Go ahead from the shareholders’ meeting of Esso Italiana to an agreement with the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach for the sale of the Augusta refinery and fuel depots of the same city of Syracuse, of Palermo and Naples and of the related pipelines.
“The decision is the result of a thorough and careful evaluation – says in a statement Gianni Murano, president and CEO of Esso Italiana -. Our commitment in Italy, where we have been operating for over 125 years, is still valid. Esso Italiana and the companies of the Group will continue to serve the market and its customers “.
Esso Italiana and the companies of the ExxonMobil Group will also sign long-term commercial and technological contracts with Sonatrach for the supply of petroleum products, operational and development activities and the use of fuel depots in Augusta, Palermo and Naples.
“The agreement – the note of Esso Italiana explains – has no impact on Esso-branded service stations, customers, fuel and lubricating and wholesalers, or on other ExxonMobil Group operations in Italy”.

“Sonatrach is extremely proud to make its first international investment in the refining sector in Italy, in particular in Augusta – said Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, Chairman and CEO of Sonatrach – We are committed to maintaining employment levels, management continuity, operational excellence and high standards of health, safety and the environment. Our goal is a long-term presence, with a view to safety and commitment to constructive dialogue with the workforce, authorities and communities “.

Esso Italiana will “collaborate with Sonatrach to ensure careful management of the transition, with particular reference to personnel, security, relations with local communities and environmen protection – the company says -. During the transition, EssoItaliana will continue to ensure constant attention to the safety and efficiency of operations, and ensure compliance with the commitments undertaken with the authorities”.

The completion of the transfer of the business unit is subject to a number of conditions and legal restrictions, including the completion of the information and consultation process with the trade unions and the approval of the Antitrust Authority. The sale is expected by the end of 2018.
The employment contract of approximately 660 employees of Esso Italiana will be transferred to the purchaser.
(ITALPRESS/MNA)

Source: medNews

by Domenico Letizia*
ROME (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The growth rate of the Albanian economy, which has been rising in recent years, is expected to be the best of the Balkan area in 2018. The development of the Gross product is driven by several components: private consumption, a significant increase in exports and investments in general with specific focus on public ones related to the construction of civil infrastructures. However, the strong commercial dependence with strategic partners, such as Italy, should be emphasized, given that the ongoing economic recovery contributes to the increase in Albanian economic activity. With regards to the Banking System, as a whole, Silvio Pedrazzi, Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors Member of Intesa SanPaolo Bank Albania, recently stated in an interview that there are excellent parameters of liquidity and capital solidity which however are in contrast with some structural problems that can be traced back to the modest size of most Banks, to the high level of Problem Loans and to a low level of profitability. 

Moreover, even though Albania has joined the agreements for the exchange of tax and financial information (CRS – Common Reporting Standards) from the beginning, to date the competent Authorities have not yet issued the implementation instructions; the financial intermediaries are therefore not able to provide the public administration with the expected data. It should be noted that as a rule the Government and the “Donors” do not grant any financing directly to the commercial banks. The financial contributions made available by these subjects are aimed at the development of certain specific sectors or actions aimed at improving civil and social infrastructures.

In this context, the loans granted directly to the Albanian State by International Financial Institutions (such as World Bank, EBRD and other similar bodies) for the construction of improvements to the infrastructures (water, electricity, road networks, reduction of energy consumption) or for the efficiency of the public administration (reform of the Cadastre, reform of justice, etc.). In this case, the funds obtained are then injected into the local economy mainly through the use of tenders and / or contracts that can be attended by individual private companies, both local and foreign. In parallel, other funds are injected to provide the commercial banks with sources of funding to support and / or guarantee specific types of loans in specific economic sectors.

This is the case, for example, of the Guarantee Fund for Agribusiness (which covers up to around € 100 million) and funds for the development of female entrepreneurship (Women in Business). It should be remembered that the high Italian business presence is unique, a presence in almost all economic sectors, from manufacturing, to infrastructures and services; there are large, small and very small companies, constituting, as a whole, an extraordinary wealth both for Albania and for Italy. Italian entrepreneurs have been true pioneers, among others, in the renewable energy sector, in manufacturing processes and in the provision of services.

* Responsible for the Communication of “Italian Network” and President of the Research Institute of International Economics and Politics (Irepi)

(ITALPRESS/MNA)

Source: medNews

A prize to the memory, to the courage and to the head of a race chronicler. Daphne Caruana Galizia is the winner of the 2018 edition, the twenty-first edition of the national journalism award Mario and Giuseppe Francese, organized by the Order of Journalists of Sicily. The delivery ceremony will be held on Wednesday 2 May, in the main hall of the ‘Vittorio Emanuele II’ high school in Palermo. The title of the event will be ‘Freedom of press under attack’. Daphne Caruana Galicia is the Maltese journalist who was killed at the age of 53, last October 16, in the explosion of a car bomb. Two weeks before his murder she had filed a police report because she had received threats.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

According to an announcement by Minister of Transport, Hesham Arafat, Egypt is planning to build a high-speed train between El Alamein and Ain Sokhna.The project is part of the country’s EGP 55 billion investment in the railway sector, with construction set to begin in the second half of the year, Arafat revealed.

Egypt is also said to be working alongside China on developing a railway to link Cairo to the new capital, while other projects include a monorails in 6th of October City and in the new capital, as well as a railway lines between 6th of October and Aswan. Totaling EGP 120 billion, Egypt’s railway investment plans are reported to include a metro line, which will cost an estimated EGP 90 billion. The new metro line is set to accommodate four million passengers through 27 tunnel stations and 12 surface stations, at a length of 48km. 

 

Source: medNews

Construction work has commenced on the high-speed railway connecting the capital Ankara to the central Anatolian province of Sivas. 

The first tracks were laid in the Yerköy district of Yozgat with a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozda?, Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication Minister Ahmet Arslan, Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz and Yozgat Governor Kemal Yurtnaç.

The 405 kilometer railway, which will go through the central Anatolian provinces of Kirikkale and Yozgat, will shorten the travel time between Ankara and Sivas to two hours from the current 12 hours. Arslan said that all works on the railway project will be completed within a year and passengers will be able to travel from Istanbul to Sivas in 5.5 hours.

The project, which also includes construction of a total of 49 tunnels, is estimated to cost 9 billion Turkish Liras (2.26 billion dollar), according to the minister. Turkey’s long-awaited high-speed railway line between Ankara and the financial capital Istanbul was inaugurated on July 25, 2016.

This project, which is worth $4 billion, was completed in phases. Last year in January, Transport Minister Arslan unveiled plans regarding a new high-speed train project in the Central Anatolian province of Eskiiehir and the Mediterranean province of Antalya.

Source: medNews

The Al Lajjoun dam in the Kerak governorate, south of Jordan, inaugurated last week, aims to exploit water resources for agricultural and livestock activities in the Kerak area. The flow rate of the dam is 1 million cubic meters; the height of the building is 27.7 meters. The inauguration took place in the presence of the Jordanian Minister of Water and Irrigation Ali Al-Ghezawi and of the Italian Ambassador to Jordan, Giovanni Brauzzi.

The project is part of Italy’s commitment to support Jordan’s efforts to improve the country’s water and sanitation situation and has been financed under the debt swap agreement with a value of 16 million euros signed by the two Governments on 22 May 2011. In March 2016, the Debt Conversion Management Committee approved the financing of two projects: the one for the Al Lajjoun Dam in Karak and the second to co-finance the project of expansion of an existing dam at Al Waleh, in the Madaba Governorate, from 9 to 25 million cubic meters of water.

 

Source: medNews

A partnership agreement has been signed between the Algerian GRA Group and the Italian group ARGO TRACTORS for the construction of a factory for the initial assembly of 800 Landini brand CKD tractors to reach 5,000 units, in a second phase, with a gradual increase of the integration in order to reach a rate of 40%. The factory, which will be located in El-Tarf (Northeast of Algeria), will generate 200 jobs. The Algerian GRA Group holds a ministerial authorization issued in 2016 which has enabled the company to commercialize 800 Landini tractors so far, considering that the national needs for tractors are 12,000 units per year.

 

Source: medNews

Fisia Italimpianti, a company of the Salini Impregilo group and world leader in the design and construction of plants for desalination and for water treatment, has been awarded a contract of 57 million euro for the construction of a water purification plant Istanbul. This is the second project in the country in less than two years, after the one for the Atakoy plant in 2016. 

Fisia Italimpianti, in a joint venture with Turkish companies Alkatas and Alke, will build the biological plant in the Yenikapi district for the client ISKI, a municipal company that manages the water and purification system for the city of Istanbul. To be completed within 36 months, the plant will treat 450,000 cubic meters of water per day, equal to the production of waste water of two million inhabitants. The two plants, that of Atakoy and this of Yenikapi, are able to meet the need for treatment of wastewater produced by about 30% of the population of Istanbul. The total production capacity of the company’s drinking water at a global level, adds the note of Salino Impregilo, has grown to reach a production level of 4,200,000 cubic meters a day, of which more than 350,000 cubic meters / day with reverse osmosis technology.

Source: medNews

Adelfio Elio Cardinale, president of the “Italian Society of the History of Medicine” was received in Valletta by Marie-Luise Coleiro-Preca, president of the Republic of Malta, at the Palazzo “San Anton in Attard”, the institutional seat of the Presidency. Cardinale, on behalf of the company, invited Coleiro-Preca to visit Sicily, Palermo and Catania, to “be awarded with honours – we read in a note -, that intend to reward a personality that has distinguished itself in his high offices and in life for noble purposes. Among the honors we must mention the International Award ‘Virdimura’, registered in memory of the first female doctor of Italy, who was recognized in the fourteenth century as a pride and supremacy of Sicilian health”. The president accepted and will be in Sicily on 11 and 12 June 2018.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews