Czech exits EU post with shot at Sarkozy

Czech exits EU post with shot at Sarkozy

By Tony Barber in Prague

Published: May 7 2009 08:55 | Last updated: May 7 2009 21:44

Mirek Topolanek, outgoing Czech prime minister, delivered a parting shot at Nicolas Sarkozy, saying he should have reined in the French president during his four months at the helm of the European Union.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Topolanek said he had no regrets about condemning US economic policy as a potential “road to hell”, in spite of the embarrassment his remarks caused the EU.

But, he said, if he could have done one thing differently during the Czech Republic’s presidency of the 27-nation bloc, which ends on June 30, it would have been to curb the free-ranging Middle East diplomacy of Mr Sarkozy.

Mr Topolanek, whose government fell in March, is due to leave office formally on Friday. He will hand the premiership to Jan Fischer, a former head of the national statistics office.

Asked whether he would have handled any issues differently, Mr Topolanek cited the Gaza conflict in January, when a Czech-led EU diplomatic mission and a French mission headed by Mr Sarkozy toured the Middle East virtually in competition.

“I would have perhaps been harder on regulating Nicolas Sarkozy’s activities. It gave the impression that the French were dominating the show,” he said.

“This has to do with the pride in French politics in general, not with Sarkozy personally. France’s EU presidency had ended in December, and we’ve seen before that whenever a French presidency has drawn to an end . . . there’s been a tendency to try to extend it a bit.”

Several controversies marked Mr Topolanek’s spell in charge, but few were more explosive than his attack on US economic policies, delivered a week before Barack Obama was due in Europe on his first official visit .

Mr Topolanek told the European parliament that if the US engaged in a permanent policy of high deficit spending combined with “buy American” protectionism, it would be a “road to hell”.

Mr Topolanek said: “I’m quite proud of this opinion. Someone had to say it. It was a great reward to see my sentence in the Washington Post, the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal all on the same day.”

Mr Topolanek, a strong supporter of US-European relations, added: “I consider a great many US measures correct. But . . . it is going to be difficult to explain to Americans that they will need to save more, spend less and have lower debts.”

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EBRD considers big rise in capital

By Stefan Wagstyl, East Europe Editor

Published: May 7 2009 19:45 | Last updated: May 7 2009 19:45

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the multilateral bank for eastern Europe, could be set for a big increase in its €20bn capital to help deal with the economic crisis.

The bank’s 60-odd government shareholders, who before the crisis were considering reducing the EBRD’s activities, are now mulling an expanded role to help fill the gap left by the dramatic drop in global capital flows.

Word of their discussions has emerged as the bank on Thursday announced its biggest-ever loan of €432m ($579m, £385m) to Italy’s Unicredit, the largest international bank in eastern Europe, and published its latest gloomy forecast for the region. It warned of a 5.3 per cent drop this year in gross domestic product – far worse than the 0.1 per cent contraction it predicted in January.

The possibility of a capital boost is likely to be debated at the bank’s annual meeting in London later this month but any increases would almost certainly not be implemented before the end of the EBRD’s next capital review in 2012.

In a Financial Times interview, Thomas Mirow, EBRD president, said that as well as dealing with the crisis, the bank was concerned by the aftermath, when private capital would not come back quickly into the region, leaving a bigger role for government-controlled international financial institutions.

Mr Mirow said it was “too early to say” whether he would support a capital increase. But he pointed out that the Group of 20 anti-crisis summit in London had backed plans for the EBRD to discuss such moves.

He said the bank could continue to do business at its current level of €7bn or €8bn annually without an increase but added: “If our shareholders want us to do much more, that is something around €10bn, then they would need to put more resources on the table.”

Meanwhile, with private capital scarce and banks in urgent need of funds, there is growing demand from the bank’s 27 countries of operation, including Turkey, which joined the list last year. Pre-crisis, the bank planned to pull out of central Europe by 2010 but has so far withdrawn from only the Czech Republic and has now put other “graduations” on hold.

The US, the bank’s largest shareholder, previously wanted the bank to reduce its activities. But following the crisis and Barack Obama’s election as president, Washington has boosted support for the bank – as it has for international financial institutions generally.

The EBRD is working closely with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on a €24bn bank support programme for eastern Europe.

The deal with Unicredit is likely to be followed by similar agreements with other big international banks. The EBRD is making loans to Unicredit subsidiaries in eight countries and aiming mainly at increasing credit to smaller companies.

In its economic forecast, the EBRD said the impact of the crisis was now spreading from the financial sector to companies and consumers.

But it did expect a slight recovery next year, with a 1.4 per cent average GDP increase.

Erik Berglof, chief economist, said: ”There are downside risks to these predictions. But now there is also upside potential. Our underlying outlook assumes continued external engagement, particularly from the western parents of banks in the region.”

For 2009, the biggest GDP decline is expected in Latvia, with 13.2 per cent.

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IFC launches asset management arm

By Sarah O’Connor in Washington

Published: May 7 2009 23:19 | Last updated: May 7 2009 23:19

The World Bank’s private-sector arm has launched an asset management company to take equity stakes in companies in teetering emerging markets, and has hired a Goldman Sachs banker to run the venture.

The Bank’s International Finance Corporation hopes the company will attract more government and private capital to developing countries at a time when many investors are pulling their money out. Gavin Wilson, a managing director at Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division, will be chief executive of the first subsidiary the World Bank group has ever created.

Initially it will manage two funds: $3bn to recapitalise banks in emerging markets and $1bn to invest in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. These funds are largely composed of IFC, government and sovereign wealth fund money, but the IFC hopes that the new venture will attract private investors such as pension funds.

“The needs in the marketplace because of the crisis have gone up way too high for us to meet, so this allows us to make a difference not only with our money, but the money from investors who are like-minded,” said Jyrki Koskelo, IFC vice president for Europe, Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

“If everything had gone well in the world, these needs could have been and should have been met by the private sector without any push from IFC,” he added.

Nearly a trillion dollars flowed into emerging markets two year ago, but this year the IMF predicts there will be a net private capital outflow as investors flee from risk.

The IFC already works with private investors such as commercial banks to lend to companies in developing countries, and has sometimes made joint equity investments on a case-by-case basis. But this marks the first time it has set up a vehicle to attract wide-scale private money for equity investments.

“It’s [about] convincing others that they should also stay there and invest more,” Mr Koskelo said. He added he was “very confident” that the venture would attract investors and that its development-focused strategy would deliver a good rate of return.

The IFC’s bank recapitalisation fund is already up and running. Aimed at plugging holes in systemically important emerging market banks, its first investment was a $20m injection into Paraguay’s Banco Continental.

Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, said on Thursday the initiative would ”play an important part in drawing private capital to help overcome poverty and build the foundations for growth during this global economic crisis”.

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Relieved Trichet goes back on the offensive

By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt

Published: May 8 2009 03:00 | Last updated: May 8 2009 03:00

A month ago Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank president, had resorted to delaying tactics. With the bank's governing council split over how it could step up efforts to combat the worst recession in memory, he announced decisions on extra "non-conventional" measures would be shelved until its next policy meeting.

Yesterday, Mr Trichet was back on the offensive, talking of policy actions of "extreme boldness" and describing steps taken by the ECB since the global financial crisis erupted almost two years ago as "unprecedented in nature, scope and timing".

The ECB president's mood perhaps reflected relief after he managed to win agreement for a package that pointed to a significantly more creative and flexible response to the still-unfolding crisis. "While you can always wish for more, this was a robust set of decisions," said Erik Nielsen, European economist at Goldman Sachs. "Most importantly, they did not close the door on further actions."

Most eye catching was a pledge to buy about €60bn ($80.4bn, £53.5bn) of covered bonds, which are issued by banks and backed by mortgages or public sector loans.

This had the advantage of fitting with the ECB's "enhanced credit support" strategy,introduced after the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September, which matches in full banks' demands for liquidity at fixed interest rates rather than bypassing the banking sector entirely.

The fact that the market for covered bonds is dominated by Germany might have made yesterday's package easier to accept for Axel Weber, Bundesbank president and one of the council's more hawkish members.

But Mr Trichet said the council had acted in the interests of the 16-country eurozone. When details are finalised next month, one option could be to buy new issues, thus encouraging the growth of the market in other countries.

There were similar subtleties about the other measures taken yesterday. The ECB's main interest rate was cut by a quarter percentage point to 1 per cent.

Significantly, Mr Trichet did not rule out further cuts, even if he suggested a reduction was unlikely next month. That left scope for the ECB to lower the main rate if, for instance, deflation emerged as a more serious threat, while keeping onside hawkish council member Mr Weber, who had publicly stated that he saw 1 per cent as a floor.

Moreover, Mr Trichet did not even rule out a cut in the ECB's deposit facility rate, currently 0.25 per cent. The facility is used by banks to park funds overnight and has become a benchmark for market interest rates. The move suggested that he had become less resistant to the idea of interest rates falling to zero.

The ECB also extended the longest period for which it provides liquidity on an unlimited basis to 12 months, implying interest rates would remain low for at least as long.

The bank also announced that the European Investment Bank would be given access to its liquidity-providing options.

Mr Trichet's success in pulling off yesterday's deal, which he said had been backed "unanimously", could have reflected his negotiating skills - or the pressures on European policymakers created by the grim economic outlook.

The first quarter of this year had been "very bad," Mr Trichet said. ECB growth forecasts would have to be revised down in June - and he was cautious about spotting "green shoots" of recovery.

Instead, the ECB president used mathematical terminology, observing that "the second derivative is changing its sign" - in other words, the rate at which the economy was contracting was falling.

Avoiding a soundbite also meant there would be no excessively upbeat headlines he might later regret.

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US anti-terror controls delayed swine flu response
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By Andrew Jack in London and Adam Thomson in Mexico City , Financial Times, 6 May 2009

Tough US import controls on biological materials, introduced after the September 11 2001 attacks, hindered the rapid identification of the H1N1 virus because samples from infected Mexican patients had to be sent to Canada for analysis instead of the US.

Health officials said the detour highlighted how bureaucratic attempts to protect the US from terrorist attacks had backfired.

Confirmation of the decision, which delayed the international response to the outbreak, added to reports of hurdles to cross-border co-operation in the fight against the latest infectious disease, health officials said.

In order to get a result as quickly as possible, Mexico initially sent as many as 200 samples to the Canadian government laboratory in Winnipeg in mid-April. It then forwarded some samples to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in the US, less than half the distance away.

The US centres had already analysed several cases of H1N1 in the US without realising it was the same virus.

José Angel Córdova, Mexico's health minister, told the FT: "There are always administrative procedures that can take time. And, given the urgency of needing a quicker response, we called Winnipeg, where they told us that they could do it in a day."

Mexican and Canadian public health specialists have long-established professional connections and personal relationships, which eased the rapidity of the analysis and informed Mr Córdova's decision.

The information adds to concerns that the US may have been too focused, in early April, on analysing domestic cases of H1N1 to look across the border and make comparisons with reported cases in Mexico.

There have also been suggestions that the World Health Organisation was slow to respond to media reports of outbreaks in Mexico in early April.

But Michael Ryan, director of global alert and response at the WHO, said his team had contacted Mexico on April 10 and April 17 regarding separate incidents, and were assured they had been investigated and found to be isolated cases.

The WHO then informed Mexico on April 19 of the US cases, and began talks that triggered an alert on April 22 of severe pneumonia associated with influenza.

Mr Ryan stressed that he had no criticism of the Mexican authorities. "They have been dealing with a complex situation and a difficult epidemic, and have been exceptionally responsive to requests for information."

As well as additional import controls after 9/11, the US imposed tough immigration restrictions, which squeezed the number of foreign visitors, including students attending universities.

At least 23 countries have confirmed more than 2,000 cases of the H1N1 flu virus. The US has reported two deaths and Mexico 42.

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Doubts arise on ability to find asset buyers

By Julie MacIntosh in New York

Published: May 8 2009 03:00 | Last updated: May 8 2009 03:00

Some banks that require more capital after the stress tests will turn to asset sales to raise money, but their ability to find willing buyers is likely to be limited.

The US Treasury said this week that to solidify their businesses, it expected banks to consider "sales of business lines, legal entities, assets or minority interests", as well as joint ventures and spin-offs.

"This will encourage asset sales," said a banking industry adviser. "But it will target assets that would have buyers beyond the banks, which have to worry about their own capital ratios - and ideally those that don't sell at much of a premium."

Branches and deposits, which are typically in great demand, will be harder to sell because of accounting implications, bankers say. Such assets usually are sold at a premium. But that would force bank buyers to take charges against earnings for the premium, which is difficult for banks already facing shortages of capital.

Some experts were concerned that a broad attempt at government-supported asset sales could result in another AIG-type situation, in which a sweeping effort to sell assets largely fizzled out.

Many banks have put their asset management divisions up for sale, for example, and attracted little interest. "The government made that mistake already lending money into M&A that didn't happen," said one adviser.

"There's no M&A," said one adviser. "People have got enough trouble working out their own stuff." Additional reporting by Greg Farrell

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Billionaire Donors Split With Obama on Law That May Hurt Hotels
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By John Lippert and Holly Rosenkrantz

May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Three Chicago billionaires who helped fund President Barack Obama’s election campaign are fighting legislation he backs that would make it easier for unions to organize hotels they own.

Penny Pritzker, Obama’s campaign finance chairwoman and a director of Global Hyatt Corp., has told the president she is opposed to the measure, known as card check, said a person familiar with the situation. Neil Bluhm, a partner in Walton Street Capital LLC, also opposes the bill, the person said. Lester Crown, chairman of Henry Crown & Co., criticized the proposal in an interview.

For the city’s business leaders who nurtured Obama’s White House bid, card check is a gut check on support for their hometown president. Labor, which spent $100 million on Democratic campaigns last year, made it a top priority to enact a bill giving workers bargaining rights based on signing cards instead of winning a secret-ballot election.

Voting privately is “an American prerogative and shouldn’t be overturned,” said Crown, 83, whose family holdings include the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa in Ojai, California, and the Little Nell hotel in Aspen, Colorado. “The recommended legislation is absolutely the wrong thing to do.”

Pritzker, 49, and Bluhm, 71, declined to comment.

The fight over proposed labor-law revisions heated up this week when Senator Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who is the chief sponsor of the card-check provision, said backers don’t have the votes to push it through. He vowed to press ahead with other elements that unions want, such as shortening the time period allowed for elections.

Labor Law ‘Imbalance’

“Many do feel there is an imbalance” in current laws that favors business over labor, he said in an interview. A compromise version may attract support from more lawmakers, Harkin said.

Under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, employers can demand an election even if more than half of workers sign cards supporting a union. The bill would take away that right, and opponents say it would leave employees open to retaliation if they refuse to sign up.

Since the 1980s, management campaigns have defeated 19 of every 20 organizing efforts, according to Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at University of California at Santa Barbara.

While the U.S. Chamber of Commerce plans to spend about $20 million this year on advertising and lobbying to block card check, labor leaders said they are determined to get a filibuster-proof margin in the Senate.

Pressuring Specter

“We are confident we will have the 60 votes to pass major labor-law reform for workers this year,” said William Samuel, the AFL-CIO legislative director.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said his chamber may consider the issue before the August recess.

Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, threatened to withhold labor backing for Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter in his 2010 re-election campaign if he doesn’t vote for the bill. “We won’t be bludgeoned into supporting him just because important people, like the president, are,” Trumka said of Specter, who switched to the Democratic Party last month from the Republicans.

Unions represent about 7.6 percent of the private-sector workforce, down from 35 percent at their peak in the 1950s, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Heat on Hotels

The outcome of the debate may affect the hotel interests of Crown, Pritzker and Bluhm.

Bluhm’s investments include the Drake, Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons hotels, all clustered near Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue shopping district. He joined the Pritzkers in developing two casinos in Niagara Falls, Canada. Pritzker runs her family’s realty group, airport shuttle service and credit checking company.

“Labor-law reform gets right into the face of these liberals who own a factory or a hotel,” where the card-check provision would have its greatest impact, said Lichtenstein, the historian.

Crown gave Obama a total of $4,600 in 2007 and 2008, the maximum allowed for individuals, Federal Election Commission reports show. He said he still supports Obama.

“I think the world of him,” Crown said. “This doesn’t have anything to do with other relationships.”

Campaign Bundler

Pritzker ran committees that generated a record of more than $745 million for the Obama campaign plus $53 million for the inauguration. Bluhm raised $160,000 in 2008 as a so-called bundler for Obama, pooling donations from other contributors, according to OpenSecrets.org, a Washington-based group that tracks campaign spending.

“The president and his supporters don’t agree on every issue, nor does anyone expect them to,” said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor. “But clearly many like Ms. Pritzker, who the president asked to serve on the President’s Economy Recovery Advisory Board, are supportive of his overall economic agenda.”

Workers at the Pritzkers’ Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, California, initiated an organizing drive last year. Managers called meetings and told employees that joining a union could cost wages and benefits, said Rigoberto Gutierrez, 55, who has worked in room service there for 12 years.

“They tried to scare us,” he said. “They told us we could lose everything.”

The matter remains unresolved.

Obama’s Vegas Slap

Pritzker and other corporate officers knew Obama’s views on labor issues when they joined his campaign. They were surprised, though, when Republicans lost so many seats in the Senate and when Obama indicated his support for card check, said the person familiar with the situation.

The Pritzkers in particular also took note of Obama’s public statement on Feb. 9 that executives shouldn’t use federal bailout money for Las Vegas trips, the person said. Later this year, the family will open a Grand Hyatt with 2,973 rooms next to the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.

“Obama has very carefully straddled two positions,” said William B. Gould, a former National Labor Relations Board chairman under President Bill Clinton. “He has been supportive of the bill, but he has been very careful to not speak of any particular provision.”

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BOC to withdraw from financing venture with Peugeot

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Bank of China, one of the country's leading state-run banks, said it is selling its stake in an auto-financing venture with local maker Dongfeng Motors Group and France's PSA Peugeot Citroen. Skip related content
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BOC Insurance, a Bank of China subsidiary, is looking to sell its 50 percent holding for 328 million yuan (48 million dollars), according to a statement posted on the Beijing Equity Exchange website.

PSA's Dutch subsidiary, PSA Finance Nederland BV, and its joint venture with Dong Feng Motors each hold a 25 percent stake in the financing firm -- Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Auto Finance Co Ltd.

A Bank of China spokesman contacted by AFP on Friday said the bank would not provide reasons for its withdrawal from the venture, which posted a net profit of 14.55 million yuan last year.

With a registered capital of 500 million yuan, the venture was established in 2006 to tap the fast-growing Chinese car user market by offering financing for Peugeot and Citroen customers and the dealerships of both brands.

China overtook United States as the world's largest car market in the first quarter on the back of government incentives to boost domestic consumption.

Sales in China are mostly cash-based rather than credit-based as in developed markets, but industry experts say use of credit is growing.

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ＢＮＰパリバ、虚偽報告の疑い　アーバンコーポ増資引き受けで

　経営破綻したアーバンコーポレイションの増資引き受け問題で、昨秋に金融庁から業務改善命令を受けた仏系のＢＮＰパリバ証券が同庁に虚偽の報告をしていた疑いのあることが8日、明らかになった。関係者によると、パリバのディーラーが利益を得る目的でアーバン株を取引していたことを報告していなかったという。

　証券取引等監視委員会が立ち入り検査で事実関係を調べている。虚偽報告があったと認定した場合は、金融庁に2度目の行政処分を発動するよう勧告する。金融商品取引法は虚偽報告の場合、刑事告発か業務停止命令などの行政処分を検討すると定めている。また虚偽と認定できなくても、社内の情報管理体制に問題があったとみている。(12:44)

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信金、「公的資金」で不協和音

　公的資金活用の是非を巡って、信用金庫業界に不協和音が生じている。東京都の信用金庫協会が、中央金融機関である信金中央金庫に対して公的資金の活用を求めたことが7日、判明。一方の信金中金は公的資金の受け入れには否定的だ。「一枚岩」を誇ってきた信金業界だが、金融危機への対応では揺れている。

　東京都信用金庫協会が、有事に備えて公的資金による資本増強策を選択肢に加えるべきだとする「メモ」を作成したのは先月下旬。全国団体の全国信用金庫協会を通して、メモに書かれた意向が信金中金に伝わった。(11:11)

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日本生命と第一生命、長期貸付基準金利を引き下げ

　日本生命保険と第一生命保険は7日、期間10年の大企業向け長期貸付基準金利を8日から引き下げると発表した。日本生命は0.15％引き下げて2.45％、第一生命は0.2％引き下げて2.15％とする。(00:56)

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トヨタの09年３月期、最終赤字4369億円

　トヨタ自動車が8日発表した2009年3月期の連結決算は、最終損益が4369億円の赤字だった。世界的な自動車販売の落ち込みや為替の円高などが響き、08年3月期の1兆7000億円超の黒字から一転、大幅な赤字に陥った。業績悪化を受け、09年3月期の年間配当を100円（08年3月期は140 円）に減らす。

　09年3月期の売上高は前の期比21.9％減の20兆5295億円、営業損益は4610億円の赤字（前の期は2兆2703億円の黒字）だった。

　10年3月期は売上高が16兆5000億円、営業損益は8500億円の赤字を見込んでいる。(15:19)

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元組事務所に駐在所開設　福岡
2009.5.8 13:33
指定暴力団の組事務所から駐在所に生まれ変わった住宅＝８日午前１１時１５分、福岡県筑紫野市山口指定暴力団の組事務所から駐在所に生まれ変わった住宅＝８日午前１１時１５分、福岡県筑紫野市山口

　指定暴力団道仁会系組事務所として使われていた福岡県筑紫野市内の住宅が県警の駐在所に生まれ変わり８日、開所式が開かれた。

　県警によると、組事務所だった建物が駐在所になるのは全国初。住民の暴力団追放運動で組が撤退、ドアや窓が防弾用の板で補強されるなど「暴力団仕様」だったため、土地と建物を買い取った市が改修した。住民と行政、県警が連携して生まれた「暴追のシンボル」として活用される。

　市によると、駐在所になったのは筑紫野市山口の県道沿いにある２階建て住宅。平成１９年４月に組事務所として使われていることが判明し、市を中心に住民らが集会や署名活動を展開、同年１２月に完全退去した。建物と土地が競売物件となっていたことから、市が計約１４５０万円で取得。近くにあった駐在所が老朽化していたため、県警が活用することになった。

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原子炉製造技術：ロシア企業取得狙う　日本、官民で防衛

2009年5月8日 2時30分

　世界随一の原子炉製造技術を持つ日本メーカーをロシア企業が買収しようとし、日本が官民挙げての防衛策で阻止していたことが７日、明らかになった。麻生太郎首相は１１日から来日するロシアのプーチン首相と日露原子力協定調印で合意するが、協定締結は両国の攻防の末の妥結策でもあった。

　０７年２月２８日、来日したフラトコフ露首相（当時）は安倍晋三首相（同）と会談し、原子力協定の交渉を始めることで一致した。２日後、「ロシアのアルミ王」と呼ばれた富豪デリパスカ氏が、首相随行団から離れ、技術者を伴って日本製鋼所室蘭製作所（北海道室蘭市）を視察した。

　原子炉の心臓部の圧力容器は、継ぎ目を極力減らすため巨大な鋼塊をプレスして造る。原子炉は大型化しているが、同製作所は世界最大の約６００トンの塊を造る技術を持ち、他の追随を許さない。

　技術に驚嘆したアルミ王は、関係者に言った。「あの会社の株を取得できないか。買収したい」

　デリパスカ氏はプーチン首相との親密な間柄で知られる。日本政府に「買収はロシア政府の意向だ」と危機感が走った。

　半年後の同年９月、日本製鋼所は２０％以上の株取得を目指す投資家に目的などの説明を求める「事前警告型」の防衛策を導入。

　また、経済産業省は、外国資本が航空機・原子力・電気・ガス会社の１０％以上の株式を取得する場合、外為法に基づく事前届け出義務があることをロシア側に繰り返し伝えた。

　０８年６月、モスクワで開かれた原発事業の国際会議。日本政府の原子力委員会の神田啓治元専門委員は、ロシア国営原子力会社「ロスアトム」のスパスキー副総裁から「あの工場を買いたいが厳しいようだ。政府間協定の正攻法でやりたいから協力してくれ」と持ちかけられた。

　７月の北海道洞爺湖サミット（主要国首脳会議）でもロシア側から「日露首脳会談で締結する」との観測が流れ、その後、交渉は異例の速さで進んだ。

　背景にあるのは、温暖化対策で世界中で原発新設が進むとされる「原子力ルネサンス」。日本の技術を導入したいロシアの熱意と、ロシアのウラン濃縮能力を活用したい日本の思惑が一致した。

　日本が原子力協定を結ぶのは１９５５年の米国以来７カ国目。かつて日米同盟の仮想敵だった核大国との提携は、半世紀を超える日本の原子力エネルギー政策の転換点となる。
　◇原子力協定

　ウラン燃料などの核物質や原発関連部品の輸出入にあたり、核物質や核技術が流出したり、自国から送った核物質が相手国内で核兵器などに軍事転用されないようにする取り決め。協定がないと、本格的な核燃料輸出入や技術協力はできない。核不拡散のために結ぶ側面が強かったが、途上国で原発新設の動きが進むにつれ、先進国から途上国への原発輸出を円滑に進めるための側面も出てきている。日本はカザフスタンとも締結交渉を進めている。

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【足利事件】受刑者のＤＮＡ型と不一致　再審求める裁判で鑑定結果 (1/2ページ)
2009.5.8 17:14
このニュースのトピックス：刑事裁判

　栃木県足利市で平成２年、４歳女児が殺害された「足利事件」で殺人罪などに問われ、無期懲役が確定した元幼稚園バス運転手、菅家利和受刑者（６２）の再審請求即時抗告審で、東京高裁（矢村宏裁判長）が嘱託した２人の鑑定医が８日、鑑定結果を同高裁に報告、高裁が弁護・検察側双方に結果を伝えた。弁護側は２件の鑑定結果はともに、菅家受刑者のＤＮＡ型と女児の下着に付着した体液が一致せず、同一人物ではないという結果だったと明かした。

　鑑定は、検察側と弁護側双方の推薦を受けた鑑定医が行い、結果を受け取った東京高裁は同日、鑑定結果を検察・弁護側双方に伝えた。

　弁護側によると、検察官推薦の鑑定人の結果は「ＤＮＡ型の多くが異なるので同一人に由来しない」、一方、弁護人推薦の鑑定人の結果は「いかなる偶然性を排除しても、不一致の結果は個人が同一である可能性はあり得ないといっても過言ではない」とのものだったという。