to Ukraine at a discount and start charging market prices. The political subtext was Putin’s irritation that Yushchenko is seeking membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The U.S., at least vicariously, got dragged into the Ukrainian fray. At the height of the dispute, Gazprom’s Medvedev suggested that Washington was behind Ukrainian obstinacy. “It looks like they are dancing to music which is being orchestrated not in Kiev but outside the country,” he said, referring to a U.S. Ukraine strategic partnership charter signed in Washington on Dec. 19.
The agreement, similar to one Washington reached later with Georgia, contained a clause saying the U.S. would help Ukraine refurbish its gas pipeline network.
U.S. Skepticism
The American response to Russian criticism was a mid-January statement from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that said, “We hope Russia will do its part to end this dispute, resume and maintain gas supplies and avoid similar crises in the future.”
That the U.S. is wary of a Russian stranglehold on European gas supplies is no secret. In May 2006, four months after Russia cut off gas to Ukraine the first time, then U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, on a visit to Lithuania, scolded Russia by declaring “no legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of intimidation or blackmail.” Cheney toured former Soviet republics voicing U.S. support for a proposed “southern energy corridor” that would bring Caspian Sea energy to Europe, bypassing Russia.
The key to the corridor is a European project that was backed by the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush. Nabucco, named by its Vienna-based consortium for the opera by Giuseppe Verdi, is a $10 billion, 3,000-kilometer pipeline stretching from eastern Turkey to Austria that’s designed to bring gas from Central Asia, Egypt or the Middle East.
Russia Strikes Back
“What happened in recent years in Ukraine is the result, to a significant extent, of the activities of the previous U.S. administration and the European Union, which supported it,” says Putin.
Annoyed with perceived U.S. meddling in Russia’s backyard, Putin journeyed to Central Asia in May 2007. He coaxed Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan -- two logical suppliers to Nabucco -- to increase gas exports to Russia instead of throwing in their lot with the Europeans. A month later, Gazprom announced its South Stream plans, and Putin courted leaders in Hungary and Bulgaria, both partners in Nabucco, to join South Stream instead.
“South Stream is a Trojan horse to stop Nabucco,” says Keith Smith, the Washington based energy analyst.
‘One Goal’
The Russians bristle at accusations that the pipelines are political tools. “Our relations with our partners have only one goal: to develop business from oil and gas extraction to refining and power generation,” Gazprom’s Medvedev says.
U.S. policy may change little with the Obama administration. In June 2008, Joe Biden, just before he became Barack Obama’s running mate, spoke at Senate hearings on Russia’s energy intentions.
“No wonder the president and prime minister of Russia spend more time running Gazprom than they do running the country,” Biden said. “They have shown that they are willing to use their dominance of both ends of most existing pipelines to extract not just economic deals but, increasingly, political influence.” Gazprom has been the engine in driving Putin’s energy goals and creating Russia’s new wealth.
In 2007, Medvedev first laid out Gazprom’s vision to become the world’s largest company, with an eventual market value of $1 trillion. And as oil prices climbed to unprecedented heights in June, CEO Alexei Miller predicted that a barrel of crude would soon hit $250.
Radical Adjustments
The energy landscape has changed radically since then. Gazprom, amid crashing revenues, has to come up with $10.6 billion in debt payments by the end of June. Its share price by mid January had tumbled more than 60 percent since July, knocking the company from its perch as the world’s third largest, with a market cap of $366 billion on May 16, to 51st on Feb. 3, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
All of this is happening when other segments of the Russian economy are faring no better than the country’s energy industry. The Micex Stock Exchange has also cratered, declining almost 60 percent since its peak in May, when oil was riding above $130 a barrel.
The ruble -- once touted by Putin as a reserve currency of the future -- has gone wobbly. It sank to record lows against the dollar, falling to 36 rubles per dollar and losing more than a third in value from August. That has forced the government to burn through more than $200 billion of reserves since August in an effort to buttress the currency.
Beleaguered Oligarchs
Russia’s claim to be the world’s hottest billionaire factory has also taken a battering. According to Bloomberg data, a clutch of oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich, who is an owner of steelmaker Evraz Group SA, and Oleg Deripaska, who runs Basic Element, an investment concern with holdings in energy, financial services and manufacturing, watched their asset values shrivel by $230 billion in the five months from May to October 2008.
Some wonder if Putin has overplayed his hand. “Putin’s energy doctrine is in danger,” says Mikhail Korchemkin, director of East European Gas Analysis, a consulting firm in Malvern, Pennsylvania. “It doesn’t work in bad times.”
Putin, a former KGB agent, is acutely aware of the correlation between cheap oil and economic decline. Sub-$19-a- barrel oil undermined Mikhail Gorbachev’s efforts to remake socialism and Boris Yeltsin’s early economic reforms.
A Gas OPEC?
Putin is counting on increased political clout and diversification to spare the new Russia. The country already belongs to a once ineffectual organization called the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, which includes the likes of Iran and Venezuela. Putin has said he wants to energize the group to coordinate investment and output -- similar, critics worry, to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
And he is already looking far beyond sales to European gas markets. Later this year, Russia will deliver its first shipments of liquefied natural-gas -- exportable anywhere by tankers -- to Japan and Korea.
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Daschle’s Demise Linked to Hindery’s Private-Equity Lifestyle
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By Jason Kelly
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Like former world leaders George H. W. Bush and John Major, Tom Daschle turned to the private-equity industry to make money after leaving politics. His handling of taxes for the job cost the former senator a chance to return to government as secretary of health and human services.
Daschle, who withdrew yesterday as President Barack Obama’s nominee for the cabinet post, spent four years helping friend Leo Hindery Jr. raise cash for purchases including 1970s hit dance show “Soul Train.” The appointment ran into trouble after he amended three years of tax returns for unreported income, including personal use of a car and driver provided by Hindery’s buyout firm. Daschle bowed out of the confirmation process, saying the tax issue had become a distraction.
The former Democratic leader’s $1 million-a-year consulting contract with Hindery’s New York-based InterMedia Advisors LLC highlights how buyout firms often turn to former politicians to court investors and make deals. Former President Bush, ex- Treasury Secretary John Snow and Major, a former U.K. prime minister, have all worked for private-equity funds.
“It provides the private-equity firms with an entr e,” said Paul Schaye, managing partner with New York-based Chestnut Hill Partners, which helps buyout funds find targets. “It also provides the politicians with life after Washington.”
Buyout firms pool cash from investors such as pension funds and endowments with borrowed money to make acquisitions. The industry spent $1.2 trillion buying companies during a two-year leveraged buyout boom that collapsed amid the credit crisis in mid-2007.
Daschle, who represented South Dakota, in 2005 became the head of InterMedia’s advisory board, which included former senators Bob Kerrey and Slade Gorton, as well as media and entertainment executives. Daschle also was a consultant to InterMedia, acting as a fund raiser and adviser on investments, his spokeswoman said.
Democratic Fund Raiser
InterMedia in June 2008 said it would buy Soul Train through its MadVision Entertainment Inc. subsidiary with the intent of reviving the brand tied to the long-running television show that featured dancing as well as performances by artists from James Brown to Justin Timberlake.
Hindery, a Democratic fund raiser and former cable- television executive, founded InterMedia in 1988 and four years ago assembled a panel headed by Daschle to advise the firm. It started seven funds since its founding for media investments including the Soul Train deal, and most recently a $700 million pool marketed in 2006. The firm has about $1 billion in assets under management, making it small in comparison with New York- based industry heavyweights such as Blackstone Group LP, which oversees $116 billion, or KKR & Co., which manages $61 billion.
Political Company
InterMedia and the 61-year-old Hindery’s role in the Daschle controversy underline the increasingly frequent intersections among private equity, politicians and policy makers, some of whom are taking jobs advising on investments.
Washington-based Carlyle Group helped pioneer the use of former government officials as fund raisers and dealmakers. Bush and Major have advised the firm, and its ranks currently include former U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Randal Quarles.
Cerberus Capital Management LP, the New York-based firm that owns Chrysler LLC, counts John Snow as its chairman and former Vice President Dan Quayle as chairman of its international unit.
Hindery backed former North Carolina Senator John Edwards’s presidential bid, serving as his senior economic adviser. Hindery threw his support to Obama after Edwards dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination.
$1 Million a Year
Daschle has characterized Hindery as a close friend and the two men have worked together on issues related to health care. Last August, the pair participated in a forum on “America’s Health Care Debacle” sponsored by the New America Foundation, a Washington-based non-partisan public policy group.
Daschle assisted Hindery and InterMedia in fund raising by attending meetings and making presentations to potential investors and consulting on investment decisions, his spokeswoman said. The consulting agreement Daschle had with InterMedia called for him to be paid $1 million a year, according to the Senate Finance Committee’s report.
“He’s a Democratic stalwart, a very high profile figure supporting Democratic causes,” said Richard Dorfman, chief executive officer of New York-based investment firm Richard Alan Inc., which invests in media deals. “The fact that he’s very close to Daschle is probably more related to personal friendship and politics than it is necessarily to Daschle’s ability to bring in deals.”
A Democratic Senate aide confirmed that Daschle had advocated for a senior post in the Obama administration for Hindery, the Wall Street Journal reported today on its Web site. The Senate aide said Daschle’s advocacy for Hindery was one more strike against him in a case that kept getting larger.
‘Beachhead’ Strategy
Hindery runs InterMedia with Peter Kern. The 41-year-old Kern formerly was the chief administrative officer of St. Petersburg, Florida-based Home Shopping Network, where Hindery served on the board.
Kern also sits on the board of Expedia Inc. of Bellevue, Washington, the world’s biggest online travel agency.
InterMedia told potential investors when it was pitching its latest fund in 2006 that it had delivered average annual returns of about 32 percent on the $840 million the firm had invested so far, according to the New Mexico State Investment Council.
Hindery and Kern told the council they took a “beachhead” strategy to invest between $100 million and $200 million in equity in companies around a specific area of media.
“We’re particularly interested in niche markets where we think there’s an underserved audience, whether that’s Christian media, the outdoors category, Hispanic or urban media,” they said.
Media Focus
InterMedia has bought the Gospel Music Channel, a 24-hour entertainment channel; publisher Thomas Nelson; and Women of Faith, a producer of conferences and publications for Christian women.
InterMedia is among the handful of private-equity firms created to make media-centered investments. Another New York group, Quadrangle Group LLC, also focuses on media and telecommunications investments.
Some of Quadrangle’s founders are also politically plugged in. Steven Rattner, the former deputy chairman of Lazard Ltd., may become the so-called car czar in the Obama administration.
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Norway Oil Fund Lehman Losses Exacerbate Kingdom’s Worst Return
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By Richard Tomlinson and Vibeke Laroi
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Every weekday when he’s in Oslo, Yngve Slyngstad takes the elevator to his office at Norway’s central bank, logs on to his computer and checks about $300 billion of international investments.
It’s made miserable reading since January 2008, when Slyngstad became chief executive officer of the Government Pension Fund-Global, the world’s third-largest sovereign wealth pool.
Built on the oil revenue that’s transformed Norway into one of the richest and best places to live on the planet, the fund lost 14.5 percent of its value through September. The third quarter was the worst in its 18-year history.
“We burned our fingers, and we’re not very happy about that,” says Slyngstad, 46, a former scholar of German philosophy who’s wearing a gray pinstripe suit and brown-and-white polka-dot tie on this unseasonably mild November day.
The government of Norway, the world’s No. 3 exporter of gas and fifth-biggest exporter of oil, has reaped about $430 billion since it discovered petroleum in the North Sea in 1969.
In May 1990, Norway’s parliament, under Prime Minister Jan P. Syse, voted to set up the Government Petroleum Fund -- the original name -- as a steward for the riches.
Record Oil Prices
Last year, the fund received the most oil and gas money ever. As oil prices marched toward $147.27 a barrel in July, Norway’s government, which controls the oil bounty, flooded the fund with a record 307 billion kroner ($43.5 billion) in the first nine months.
Now Slyngstad and his 120-strong investment team are paying the price for misreading the worldwide credit crisis as they spent the country’s cash hoard.
In 2008, they compounded their losses in plunging global stock markets by putting out $1 billion to refinance six U.S. and European banks, including the now defunct Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Those bets cost about $500 million.
Slyngstad also held on to U.S. mortgage-backed securities, including about $16 billion of bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the home lenders U.S. taxpayers bailed out last September.
Adding to the upheaval, Slyngstad increased purchases of riskier assets as part of a government-backed strategy to boost returns.
‘Risk Was Obvious’
Since 2007, the fund has steadily raised its equity allocation toward 60 percent from 40 percent, partly by buying more than 4,000 small-cap stocks worldwide. Slyngstad reckons the fund was the largest purchaser of shares in Europe in 2008, when the Dow Jones STOXX index of European equities tumbled by almost half.
“They should have been more cautious,” says Harald Magnus Andreassen, chief economist at First Securities ASA brokerage in Oslo and a friend of Slyngstad’s. “Although nobody talked about a meltdown, the risk was obvious.”
Even after piling up massive losses, the five biggest sovereign wealth funds held assets of $1.97 trillion at the end of 2008. Yet like his peers in the Middle East and Asia, Slyngstad stumbled by misjudging the length and severity of the credit crisis.
From March 2007 to April ‘08, large state-owned investment vehicles spent $44.9 billion on strategic stakes in U.S. and European banks, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute in Roseville, California. Their moves blew up as taxpayers rescued banks from UBS AG to Citigroup Inc., while Merrill Lynch & Co. was sold at a fire-sale price of $19.4 billion to Bank of America Corp.
‘All Wrong’
“A number of large sovereign wealth funds felt a year ago that the worst was over and that investing in blue-chip financial institutions would be a way to ride the recovery,” says Edwin Truman, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington and author of two studies on the funds. “They were all wrong, like everybody else who made the same judgment.”
Sovereign wealth funds with the biggest exposure to banks reeling from the global meltdown include the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the largest oil-based pool, with assets of $875 billion at the end of 2008.
ADIA paid $7.5 billion in November 2007 for a 4.9 percent stake in Citigroup. The New York-based bank posted an $8.29 billion fourth-quarter loss in 2008, ending the worst year in its history. In January, Citigroup announced plans to split into two businesses.
Starting in December 2007, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte. spent about $5.9 billion to build a 14 percent stake in Merrill.
Biting on Lehman
Norway’s fund was high on the list when struggling banks went shopping for investors, Slyngstad says. And Norway did bite on Lehman in the first half of 2008.
The Norwegians increased their stake in the doomed investment bank to about 2.5 percent on June 30 from about 0.3 percent at the end of 2007, according to a Dec. 3 statement by Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen and data compiled by Bloomberg. The fund reduced its equity stake in Lehman by a third from June 30 to Sept. 15, when the company went bankrupt, Halvorsen says.
In recent months, Slyngstad says he’s gotten calls from most big financial institutions.
“It’s very few who don’t want to have a dialogue with us,” he says, declining to identify them.
Saying No
He says he’s turned down the advances. That’s little consolation to Norway’s 4.8 million citizens, the winners or losers in Slyngstad’s investment strategy. Norway’s government derives money for the fund from taxes on oil and gas, ownership of petroleum fields and dividends from its 67 percent stake in StatoilHydro ASA, the country’s largest oil company.
About 4 percent of the fund’s value is transferred to the budget every year. The rest is invested for future generations, with the government predicting an increase in the fund to $682 billion by January 2015.
“The fund is like an endowment where you preserve its long- term value,” says Martin Skancke, head of asset management at Norway’s finance ministry.
Norwegian petroleum production has declined by almost 10 percent since 2004 as existing fields dry up, according to a Nov. 11 report by the Norwegian Oil Industry Association.
An increase in future output will depend on big new discoveries. At the same time, prices have tumbled by more than $100 a barrel since last summer.
‘Shaking Them Up’
Even so, Norway’s fund is already so large that it will continue growing, provided Slyngstad and his team invest wisely, says Oeystein Noreng, professor of petroleum economics at the Norwegian School of Management in Oslo.
“This present crisis will be very good at shaking them up,” Noreng says.
Norway’s people, who number about a quarter of the population of the New York metropolitan region, inhabit a fjord- sculpted nation more than 10 times as large. With so much oil wealth to spread around, they’ve come to count free health care and college educations among perks in what the World Bank says was the third-wealthiest nation by per-capita gross domestic product in 2005, the latest assessment available.
Now, some Norwegians are questioning why Slyngstad failed to anticipate how the subprime mess would snowball and put their prosperity in jeopardy.
“How many times are we to experience crises that originate in the United States before you guys stay away from this market?” a writer who identified himself as Kaare A. Johansen e- mailed Slyngstad during an online forum on Nov. 24.
Pygmy Music
“We learn new things every day and are surprised by some of the things that have happened there,” Slyngstad replied during the conference, in which Johansen and others grilled him about the fund’s 7.7 percent decline in the three months ended on Sept. 30.
Slyngstad, whose iPod fare ranges from Beethoven to a collection of songs from Africa called Mbuti Pygmies of the Ituri Rainforest, has spent his life in eclectic pursuits.
Born in Oslo, he punctuated his education with world travel. He has an MBA from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and a master’s in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to his philosophy degree from Oslo University. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris.
From 1987 to ‘91, while in his late 20s, Slyngstad backpacked around Asia, Latin America and Africa. He paid his way by working in Norway for six weeks every year. In 1990, he took a six-month break from his sojourn to live alone in Tysfjord in a fisherman’s cabin north of the Arctic Circle.
Hegel, Heidegger
There, on the banks of Norway’s second-deepest fjord, he immersed himself in the writings of two German philosophers. The first, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, developed a system that analyzes contradictions to help one reach a comprehensive understanding that encompasses history, the spirit and the physical world. The second, Martin Heidegger, believed that Western philosophy had misunderstood the nature of being and that a new inquiry must be conducted by retracing the steps of history.
“Reading philosophy presses the borders of your thinking,” Slyngstad says. “It’s not irrelevant when thinking about risks.”
Reluctant to settle down, Slyngstad completed his education at Kobe University, Japan, where he studied finance from 1991 to ‘93. He returned to Norway for a job in the research department of Norges Bank, which had just begun the petroleum fund.
In 1994, Slyngstad moved to Storebrand ASA, Norway’s biggest publicly traded insurer. He returned to Norges Bank to head the fund’s equity group in ‘98.
“He’s a theoretically schooled person and a smart, disciplined guy,” says Riulf Rustad, who as head of investment at Storebrand from ‘94 to ‘97, hired Slyngstad.
Riskier Strategy
When Slyngstad became the fund’s CEO 10 years later, he was already a central figure in Norway’s move to a riskier equity- based strategy. From 2005 through ‘06, the fund’s annual returns had fallen by a third to 5.6 percent. One culprit: The return on bond holdings, which made up about 60 percent of the portfolio, dropped by half.
In June 2007, Norway’s finance ministry authorized the increase in the stock allocation and investments in more emerging markets such as Egypt and Morocco. By last September, just over half of the fund’s investments were in equities, ranging from 5 percent of Cayman Islands-based Apex Silver Mines Ltd. to 0.4 percent of Procter & Gamble Co., the world’s largest consumer products maker.
‘Timing Seems Terrible’
This year, Slyngstad may start buying real estate assets, with a goal of reducing the bond allocation to a target of 35 percent.
“The timing seems terrible,” says Thomas Grennes, professor of economics at North Carolina State University in Raleigh and co-author of a September 2008 paper on the fund. “They give the impression that they’re really safe, long-term, passive investors, but at the same time they’re changing their portfolio.”
Slyngstad says it’s a great time to buy equities at rock- bottom prices and hold some of them for years. He says he’s confident the riskier investment strategy will eventually pay off as he switches more of Norway’s oil wealth into cheap stocks.
“This financial crisis in one sense suits us quite well,” he says. “We have a record cash inflow, we have an allocation change going to 60 percent in equities and we have a falling market.”
Ethical Investment
Slyngstad may have less cash for equities in 2009. In December, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg pledged to spend more than the authorized 4 percent of the fund’s value for current expenditures as Norway’s economy slipped toward recession. On Jan. 26 the government proposed a fiscal stimulus package worth 20 billion kroner, in addition to spending measures to boost the economy that were already in the budget. The government said that it wanted to take 5.2 percent of the fund’s value in 2009.
None of this public scrutiny would be possible without the fund’s transparency.
“No other sovereign wealth fund publishes so much about where they invest, their investment policy and the value of their holdings,” says Ole Gunnar Austvik, professor of economics at Lillehammer University College, Norway.
A 2004 government mandate bars the fund from buying shares in companies involved in human rights abuses, serious environmental damage or weapons including nuclear warheads.
Anne Kvam, the fund’s head of corporate governance who oversees ethical investment, says the purchase of thousands of stocks in emerging markets makes her job more difficult. By February 2009, the fund had excluded 29 companies, including Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer.
‘Nowhere to Hide’
The five-member ethics council cited alleged labor rights abuses at Wal-Mart suppliers in Africa, Asia and Central America and discrimination in the U.S. against women and employees wanting to form unions.
“Wal-Mart has worked to improve labor and commercial conditions,” says John Simley, a company spokesman.
Every quarter, Slyngstad delivers a performance breakdown at a press conference and then takes e-mailed questions during a live Web forum. In March, he’ll post the year-end size and value of more than 7,000 equity stakes and about 1,600 bond holdings. He says he’d report more frequently if Norway’s public demanded it.
“Since there’s nowhere to hide, it gives enormous pressure for performance,” says Slyngstad, who in addition to his CEO post manages his own portfolio of stocks and bonds for the fund and supervises two others. Because his staff can see how he’s doing, “I’m on the line as well,” Slyngstad says.
‘A Bit Arbitrary’
Slyngstad says he’s wary of investing more in the world’s broken banks until he’s sure that stock- and bondholders won’t suffer under government bailouts.
A frequent visitor to the U.S., he says the Bush administration didn’t have a credible rescue package.
“It’s had an element of being a case-by-case solution,” he says. “As an investor, that gives you the feeling it’s a bit arbitrary.”
Managing a multibillion-dollar fund that’s a key player in global markets marks a sharp departure from Norway’s insular past.
A century ago, the country was one of Europe’s poorest, best known abroad for its pristine fjords and glaciers and the dramas of Henrik Ibsen. In “Pillars of Society” and “The Wild Duck,” Ibsen attacked what he saw as the nation’s small-minded hypocrisy.
Oil Billions
Oil put Norway on the global economic map.
“We won the lottery,” says Nils Terje Furunes, group corporate economist at Oslo-based DnB NOR ASA. “Suddenly, you got extraordinary resources from the North Sea and not that many people to share the wealth with.”
In the 1970s and ‘80s, successive Norwegian governments failed to anticipate steep drops in oil prices and racked up budget deficits. In 1990, Norway set up the fund to ensure the country didn’t stumble on the path to prosperity.
Norway has spent some of its oil wealth developing the harbor in Oslo, the capital city of about 570,000, with an $800 million opera house as the showpiece.
In town, the most imposing buildings, including the neo- Baroque National Theater and the Italianate 19th-century parliament, predate the oil boom. The one adornment in Slyngstad’s sparse office is a wooden model of a Nordic boat, which was there when he became CEO.
Norges Bank took its time studying how other countries ran their investment vehicles. Norway’s government transferred the first oil revenue in 1996.
Sound Management
“We knew that funds like Singapore’s Government Investment Corp. were very well managed, and we tried to learn from them,” says Knut Kjaer, CEO from 1997 to 2007 and previously vice president of Storebrand.
Under Kjaer, the fund became a model of sound management practices. Last summer, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recommended that Canada use Norway as a guide for investing its oil revenue overseas. Bolivia, Nigeria and Vietnam have all sought Norway’s advice in setting up their funds.
Even so, Kjaer says his original team of 10 central bank officials lacked experience with equities. He went back to Storebrand and recruited Slyngstad. Slyngstad says his education and travels help him as he sifts lots of data.
“The essence of the way the whole market works is that you have to absorb information,” he says.
‘Too Early to Judge’
Today, Slyngstad navigates multiple time zones as he steers the fund from his perch in Norway. In the trading room on the floor below his office, about half of his worldwide investment team buys stocks and bonds on international markets.
He spends about 70 days a year visiting managers in the fund’s London, New York and Shanghai offices and meeting company executives and financial regulators around the world. He also keeps track of 81 external portfolios, which accounted for 13.5 percent of the fund’s assets as of Sept. 30.
The fund competes against a basket of stocks and bonds that Norway’s finance ministry sets as a benchmark. It failed to meet the standard during four of the most recent five quarters that began in July 2007, when it started to take on more risk.
Finance Minister Halvorsen cautions against rushing to conclusions about the fund’s dismal performance for 2008.
“It’s much too early to judge the decision to increase the fund’s equity investments,” she said in November. “We are in the midst of a financial crisis of historic dimensions.”
Black Swan
Last fall, as global markets crashed and he hopped between Europe and the U.S., Slyngstad used his iPod to listen to “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” (Random House), Nassim Taleb’s 2007 bestseller.
Taleb argues that investors can be blind to rare events and fool themselves into believing they can predict future risks and rewards.
“Taleb has the kernel of an important insight there,” Slyngstad says. “But you have to be careful not to take an insight and say, ‘Here’s the gospel.’”
Slyngstad says investors can anticipate pitfalls and opportunities by rigorously analyzing financial information. As he pours more of Norway’s oil wealth into shaky global stock markets, Norwegians hope the scholarly Slyngstad has learned enough from his studies, whether in a classroom or a cabin, to avoid repeating his disappointing first year at the helm.
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Sawiris Slows Pace of Resort Development in Recession (Update3)
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By Joseph Heaven
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Samih Sawiris, the Egyptian entrepreneur with real-estate investments from Morocco to Oman, has slowed construction of luxury hotels and resorts as clients postpone the purchase of new homes and delay vacations in the global recession.
Sawiris’s Orascom Development Holding AG will scale back building work in Oman and Egypt and has delayed the start of sales of condominiums and villas in Switzerland until the second half. Construction of a resort on the coast of Montenegro won’t begin for another two to three years, Sawiris, 52, said in an interview.
“There is a slowdown in demand,” said Sawiris. “It’s not dramatic, but it’s across the board.” A 24-month decline in sales of real estate and vacations is a “fairly accurate assumption.”
Demand for property in Orascom’s El Gouna resort on Egypt’s Red Sea coast has fallen by as much as 40 percent as banks tighten lending in the financial crisis and economic growth slows. Abu Dhabi’s two largest property developers, Sorouh Real Estate PJSC and Aldar Properties PJSC, last week said fourth- quarter profit plunged on fewer land sales.
Wealthy Skiers
The slump has also hampered Sawiris’s plans for an alpine resort with six hotels, condominiums and villas for wealthy skiers between the Swiss towns of Davos and Zermatt. In Andermatt, 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Zurich, Orascom will start with two or three hotels, less than initially planned, he said in the interview during a drive from Zurich to a dinner with friends in Klosters.
“One must be realistic: New sales during 2009 will suffer,” said Sawiris, whose company is based in the Swiss town of Altdorf.
“Some second home buyers might have difficulty paying their installments the next year or two given the challenging economic circumstances,” said Daniyah Darwish, an analyst at EFG-Hermes in Cairo, who has a “neutral” recommendation for the stock.
Orascom Development rose 40 centimes, or 1.4 percent, to 28.4 francs at the close of trading in Zurich, valuing the company at 645.8 million francs.
The company, of which Sawiris controls about 60 percent, generates income from hotel stays, leases on restaurants, utility charges and marina fees as well as the sale of realty. “These are much more insensitive to the crisis, so they buffer our loss in one sector, such as hotels,” he said in the interview on Jan. 26.
Montenegro Millions
Sawiris said he hopes to complete contracts to develop 6.5 million square meters (1,610 acres) of land on the coast of Montenegro before April. Construction in the country, which borders Albania, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo, won’t start until 2011 or 2012, he said.
Plans by Sawiris to develop an area the size of 200 football fields have made him Switzerland’s biggest foreign real-estate investor. He chose to list Orascom Development in Cairo and Zurich instead of London after winning approval for the project - - and exemption from Switzerland’s Lex Koller law that restricts the sale of land to Swiss nationals.
The Andermatt development doesn’t rely on debt, because “buyers normally make a deposit of 25 percent,” Orascom spokesman Philippe Blangey said. This capital, together with monthly installments, finances construction of private residences and the other infrastructure projects on the development.
Funding Risk
“There’s a risk the off-plan funding model won’t hold in the current situation,” EFG-Hermes’s Darwish said. Off-plan financing uses buyer’s deposits and installments to pay for the construction of the houses.
Sawiris said he’s become “super-careful” about spending after his Cairo-based hotel company nearly ran out of cash when tourism dried up after the 1997 killings of foreign visitors, police and guides at Luxor, Egypt. Orascom Development’s debt totaled about 20 percent of the value of its property and plant and equipment assets at the end of September.
“Funding is available, but at very nasty conditions,” Sawiris said, adding that he’d ordered his chief financial officer in Oman to refuse a loan after a bank tried to re-write the terms.
“I’m not in the business of making the banks rich at my expense,” Sawiris said. “I’d rather wait until they run out of opportunities and then come back to us than to take it now, just because of my schedule.”
Seven Countries
Orascom had 235.1 million francs ($203 million) in cash and cash equivalents when it reported nine-month results on Nov. 13. The company, with tourism projects in seven countries, raised 218 million Swiss francs selling new shares in May.
Holiday homes and apartments in Andermatt will begin to be sold “at the end of the third quarter and in the fourth quarter” of this year, said Karin Helfenstein, in charge of communication for the Orascom subsidiary that will develop the 1.4 million square-meter site. The company may spend about 1 billion francs on six hotels with 600 rooms and about 30 villas and 700 apartments along with a shopping center, swimming pool and golf course.
Sawiris says there’s still demand for Swiss property, even as demand for holiday chalets in the French resort of Chamonix has weakened with the euro’s appreciation against the pound.
“Prices for property in the canton of Zurich rose only negligibly in the fourth-quarter of 2008,” Zurich-based Zuercher Kantonalbank’s said in a statement, when it published its quarterly real-estate index said, Jan. 16. Prices increased 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter from the last three months of 2007.
Foreign investors have been calling to ask when Orascom will start selling Andermatt properties and locals view the market as safe, he said. Swiss real estate has not lost value like that in other countries.
“I’m not an adventurer. Although I know that in the eyes of a lot of people some of my projects are very adventurous,” Sawiris said. “If you look at the business plans and our strategy and how we do these things the risks that we take are really quite acceptable.”
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Areva says it will supply India with reactors
5 mins ago
AFP
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French nuclear group Areva said Wednesday it had signed a draft accord to provide India with between two to six European Pressurized Reactors.
"Areva and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited today (Wednesday) reached a protocol accord ... on the implantation of two to six EPR reactors," Areva said in a statement.
The deal also calls for the supply by Areva of fuel during the life of the reactors, which are to be located in Jaitapur in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.
A 34-year-old embargo on civilian nuclear exchanges with India, imposed in 1974 following a series of Indian nuclear tests, was lifted last year.
France in September signed an agreement with India covering nuclear energy cooperation.
India currently has 17 nuclear reactors in operation that supply about 2.5 percent of the country's electricity.
The cost of one EPR has been estimated at between four and six billion euros (5.2-7.8 billion dollars), although final costs are subject to negotiation.
The third-generation EPR was launched in 1992 and has already been sold in France, Finland and China. The reactor was developed by French electricity utility EDF and German counterparts EON and RWE.
Designers of the EPR reactor, which was conceived with a lifespan of 60 years, point to a better use of fuel, a simpler security system and less production of waste among its advantages.
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Madoff fraud hit up to 3 mln victims: law firm
Yesterday, 06:24 pm
AFP Elisa Santafe
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An alleged fraud by US broker Bernard Madoff has claimed up to three million victims worldwide, a Spanish law firm that has filed a US lawsuit in the name of some of the victims said Tuesday.
The total amount of money involved in Madoff's pyramid scheme could turn out to be much higher then the 50 billion dollars (39 billion euros) reported so far, the president of law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo, Javier Cremades, told a Madrid news conference.
"Our calculations are that at least three million people were affected by the Madoff affair, three million people who could be directly or indirectly affected by the case," he said.
The estimate is based on information collected from over 30 law firms around the world that are representing the 2,900 people or institutions in 25 nations which have so far taken legal action over the scheme.
Madoff, a 70-year-old former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, was arrested in December and charged with using billions of dollars from new investors to pay off older ones in a so-called Ponzi or pyramid scheme.
About 30 percent of those who have been touched by the affair still do not know it because their exposure is through pension funds or other indirect financial products like hedge funds, Cremades said.
Last week the law firm, which has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Portugal in addition to Spain, filed a class action lawsuit in Florida in the name of people who invested in Madoff through a fund run by Santander, Spain's largest bank.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Santander offered to reimburse the 1.38 billion euros which its private banking clients lost by investing in its Optimal fund -- the first offer of its kind by a bank involved in the case.
Santander, the largest bank in the eurozone by market capitalisation, said in December that it had a total of 2.33 billion in client funds exposed to Madoff. It has so far not offered to reimburse its institutional investors.
Cremades estimated that the legal battle over the Madoff affair will involve 300 law firms and over 45,000 lawyers and some 15,000 formal legal complaints.
He told AFP he would like to organize a "global response" to the scandal that is coordinated by several law firms around the world because "people want to recover their money".
In Latin America there are more than 1,500 people affected, mainly in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay, Cremades said.
The remaining victims were mainly in Austria, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United States, he added.
Fortis Bank, Barclays, Caisse de Depots et Consignations, Fairfield Greenwhich Group and Credit Swiss were among the institutions affected by the pyramid scheme, according to Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo.
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船橋競馬で１９１１万馬券 ３連単、公営競技最高配当
2009.2.4 15:55
４日に千葉県船橋市の船橋競馬場で行われた地方競馬、船橋競馬第７レースの３連勝単式（３連単＝１－３着を着順通りに当てる）で、中央競馬、競艇などを含めた国内の公営競技史上最高となる１９１１万円の配当を記録した。的中は１票（１票１００円）。
これまでの最高は２００５年１０月２２日に中央競馬の東京競馬で記録した３連単の１８４６万９１２０円だった。
ダートの１２００メートルで１２頭が争ったレースは、１着に単勝５番人気、２着に１０番人気、３着に７番人気の馬が入り、３連単「（１１）－（６）－（１０）」の組み合わせは１３２０通り中１３０３番人気だった。
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「犯人は夜叉のような形相で…」 大阪・松原のタクシー強殺未遂１カ月
2009.2.4 16:21
犯人の男は夜叉のような形相で刃物をふるった－。大阪府松原市のタクシー運転手強盗殺人未遂事件で、重傷を負った運転手、野澤俊樹さん（６１）が報道各社の代表取材に応じ、襲撃時の状況などを明らかにした。事件発生から５日で１カ月を迎えるが、傷を負った右手は現在も入院先の病院でリハビリが必要な状態。首の傷は医師から「あと１、２ミリ深ければ死んでいた」と言われたという。犯人に対しては「憎いというよりも、一生罪を背負うあわれな人」と語った。
現在も入院中の野澤さんは一時外出の許可を得て３日夕、勤務先の国際興業大阪我孫子営業所（大阪市住吉区）で取材に応じた。寝間着姿の野澤さんの首には、ほぼ一周するように切られた傷跡が残ったまま。包帯と添え木を装着した右手は、つながりかけている神経が再び切れてしまうため、無理に動かすことはできないという。
事件についての説明では、男がタクシーに乗りこんできたのは１月５日午前４時４０分ごろ。大阪市平野区瓜破の交差点付近で、窓をノックされ、後部座席左側に乗り込んできた。
「松原方向へ行ってくれ」。行き先を指示した後は、「寒いですね」と声をかけたり、道順を尋ねても短く返事するだけ。５分後、犯行現場の松原市三宅中にさしかかったとき、「連れが乗るから」と停車を求められた。
２、３分待ったが、連れは現れず、あたりを見回しながら不審に思った瞬間、知らぬ間に運転席の真後ろに移動していた男に羽交い締めにされ、無言で首を切りつけられたという。
とっさに右手で刃物を受け止め、男の腕をふりほどき、シートベルトを外す間もなくくぐり抜けるように車外へ脱出。出血で意識がもうろうとしてきたとき、男は夜叉のような形相で再び襲いかかろうとしていた。
「これをやるから、どっか行け」と、追い払いたい一心でポケットの現金を渡した。男は黙って受け取り、走り去ったという。野澤さんの証言によると、男は３０～４５歳で角張った顔立ちで身長約１７０センチだった。
男が立ち去った後、通報しようとしたが、偶然通りかかった同僚に発見された。首の傷もわずか１、２ミリの差で生死を分けたといい、「幸運に恵まれ、命をもらった。感謝の言葉に尽きる」。しかし、犯人に対しては「憎いというよりも、一生罪を背負わなければいけないあわれな人だなと。早く自首してほしい」と話した。
府警は、手口などから、昨年末に東大阪市でタクシー運転手の後藤利晴さん（６７）を殺害した犯人と同一とみて捜査している。
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１４病院が搬送拒否 兵庫・伊丹の男性死亡
2009.2.4 11:47
交通事故の男性が１４病院に受け入れを断られた問題で、記者会見する市消防局の下谷憲一局長（右）ら＝４日午前、兵庫県伊丹市交通事故の男性が１４病院に受け入れを断られた問題で、記者会見する市消防局の下谷憲一局長（右）ら＝４日午前、兵庫県伊丹市
兵庫県伊丹市の男性＝当時（６９）＝が先月、交通事故で救急搬送された際、近隣の１４病院が医師の不在などを理由に受け入れを拒否していたことが４日、分かった。男性は事故から約１時間後に同市内の病院に搬送されたが容体が急変し、約２時間後に出血性ショックで死亡。救急医療体制の不備がまたも浮き彫りになった。
市消防局などによると、事故があったのは１月２０日午後１０時１５分ごろ。自転車で同市内の県道を横断していた男性はバイクと衝突、全身を強く打って重傷を負った。約１０分後に救急車が到着し、救急隊員が現場で大阪、兵庫両府県の５市１４病院に受け入れを要請したが、「専門医がいない」、「ベッドに空きがない」などの理由で断られた。
この事故では、バイクの男性も重傷を負い、救急隊員はこの男性の方が症状は重いと判断、まず３次救急病院に指定されている同県西宮市の病院に搬送。
自転車の男性は血圧や脈拍が安定するなど容体の改善がみられたため、救急車内で応急処置を行い、午後１１時半ごろ、伊丹市内の民間病院に搬送されたが、その後、容体が急変。病院側は転院が必要と判断したが、この際にも２病院に受け入れを拒否され、神戸市内で受け入れ可能な病院が見つかったときには搬送できる状態ではなかったという。
伊丹市消防局の下谷憲一局長は「搬送の遅れと死亡の因果関係は分からないが、救急隊員の対応が適切だったかどうか検証したい」としている。
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貴金属など５千万相当盗難 銀座の宝石店「セルビー」の壁に穴開け
2009.2.4 14:46
４日午前１１時半ごろ、東京都中央区銀座の貴金属店「セルビー銀座店」で、男性店長（４８）が店の奥の壁に穴が開けられ、金庫から現金や指輪、ネックレスなど計約５０００万円相当が盗まれているのを発見した。警視庁築地署は窃盗事件として捜査、壁に穴を開ける手口で犯行を繰り返すアジア系窃盗グループ「爆窃団」との関連を調べる。
調べなどによると、金庫近くの壁に約１メートル四方の穴が開けられ、金庫の扉がバールのようなものでこじ開けられていた。セルビーは貴金属の買い取りを専門にしており、銀座店は午前１１時半から午後８時までの営業で、３日は休業日だった。店長が２日午後８時半に店を閉める際、金庫に貴金属を片付けたという。
現場は、ＪＲ有楽町駅の東約６００メートルのオフィスビルが立ち並ぶ一角。
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黒海の領海紛争で判決 ルーマニアとウクライナがともに「歓迎」
2009.2.4 12:39
オランダ・ハーグの国際司法裁判所は３日、海底ガス田が見つかった黒海北西部の領海線画定をめぐるルーマニアとウクライナ間の紛争で、係争海域の約８割をルーマニア領海と認定する判決を言い渡した。ガス田開発には世界的な大企業が相次ぎ名乗りを上げており、両国は判決に「歓迎」を表明した。
国境の約４０キロ沖にあるウクライナ領の無人島、ズメイヌイ島を１９世紀からルーマニアが領有、１９４８年に旧ソ連が占領した歴史的背景もあり、２国間交渉は決裂。ルーマニアが２００４年に提訴していた。
同国政府によると、今世紀に入って見つかった海底ガス田の埋蔵量は国内消費の２０年分に相当。バセスク大統領は「判決に満足している」と述べ、ウクライナ政府代表も「資源開発の環境が整い、両国の利益となる」と歓迎した。（共同）
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EU's Black Sea border set in stone
PHILIPPA RUNNER
03.02.2009 @ 14:57 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The UN's top court has ruled against Ukraine in a maritime border dispute with EU member state Romania, in a decision which holds the key to major oil and gas reserves in the Black Sea.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Tuesday (3 February) decided that Snake Island - a Ukraine-owned rocky outcrop - does not entitle the country to exclusive ownership of a 12,000 square km coastal shelf, beyond a 12 nautical mile radius from the islet.
Ajax carries the body of Achilles on an ancient Greek pot: Snake Island is linked with the Achilles legend (Photo: wikipedia)
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The verdict - which cannot be appealed - means Romania can exploit 80 percent of the 100 billion cubic metres of gas and 15 million tonnes of crude oil in the disputed zone, leaving the rest to Ukraine.
Ukraine deputy foreign minister Oleksandr Kupchyshyn called the ruling a "wise compromise," while Romanian diplomat Bogdan Aurescu said it was "correct," Reuters reports.
"The judgment draws an equitable line between both parties," ICJ spokesman Maxim Schouppe told EUobserver. "But in the line the court has drawn, Romania got a larger chunk than Ukraine of the disputed area."
The long-running border dispute has prevented either side from organising tenders for interested companies, such as Petrom, Romgaz, Lukoil, Total, Shell and OMV, to get the fuel out of the ground.
The once-Romanian islet has been de facto owned by the Soviet Union and later Ukraine since 1947. Romania formally ceded Snake Island to Ukraine in 1997 but the two sides could not set maritime boundaries and asked the ICJ to intervene.
Snake Island - about the size of 20 soccer pitches - houses a 100-man strong Ukrainian science mission, a lighthouse and a cashpoint. It was named by Greece in the Renaissance period, but its history dates to pre-Christian times as the legendary burial place of Greek hero Achilles.
The EU inherited a number of border disputes as part of its 2004 and 2007 rounds of enlargement.
Border problems are treated by the European Commission and member states as bilateral issues. But they have a habit of impacting EU-level policies.
The commission in January proposed creating a new diplomatic mission to help Slovenia settle a 17-year old dispute with Croatia over boundaries in the Adriatic Sea after Slovenia blocked Croatia's EU accession talks over the row last year.
Cyprus' inability to re-unite the island following a conflict with Turkey in 1974 has seen the Mediterranean EU member freeze parts of Turkey's EU accession talks.
EU member states last November also voiced concern about lack of final border arrangements between the Baltic states and Russia.
Russia has ratified border pacts with Lithuania and Latvia but the demarcation of boundaries - the installation of physical markers - is yet to take place.
Russia has refused to ratify a border agreement with Estonia however, after Tallinn inserted reference to Russia's 1920 recognition of Estonia's independence into the treaty preamble.
"The EU wants legal certainty of its external border and a stable basis for relations between its member states and Russia," an internal EU paper of November 2008 said. "The EU regrets that aspects of history have led to difficulties. It is important to take a forward-looking approach."
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米、核弾頭８０％削減目指す 英紙タイムズが報道
2009.2.4 12:50
英紙タイムズ（電子版）は４日、オバマ米大統領が米国とロシアがそれぞれの核弾頭の約８０％を削減することを目指し、ロシアと核軍縮交渉を進めると報じた。
同紙によると、交渉が成立すれば、両国の核弾頭はそれぞれ約１０００個まで減る。米国と旧ソ連が１９９１年に調印した第１次戦略兵器削減条約（ＳＴＡＲＴ１）によって核弾頭保有数は、それぞれ約５０００個となっている。
同紙は、ロシアが強く反発している米国による東欧へのミサイル防衛（ＭＤ）配備計画をオバマ氏が見直したことで、両国の軍縮交渉が進展すると指摘。米ロが何らかの合意に達すれば、英国などほかの核保有国に対しても核軍縮の圧力が強まるだろうとしている。
ＳＴＡＲＴ１は今年末に失効するため、米ロは後継となる新たな核削減条約の交渉を進める必要がある。オバマ氏はこれまで、核兵器のない世界を追求すると公言してきた。
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日本大学カザルスホール、来年春に閉館へ
2009.2.4 16:19
室内楽専用ホールとして、クラシック音楽ファンに親しまれた日本大学カザルスホール（東京都千代田区）が平成２２年３月で閉館することが４日、日本大から発表された。
同大によると、ホールを含むキャンパスの敷地が再開発の対象となっているが、詳細な計画は決まっていない。
同ホールは出版社の主婦の友社が建設し、昭和６２年に名チェリストのパブロ・カザルスの名を冠して開館。平成９年には本格的なパイプオルガンを設置して人気を集めた。１４年には、不動産投資などで経営難に陥った主婦の友社が日本大に売却していた。
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愛知大、金融取引含み損１２０億 名古屋駅南進出見直し
2009年2月3日
印刷
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愛知大学（愛知県豊橋市）が、資産運用のために始めたデリバティブ（金融派生商品）取引で、昨年１０月末時点での含み損が約１２０億円に達することが分かった。財務問題の責任をとる形で、経営担当の太田明副学長が辞任する意向を示した。名古屋市の笹島地区への進出計画も見直す方向だ。
愛知大の複数の幹部によると、損失が出ているのは「通貨スワップ」と呼ばれる取引。多くは円安になると利益が出る仕組みだった。しかし、金融不安の影響による米ドルの下落などから含み損が発生。昨年１０月末時点で計１９本の取引を試算すると計１２０億円に達するという。
そのうち１本について、昨年１１月に解約を決め、２８億円の損失を確定させた。残りの取引については扱いを検討している。いまのところ「一気に解約すれば、大学の経営に響きかねない。数本は処理するにしても、大半は時間をかけて処理するしかない」（幹部）と判断している。
このため、資金運用などを担当している太田副学長がけじめをつける形で辞意を示し、認められる方向だ。
再開発事業が進む名古屋駅南側の「ささしまライブ２４地区」への進出計画についても、見直す方向で名古屋市とも話している。
当初の計画では新学部のほか、同県三好町の名古屋校舎の学部や、豊橋校舎の一部の学部を移し、約２９０億円を投じて２３階建てと１１階建ての校舎などを建設するとしていた。しかし、「少なくとも、一部の階数を減らすなど規模を縮小させる方針」（幹部）という。１２年の開校予定も、内部には時期の延期を探る声がある。
また、豊橋校舎で二つの新学部を１０～１２年度をメドに設けるとしてきたが、食や農を扱う構想の文理融合型の新学部について、棚上げする方針を決めた。ある幹部は「財務の先行きが不透明な中で、計画通り進めるのは難しい」としている。
愛知大の０８年３月末の総資産は約５４５億円。（山本晃一）
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元若麒麟の逮捕現場事務所 役員、コカイン所持か
2009年2月3日 夕刊
大相撲元若麒麟の鈴川真一容疑者（２５）の大麻所持事件で、鈴川容疑者の逮捕現場となった音楽関連会社「Ｄ．ＯＦＦＩＣＥ」（東京都港区六本木四）の男性役員（３０）から、神奈川県警が、コカインとみられる粉末の任意提出を受けていたことが分かった。調べに対し、役員は粉末について「一カ月以上前に自分で吸ったコカインの残り」と供述しており、県警は麻薬取締法違反容疑で捜査している。
県警によると、役員は先月三十日昼ごろ、県警が大麻取締法違反容疑で家宅捜索していた同社事務所に出社。役員のかばんの中から四つ折りの紙に包まれた粉末が見つかった。微量のためその場で鑑定ができず、県警科学捜査研究所が粉末と役員の尿の鑑定を進めている。
同社社員の屋宮達樹容疑者（２１）も、別の大麻密売事件で逮捕されており、県警は同社関係者が薬物を日常的に使用していた可能性もあるとみて、事務所に出入りしていた鈴川容疑者との接点を調べている。
登記簿などによると、同社は二〇〇七年十二月設立。ヒップホップ音楽を扱い、東京・渋谷でＣＤ販売店を経営しているほか、役員や社員らがテレビのバラエティー番組にも出演している。
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社員が「コカイン」提出…元力士の逮捕、捜索現場で
大相撲元十両の若麒麟容疑者（２５）の大麻所持容疑事件で、神奈川県警が東京・六本木の音楽ＣＤ販売会社の事務所で同容疑者を逮捕、家宅捜索した際、事務所に入ってきた同社の３０代の社員の男が、コカインとみられる微量の粉末を所持していたことが３日、分かった。
社員は粉末をコカインと認め「１カ月以上前に吸った残り」と説明、尿とともに捜査員に任意提出した。県警が鑑定を実施、麻薬取締法違反（所持、使用）容疑で調べている。
県警によると、社員の男は１月３０日昼、家宅捜索中の事務所に入室。所持品から、四つ折りの紙に包まれた微量の白い粉末が見つかった。
登記簿などによると、同社は「Ｄ．ＯＦＦＩＣＥ」で、設立は２００７年１２月。主にヒップホップ音楽ＣＤをネットや東京・渋谷の店で販売している。
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相撲協会、文科相の見方を否定 処分報告の予定もなし
大麻所持容疑で逮捕された元若麒麟への解雇処分が「軽過ぎる」と塩谷立文部科学相から批判された日本相撲協会は３日、ナンバー２にあたる伊勢ノ海事業部長（元関脇藤ノ川）が処分の正当性を強調し、再検討の可能性があるとの塩谷氏の見方を否定した。武蔵川理事長（元横綱三重ノ海）が処分の報告のため文科省に出向く予定も今のところはないと説明した。
この日、武蔵川理事長は体調不良で不在。協会関係者によると、協会には３日までに「処分が甘い」などとする抗議の電話が殺到した。
塩谷文科相は処分について、３日の記者会見で「協会全体の（上部）機関で再検討される可能性はあると思う」と述べ、一層の協会改革も求めた。しかし、伊勢ノ海事業部長は「解雇は理事会の全会一致で決めたこと。決して軽い処分ではない」と繰り返した。
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伊勢ノ海委員長「解雇軽くない」 若麒麟処分批判に反論
2009年2月3日18時58分
大麻取締法違反容疑で逮捕された大相撲の元十両若麒麟真一容疑者（２５）の解雇処分を塩谷文部科学相が「軽すぎる」と批判したことに対し、日本相撲協会生活指導部特別委員会の伊勢ノ海委員長（元関脇藤ノ川）は３日、「解雇は軽くない。重い処分」と反論した。報道陣の取材に答えた。
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大相撲大麻：「退職金」早急に見直し…文科相発言受け協会
大麻取締法違反容疑で逮捕された元十両若麒麟（本名・鈴川真一）容疑者（２５）の解雇処分について、塩谷立文部科学相が「軽すぎる」と発言したことを受け、日本相撲協会の伊勢ノ海理事（元関脇・藤ノ川）は３日、退職金に当たる力士養老金の支給規定見直しを急ぐ考えを示した。「解雇は軽くない。重い処分。力士養老金が出るからそういう話になる。解雇の場合は支払わない寄付行為に変えることを早急に進めていく」と話した。
現行では、解雇者から力士養老金の請求があった場合、拒否する規定がなく、支払わざるを得ない。昨年８月に大麻取締法違反容疑で逮捕、解雇された元幕内若ノ鵬からは請求があったため、約５８０万円が支払われた。
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元若麒麟「２、３年前に雑誌みて大麻に興味」
2009.2.3 21:30
大相撲元若麒麟（きりん）の鈴川真一容疑者（２５）の大麻所持事件で、鈴川容疑者が神奈川県警の調べに対し、「２、３年前に両国の書店でたまたま手にした雑誌に大麻のことが書いてあり、大麻を吸ったらどうなるんだろうと興味を持った」と供述していることが３日、分かった。その後、大麻の吸引方法を紹介するビデオを見て、吸引の仕方を知ったという。
鈴川容疑者は大麻を吸引したのは「逮捕前日と当日の２回だけ」と話しているが、県警は大麻吸引の経緯や回数などについて詳しく調べている。
県警は鈴川容疑者の生活実態を把握するため、師匠だった尾車親方（元大関琴風）から参考人聴取する方針。
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大証、米ナスダックと業務協力を発表 相互上場も検討
大阪証券取引所は4日、米ナスダック市場などを運営するナスダックＯＭＸグループと業務協力の覚書を交わしたと発表した。新興企業向け市場の運営ノウハウで情報交換や人材交流を進めるほか、上場している株式や商品を相手の市場にも上場させる相互上場などについても検討する。
大証はナスダックとの関係強化を通じて傘下の新興市場ヘラクレス、ジャスダックの活性化につなげる。2010年に導入予定の次期売買システムでも、すでにナスダックＯＭＸ製を採用する方針を固めている。ナスダックは大証の強みである先物などデリバティブ（金融派生商品）取引のノウハウに関心を示しているという。
大証は00年にナスダックと共同で新興市場ナスダック・ジャパン（現大証ヘラクレス）を開設したが、2年後にナスダックが撤退。再度の業務提携となる。
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正社員の離職が6000人に、3月までの半年で 厚労省見通し
厚生労働省は4日、今年3月までの半年間で職を失ったり、失うことが決まっている正社員数が6000人程度に上るとの見通しを明らかにした。民主党の厚生労働部門・非正規雇用対策ＰＴ合同会議で示した。今回提示したのは正社員100人以上のまとまった離職を対象に同省が把握できたケースを集計したもの。 100人未満の離職などを合わせると、実際の失職者数はさらに多いとみられる。
同じ期間に職を失ったり、失うことが決まっている派遣労働者などの非正規社員は12万5000人に上る。正社員の離職状況はこれまで明確になっていなかったが、雇用情勢は一段と厳しくなっており、離職者数はさらに増えると懸念されている。(11:02)
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日米独英など10カ国で「世界共通特許」 審査情報を共有
日米独英など10カ国が事実上の「世界共通特許」の仕組みづくりに乗り出す。各国特許当局が審査情報を共有して相互に利用する制度の試行を3月末にも開始。審査負担を減らすとともに、企業が自国以外の国で早く特許をとれるようにする。各国で審査方法が実質的に統一され、自国で認められる特許が他国でも認められやすくなる効果がある。グローバル経済で競争する企業の知的財産戦略や技術開発を後押ししそうだ。
10カ国が始める新制度は、ある国で特許の取得が可能と判断された発明について他国でも早く審査を受けられるようにする枠組み。現在は例えば日米間の場合、日本の特許庁が発明審査で活用した情報を米の当局に提供し、日本企業が米国で特許を取りやすくなるよう協力している。新制度ではこの2国間の枠組みを多国間に広げる。(07:01)
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パナソニック、1.5万人削減・配転 製造拠点２割閉鎖
パナソニックは4日、世界で1万5000人規模の人員を削減・配置転換すると発表した。世界的な景気減速を受けた急速な収益悪化に対応する。製造拠点を 2割閉鎖、設備の減損など構造改革費用を3450億円へ積み増し、2009年3月期の最終損益（米国会計基準）は3800億円の赤字となる。構造改革で収益体質を強化し、来期の収益回復につなげる。
1万5000人の内訳は国内と海外で半数ずつで、国内では正社員のほか非正規従業員も含む。派遣社員は原則契約満了まで雇用を維持、その後は再就職を支援する。(21:02)
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品川区、知的障害者の外出支援 ヘルパー事業に助成
東京都品川区は2009年度、知的障害者の外出を支援する取り組みを始める。知的障害者が買い物や映画鑑賞などで外出するときに、ヘルパーが付き添う事業の運営費を区が助成する。障害者自立支援法では送迎サービスを受けられるが、目的地での付き添いは対象外。知的障害者が外出したくても、目的地での行動に不安がありサービスを利用しづらかった。
知的障害者の付き添いは、障害者の親がつくる「品川区知的障害者育成会」が担当する。育成会は10月をめどに特定非営利活動法人（ＮＰＯ法人）をつくり、障害者自立支援法に基づいて福祉サービスを提供できる事業所の指定を受ける。研修を受けた育成会のメンバーが、送迎から目的地での付き添いを一括して受け持つ。区は運営費などを257万円助成する。
買い物のほか、スポーツ観戦や映画観賞などへの付き添いを想定する。障害者自立支援法は自己負担1割で送迎サービスを受けられる。目的地での行動の付き添いも同程度の負担で利用できるようにする方針だ。
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博士号取得 東京医大で謝礼金、学位審査の教授33人
東京医科大学（東京・新宿）で2005―07年度に医学博士の学位審査にかかわった教授33人が、博士号を取得した医師らから謝礼金を受け取っていたことが4日、分かった。医師らは審査結果の通知後、3人ずついる審査担当の教授1人につき5万―20万円を渡していたという。
臼井正彦学長は「組織的にやったことではないがあしき慣行だった。社会的に誤解を与える行為で、再発防止を図りたい」と話している。教授らを厳重注意処分とし、教授らは1月の給与1―5割を自主返上した。
文科省などによると、同大学では07年度までの3年間に約230人が博士号を取得。このうち少なくとも47人の医師らが教授に現金を渡していたという。同大学は同省に「審査への影響はなかった」と説明しているという。(14:11)
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三菱自：パリ・ダカ撤退発表、契約ドライバーの今後は未定
三菱自動車が４日、「ダカール・ラリー」からの撤退を発表した。実際にラリー活動を担当していたフランスの子会社「三菱自動車モータースポーツ」（ＭＭＳＰ＝社員約４０人）や、ダカール・ラリー２度優勝の増岡浩、同３度優勝のステファン・ペテランセル（フランス）ら契約ドライバーの今後については未定という。
世界経済の悪化で、Ｆ１世界選手権でのホンダ、世界ラリー選手権（ＷＲＣ）での富士重工業など、国内の自動車メーカーのモータースポーツからの撤退が相次いでいる。
▽増岡浩（０２、０３年に三菱パジェロでパリ・ダカ優勝） 過去２０年以上にわたり、三菱チームで参加したダカール・ラリーの活動が終了することは、とても残念に思う。しかし、昨今の世界の経済情勢を考えると、この判断もやむを得ないだろう。
◇日本メーカーのモータースポーツ活動撤退・休止の流れ◇
０８年１２月５日 ホンダがＦ１活動からの撤退を発表
１５日 スズキが世界ラリー選手権（ＷＲＣ）活動休止を発表
１６日 富士重工がＷＲＣ活動からの撤退を発表
０９年１月９日 川崎重工業（カワサキ）が、オートバイの世界ロードレース選手権シリーズ・モトＧＰの活動休止を発表
１３日 ダイハツ、すべてのモータースポーツ活動の中止を発表
２７日 ホンダがオートバイの「鈴鹿８時間耐久レース（鈴鹿８耐）」について、ワークス（メーカー直属）チームの参戦休止を発表
２月４日 三菱自動車がダカール・ラリーからの撤退を発表
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パリ・ダカ撤退：世界不況の荒波、メーカーの「夢」奪う
ダカール・ラリー、通称「パリ・ダカ」こそ、三菱のモータースポーツ活動のシンボルだった。
７連覇を含む１２度の総合優勝という輝かしい実績。９７年には篠塚建次郎、０２年、０３年には増岡浩と日本人ウィナーも生み、参戦車両の「パジェロ」は日本のＳＵＶ（スポーツ多目的車）を代表する人気車となった。入社試験の際に、大学生が志望理由として「パリ・ダカでの活躍」を挙げるケースも多かったという。
今年の大会には全くの新車「レーシングランサー」を投入した。売り物は従来のガソリンエンジンに代わる新型ディーゼルエンジン。開発担当者の一人は「ここで開発した技術が、市販車の（環境性能に優れた）クリーンディーゼルエンジンに応用できれば……」と話した。
市販車との関連性や、環境技術開発をアピールすることで、ダカール・ラリー活動を続けたいという意思表示だったろう。しかし、その願いも消えた。社内でモータースポーツ活動に携わっていた技術者は今後、電気自動車の開発部門に移る予定という。
世界不況の荒波は日本の自動車メーカーから、伝統を尊重したり、モータースポーツを通じて技術開発するという余裕を、完全に奪ってしまった。
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