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☆ Germany in talks with Iraq over possible gas imports - Chancellor
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani hold a news conference at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, Germany January 13, 2023. REUTERS/Michele TantussiBERLIN, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Germany is in talks with Iraq over the possibility of importing natural gas from the oil-rich country, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday, as Berlin scrambles to diversify its energy sources to replace a drop in Russian fossil fuel shipments. "We also talked about possible gas deliveries to Germany and agreed to stay in close contact," Scholz told journalists in a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Berlin. Scholz did not give further details on the volumes of gas Germany hopes to import from Iraq. Baghdad has offered opportunities to German companies to invest in using Iraq's natural gas and the gas generated as a byproduct from oil production, al-Sudani said, adding that Iraq wants to deliver gas through a pipeline via Turkey to Europe.

☆ Siemens Energy signs agreement to develop Iraq's power grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Siemens Energy AG FollowBERLIN, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) plans to boost its cooperation with Iraq in the coming years, the company said on Friday, as its CEO inked a deal with the Iraqi government to develop the country's power network. Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch signed a memorandum of understanding with Iraqi Electricity Minister Ziyad Ali to provide an additional 11 gigawatts for local power production, a statement from the German Economy Ministry said. "Siemens Energy will play a key role in in this development," Habeck added. The planned projects include constructing and developing power generation facilities for both conventional and renewable energy sources, the ministry statement said. Electrification of large parts of an entire country is therefore one of the most important tasks of our business," Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch said in a statement to Reuters ahead of the meeting.

☆ More than half of German companies report labour shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The proportion of companies facing difficulties hiring was at its highest ever level, the DIHK found in its survey of 22,000 companies, with 53% reporting shortages. The labour market's resilience did not mean companies were doing well, he added. Staff shortages, high energy prices and the shift towards climate neutrality were a "dangerous mix" that could lead firms to move production abroad. The survey found that 67% of electrical equipment manufacturers were unable to fill vacancies and 67% of mechanical engineering companies. In carmaking, 65% of companies reported labour shortages.

In a joint statement after a call between President Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the United States said it would provide Ukraine with Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles while Germany would provide Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles. The U.S. weapons package, to be announced on Friday, is expected to include about 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles as part of security assistance totalling about $2.8 billion, U.S. officials told Reuters. Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelenskiy expressed his appreciation for Germany's contribution, saying on Twitter that "Germany is making an important contribution to intercepting all Russian missiles!" The decision was announced after Scholz's government faced a chorus of calls from within his three-way coalition to beef up military support for Ukraine after France announced it was sending light AMX-10 RC armoured combat vehicles. That includes weapons that "Ukraine needs to free occupied areas and the people who are suffering under Russian terror", she said.

☆ German minister reignites coalition row with call to review nuclear exit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Germany's transport minister called for an expert committee to examine whether the lifespan of the country's nuclear plants should be extended, reopening a row within Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition. But Free Democrat Transport Minister Volker Wissing reignited the argument, telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine that the environmental benefits of electric cars would be reduced unless they were charged using nuclear energy, which is emissions-free. Critics of the nuclear exit say it could force Germany to rely more than planned on coal, which is more polluting than gas, during the transition to renewable energy. The Greens strongly oppose revisiting Germany's nuclear exit, which was introduced in response to the 2011 disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant. Advocates of the policy say an extension would be costly and that more can be achieved by building out renewables.

"I can confirm a shipment of the BioNTech vaccine is on its way to China," the person told journalists in Berlin. In return, Chinese citizens in Europe can be vaccinated with China's SinoVac (SVA.O), the spokesperson said. Experts predict that the country of 1.4 billion people could face more than a million COVID deaths next year. China is stuck between rising Covid-19 cases and stalled vaccination ratesNO WESTERN SHOTSChina has nine domestically developed COVID vaccines approved for use, more than any other country. While the shots became available in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the regulatory review for mainland China has not been concluded.

Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) was once Uniper's biggest supplier of gas, but a big drop in deliveries after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine forced the German gas importer to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices to honour its contracts. Uniper's investors voted in favour of the two main measures at Monday's meeting, an 8 billion euro capital injection by the German state and allowing a further injection of up to 25 billion euros by Berlin. Maubach said Uniper currently had access to around 2.5 billion euros of funds. As part of the bailout, the German government will end up owning just below 99% of Uniper, Germany's largest gas trader, following two share issues. The loss of Russian gas, Moscow's retaliation for Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, triggered a 40 billion euro net loss for the importer, which provides around a third of Germany's gas, the largest loss in German corporate history.

☆ Uniper boss tells investors to back German bailout or risk all
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT/BERLIN, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Germany's Uniper (UN01.DE) called on shareholders to approve a bailout and nationalisation that will cost the government more than 50 billion euros ($53 billion), warning that it will otherwise have to consider filing for insolvency. Gazprom (GAZP.MM) was once its biggest supplier, but a big drop in deliveries after Russia's invasion of Ukraine forced Uniper to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices to meet its contracts. "In the Management Board's view, a possible insolvency could lead to a complete loss for shareholders." If the bailout is approved, the German government will end up owning just below 99% of Uniper, Germany's largest gas trader, following two share issues. Germany's Finance Ministry will be responsible for the stake, Uniper said on Monday.

☆ Back bailout or risk losing it all, Uniper boss tells shareholders
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Uniper SE FollowBERLIN, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The CEO of Uniper (UN01.DE) has asked shareholders to approve a planned bailout by Berlin that will cost more than 50 billion euros ($52.91 billion), warning that the stricken German gas trader will otherwise have to consider filing for insolvency. Gazprom was once its biggest supplier, but a big drop in deliveries after the Russia's invasion of Ukraine forced Uniper to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices to meet existing contracts. "(The measures) are indispensable for this company’s future," Maubach is expected to say in a speech at Monday's shareholder meeting, the text of which was published on Uniper's website on Sunday. "If approval is not granted, we would have to review very critically the so-called going concern forecast for our company," he added. "In the Management Board’s view, a possible insolvency could lead to a complete loss for shareholders."

☆ German union warns Amazon of rolling pre-Christmas strikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Dec 18 (Reuters) - German union Verdi on Sunday called on workers at Amazon warehouses across Germany to support rolling strikes in coming days in a protest over pay, aimed at maximising disruption to the online retailer's pre-Christmas business. Amazon, which does not recognise collective bargaining agreements in Germany, did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. Verdi said Amazon staff in Germany earned several thousand euros a year less than their counterparts at companies with collective bargaining rights. It said alternating strikes would hinder Amazon management's attempts to prepare for stoppages. The union did not immediately respond to a question as to whether its Amazon members had been balloted over the strike action.

☆ Berlusconi-backed MFE notifies Austrian watchdog about Prosiebensat.1 holding
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Italian businessman Silvio Berlusconi family's MediaForEurope NV vehicle has notified the Austrian competition authority about the "acquisition of de facto sole control of ProSiebenSat1 Media DE Deutschland" (PSMGn.DE), the competition watchdog said. MFE had no comment on the notification, which was first reported by German media portal DE24LIVE. The announcement, dated Dec. 13 on the Austrian regulator's website was made because ProSieben also operates in German-speaking Austria. MFE, controlled by the former Italian prime minister's family, has built, partly through derivatives, a 29.9% voting stake in its German rival, cementing its position as single biggest shareholder. "We haven't really seen ProSieben address the big challenges the industry faces: audience decline, digital transformation ... and the need for scale to compete with digital giants," MFE finance chief Marco Giordani told analysts.

☆ Intel delaying German factory start, wants more subsidies, Volksstimme reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

But the newspaper said that surging energy and raw materials prices had upset the U.S. company's original calculations. Where Intel had originally budgeted for costs of 17 billion euros ($18 billion), prices were now closer to 20 billion euros, the paper said. "Geopolitical challenges have grown and demand for semiconductors has fallen," Intel spokesperson Benjamin Barteder was quoted by the paper as saying. The company added that it was discussing with the government how a funding "gap" could be bridged, the newspaper said. We are working with partners in the government to push the project forward," the newspaper quoted Intel as saying.

The 90 kilotonne Hoegh Esperanza, a shipborne regasification terminal, will in future be able to supply enough gas for 50,000 households for a year. Further floating liquid natural gas terminals will follow. Germany hopes to have 30 billion cubic metres of import capacity by the end of next year. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February left Germany, which for decades prospered from plentiful piped Russian gas, looking for alternative sources of energy once it had decided it did not wish to help finance Moscow's war. "The speed with which we built this should be a model for future infrastructure build-outs," Scholz said.

☆ German police recover bulk of booty from $120 million Dresden diamonds heist
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Most of the jewels stolen from a historic Dresden art collection in 2019 in a $120 million heist have been recovered, German police and prosecutors said on Saturday. The 31 pieces, including a breast star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle and an ornate diamond head-dress, had been secured by investigators in Berlin, authorities said. In all, the pieces stolen from one of Europe's greatest art collections contained more than 4,300 diamonds with an estimated value of more than 113 million euros ($120 million). The returned pieces will be examined by specialists "to confirm their authenticity and intactness," authorities said. Pieces still missing include an epaulette on which a precious stone known as the Dresden White Diamond was mounted.

REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File PhotoBERLIN, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The German Foreign Office tweeted screenshots on Friday of the accounts of journalists suspended by Twitter, warning the platform that the ministry had a problem with moves that jeapordised press freedom. Twitter suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists who had posted about its new owner Elon Musk, prompting protests from their media organisations. German regulators are already pushing government institutions to stop posting announcements exclusively to privately-held platforms, touting alternatives like the fledgling decentralised social media network Mastodon. Twitter also suspended the Mastodon network's account and attempts to link to Mastodon accounts in tweets frequently triggered error messages on Friday. But with some 8.5 million registered users, Mastodon is still a minnow compared to Twitter with half a billion users.

☆ Germany's Scholz says EU firmly on Ukraine's side
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses parliament ahead of the EU-ASEAN commemorative summit, in the plenary hall of the Bundestag in Berlin, Germany December 14, 2022. Budapest earlier this week dropped its objections to an EU loan to Kyiv after the partial unfreezing of financial support for Hungary. The EU had blocked the funds over rule of law concerns. Support for Ukraine, including sanctions against Russia, would be maintained and intensified for as long as President Vladimir Putin kept up his war against Kyiv, Scholz added. "Nobody is suffering as much from Russia's war as the Ukrainians - and we stand firmly by their side," he said.

☆ Germany allocates extra 1 bln euros to Ukraine cyber-defence, documenting war crimes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The German government has earmarked an extra 1 billion euros ($1.03 billion)from its 2023 budget to support Ukraine, with money allocated to defending against Russian cyberattacks and collecting evidence of war crimes, a document showed. The extra allocation comes amid rows over whether Germany should step up its provision of military aid to Ukraine, which says it needs offensive battlefield weapons, including tanks, to take the fight to the Russian army. The earmark is a win for the Greens, the coalition party which has been the strongest advocate of military support for Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in February. Some of the money will support teams recording evidence of human rights abuses and war crimes, including those uncovered in the wake of Russian withdrawals. Extra money will also go to supporting civil society in the broader region, including protection of journalists in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

☆ Allianz beats quarterly profit expectations, posts rosier 2022 outlook
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Net profit attributable to shareholders was 2.464 billion euros ($2.47 billion) in the quarter compared to 2.111 billion euros a year earlier. The figure surpassed a 2.320 billion euro consensus forecast. Allianz said operating profit in 2022 would be in the upper half of its previously stated range of 12.4 billion euros to 14.4 billion euros. The "upper half" is new guidance and rosier than before. Separately, the company announced a 1 billion euro share buyback programme, which would start in the middle of November and conclude by the end of next year at the latest.

For the most part, Mastodon looks like Twitter, with hashtags, political back-and-forth and tech banter jostling for space with cat pictures. People swap posts and links with others on their own server - or Mastodon "instance" - and also, almost as easily, with users on other servers across the growing network. But the jump in Mastodon users in a matter of days has still been startling. loadingBefore Musk completed the Twitter acquisition on Oct. 27, Mastodon's growth averaged 60-80 new users an hour, according to the widely-cited Mastodon Users account. Rochko started Mastodon in 2017, when rumours were spreading that PayPal founder and Musk ally Peter Thiel wanted to buy Twitter.

☆ Swiss drugs regulator looking into bubbles in COVID booster vials
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Swiss drugs regulator Swissmedic said on Wednesday it is examining potential risks in connection with bubbles that appeared in vials of COVID-19 vaccine boosters retooled to target the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. "Vials of the batch concerned contained bubbles after being removed from the fridge," said Swissmedic, adding that the phenomenon seems to be accentuated when the syringes were prepared several hours in advance. Cantons and vaccination centres have been informed as a precaution, the regulator said. A BioNTech spokesperson said Pfizer was in charge of the supply chain and distribution in Switzerland and had no further immediate comment. Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Thomas Escritt and Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Switzerland imposes sanctions on deliveries of Iranian drones to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Switzerland has decided to adopt the European Union's sanctions on delivering Iranian drones to Russia, the government said in a statement on Wednesday. However, the economic affairs and foreign affairs departments decided not to adopt EU sanctions imposed on Iran in connection with the current protests, it added. "The decision was made taking into account all of Switzerland's domestic and foreign policy interests," it said. Writing by Miranda Murray, editing by Thomas EscrittOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Germany could seize property to speed LNG build-out -Handelsblatt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Germany, racing to end its reliance on Russian gas, plans to introduce new regulation that will make it possible to expropriate property to link offshore liquid natural gas terminals to the grid, Handeslblatt reported. Until earlier this year, some 55 billion cubic metres of gas were pumped to Germany each year through Nord Stream 1. Nord Stream 2 never went into operation. Germany, which has for decades fuelled its vast industrial sector with copious supplies of Russian gas, pledged after Russia's invasion of Ukraine to cut its imports from Russia to zero by 2024. Four planned floating LNG terminals, including one at Lubmin where the sub-Baltic gas pipelines land, are key to that ambition.

☆ German authorities looking into reports of illegal Chinese police in Frankfurt
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Authorities in Germany are investigating whether China maintains an illegal extraterritorial police station in Frankfurt, a spokesperson said, a week before Chancellor Olaf Scholz heads on an already contested visit to the economic giant. The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Confirming an earlier report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper, the spokesperson said they so far had no indications such facilities existed in Frankfurt. Dutch authorities on Wednesday said they were investigating Chinese offices that were operating illegally in the Netherlands, carrying out tasks like renewing driving licences. That followed allegations, denied by the Chinese embassy in The Hague, that the office had also harassed a Chinese dissident living in the Netherlands.

☆ Ukraine's 'Marshall Plan': Berlin gathering weighs $750 billion rebuilding
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - National leaders, development experts and CEOs gather in Berlin on Tuesday for a conference on what its hosts say must be a "Marshall Plan" to rebuild Ukraine after Russia's invasion, now entering its ninth month. The conference, hosted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the European Commission, will not involve concrete pledges of cash towards the estimated $750 billion reconstruction cost, a task the hosts compared in scale to the United States' Marshall Aid programme for rebuilding Europe after World War Two. While one should always be cautious with historical comparisons, this is no less than a Marshall Plan for the 21st century," they wrote. "Putin's war has welded our countries together," he told the forum. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Thomas Escritt Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Energy costs push Germany flash PMI to 29-month low - S&P Global
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

High energy costs were a major factor, especially in manufacturing, where the rate of contraction was at its fastest in two-and-a-half years, though manufacturing was also hit by weaker demand, S&P Global said. The flash manufacturing PMI fell to 45.7 from 47.8 the month before. "The flash PMI data show the downturn in German business activity gathering pace at the start of the fourth quarter, adding to the growing signs of an impending recession," said Phil Smith, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Germany's flash services PMI fell to 44.9 from 45.0. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Thomas Escritt; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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