Finance

If you want to travel to another EU country more easily in the future, you may need a vaccination certificate in addition to your passport. Especially if he or she has to prove to airlines or hotels that a Covid-19 vaccination has already been completed. The move by the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will be discussed at the EU summit in Brussels. But the powerful EU countries Germany and France are still hesitating. To date, too few people have had access to the vaccine, and a division in society should also be avoided.

Austria's Minister of Tourism Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP) is fundamentally positive about the idea, as is the turquoise European Minister Karoline Edtstadler. When asked by the “press”, she said: “I consider an EU-wide vaccination certificate to be a sensible instrument.” However, this should not mean that there should be a compulsory vaccination through the back door. The introduction should not lead to discrimination against the unvaccinated, according to the European Ministry. But how should that work?

“Of course, it is a question of a vaccination through the back door!”, Writes about a user who fears discrimination while traveling.

Wolfgang Böhm , head of the EU department of the “press” finds this debate “lying” in a comment. He writes: “Yes, there is pressure on people: But there has been pressure on some trips for a long time, for example when someone wants to go on a safari to Africa – for which tropical vaccinations are necessary.” He also asks: “What if Corona the alternative? “

In any case, it cannot currently be ruled out that, for example, individual airlines will only transport people with vaccinations or negative tests. In addition, it can be assumed that several countries – especially outside the EU – will in future require a vaccination certificate upon entry. In Australia, for example, the covid-19 pandemic is being cracked down on, with the Quantas airline having already announced a mandatory vaccination certificate for international passengers.

In an interview with Ulrike Weiser, psychologist Ralph Hertwig from the Max Planck Institute finds restrictions for non-vaccinated persons or even compulsory vaccinations not expedient: The moment the state makes them paternalistic, there is a risk that many people feel inadequate in their self-determination Feeling restricted and reacting. “

The question is also how far the vaccinations have progressed by the summer vacation season. The EU Commission is aiming for a rate of 70 percent, but that is difficult to achieve. This is not only due to the willingness of the population to vaccinate: It is more than questionable whether the necessary amount of vaccine will be available by summer.

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Discuss with: Should there be relief and privileges for vaccinated people in the future? What are the alternatives? And: How can tourism work in times of Corona?

On Sunday, the “6 out of 45” lottery is for a triple jackpot amounting to 3.8 million euros. Even the fiver with an additional number is worth a lot.

At the weekend there is an extraordinary lottery drawing on the program. Because “6 out of 45” is about two jackpots. Or better said: A triple jackpot with a six and a simple jackpot with a five with an additional number.

For the third time in a row there was no betting slip with the “six correct numbers”, and thus around 3.8 million euros are waiting in the first triple jackpot of the year. And since there was also no fiver with an additional number, this Sunday is about a simple jackpot with around 300,000 euros in the prize pool.

But on Wednesday it was not entirely without profits. At LottoPlus, a Lower Austrian managed a solo six and a profit of around 315,000 euros. He achieved success with the second of three quick tips. The LottoPlus six of the next round is about 350,000 euros.

With the Joker there was reason to cheer for two participants: A Vorarlberg and an Upper Austrian cracked the jackpot with their “Yes” to the correct Joker number and each won more than 230,000 euros.

A breakdown like the one that happened in the drawing last Sunday should certainly not happen this time. After an alarm signal, the notary had to intervene and the broadcast was interrupted. The notarized numbers were only submitted after the end of the shipment.

The importance of cash is gradually declining, but the pandemic is increasingly accelerating this process.

The EU Commission supports plans by the European Central Bank to introduce the digital euro. “This requires the digitization of the economy and finance,” said Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis the “Handelsblatt” (Thursday) and other European media. “We are observing that the importance of cash is gradually declining. A digital euro is an additional way of paying and saving.”

The digital form of the European currency should not replace cash, but complement it. Regarding the timetable, Dombrovskis said: “We do not yet have a fixed timetable for the digital euro. ECB President Lagarde mentioned a period of five years. That is at least an indication.” The Commission is working with the ECB in an expert group to “clarify the institutional, legal and practical aspects of creating a digital euro,” said Dombrovskis.

New year, new bottle for Almdudler. The soda manufacturer is proud of the new 1 liter glass bottle.

From January Almdudler will be introducing Almdudler and Almdudler Sugar-Free in environmentally friendly and climate-neutral 6x1L glass reusable containers. “We know that consumers are increasingly turning to returnable glass bottles when it is offered. It is an important and sustainable packaging alternative and we are grateful that we have found the first partner in Spar for national availability of the modern returnable glass bottle,” says managing director Gerhard Schilling in a broadcast. The bottles are available from Spar, Eurospar and Interspar.

Fizzy drink manufacturer Heribert Thomas Klein explains the step towards reusable glass containers: “The reusable glass bottle corresponds to the zeitgeist. It is important to us to offer our consumers a choice, because this is how we respond to individual customer requirements.” The returnable glass bottles should be refilled up to 50 times. Claus Hofmann-Credner, Head of Marketing at Almdudler: “Glass bottles are not only of high quality in terms of appearance and feel, but above all they are also durable and environmentally friendly.”

A total of five domestic blast furnaces – the second unit is now also running again in Leoben-Donawitz – demand in the long steel sector is high enough.

The voestalpine AG company location in Linz

The steel group voestalpine has restarted its second blast furnace at the Leoben-Donawitz location in Upper Styria, as the company announced on Thursday. The impetus for this was again a correspondingly high demand in the long steel sector. This means that all five domestic blast furnaces are currently back in operation at voestalpine.

“The current market situation and the associated input material requirements in the business units of the Metal Engineering Division make it necessary to restart the second blast furnace in Donawitz,” explained the group. The economic uncertainty for the coming months remains high in view of the corona pandemic and the ongoing lockdown measures in numerous countries, the management emphasized.

The group produces its steel products in Austria at two locations and operates a total of five blast furnaces for this purpose – three in Linz, two in Leoben-Donawitz. For Voest, this results in an annual production capacity of 6.5 million pig iron.

The three blast furnaces in the Upper Austrian capital can produce up to 5 million tons of pig iron per year – 60 percent of the capacity is accounted for by the large blast furnace and 20 percent each by the two small units. The Steel Division of voestalpine produces steel products in Linz for all premium automobile manufacturers and their suppliers, for the European household appliance and mechanical engineering as well as the energy industry.

At the headquarters of the Metal Engineering Division of voestalpine in Leoben-Donawitz, Styria, there are two blast furnaces with a capacity of 750,000 tons each, for a total of 1.5 million tons.

Over the summer of 2020, one of the two blast furnaces in Donawitz underwent routine maintenance (“delivery”) and has been idle ever since. The Group's Metal Engineering Division produces steel products at the location, which are processed into special rails, wire rod and heavy-duty oilfield pipes in the Styrian subsidiaries.

The Railway Systems division, with which the Metal Engineering Division of voestalpine claims to be the global market leader for complete railway infrastructure systems, has “developed steadily” even during the Corona economic crisis. Now the areas of wire and seamless tubes, which suffered massively from the corona-related slump in demand in the automotive and oil and gas industries in the past year, will again record a “slightly improved capacity utilization”.

An Australian gardener was doing his daily job and was just cutting the hedge of his client when suddenly there was a rustling in the branches.

The snake catcher Stuart McKenzie, who works for the “Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7”, was hysterically called to a garden in Buderim, Australia, when a gardener discovered a large snake while cutting hedge. Even for professionals, the imposing size of the python in the foliage was not an everyday occurrence and he captured everything on video for Facebook.

It was a so-called diamond python that could be caught by the Australian snake catcher in a relatively short time with the help of snake pliers. The family told the reptile professional that they were also afraid for their little dog.

Well kept, the service provider took the snake with him and brought it back into the wilderness, where it quickly crept back into the thicket.

Online giant is also calling for its 800,000 US workers to be vaccinated quickly.

The online giant Amazon has offered the new US President Joe Biden help with the announced vaccination campaign against the corona virus. “Amazon stands ready to help you achieve your goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of their government,” said an AFP letter from Amazon manager Dave Clark to Biden. At the same time, he called for a quick vaccination of Amazon workers.

Amazon wants to vaccinate its 800,000 or so employees in the US quickly because most of them cannot work from home, wrote Clark. The Seattle-based company has already signed a contract with a health organization that will vaccinate employees on site in the distribution centers, data centers and Whole Foods organic supermarkets.

Amazon is – after Walmart – the second largest employer in the USA; Clark wrote to the new US government that “thanks to our size, we can“ achieve an important and quick effect. ”Amazon has the necessary expertise when it comes to logistics, information technology and communication.

The travel agency Uber has also offered help with vaccinations. In early December, Uber asked the US government to give its drivers priority vaccination – they could then help distribute the vaccines.

The mobile operator HELP mobile supports the social institution VinziRast with 10,000 euros. In the past, the company donated € 200,000.

The mobile communications provider HELP mobile donated 10,000 euros to the social institution VinziRast, according to a broadcast on Thursday. VinziRast is an independent community that helps homeless people, refugees and other people affected by poverty. With various projects, such as the VinziRast-WG or the VinziRast-Cortihaus, they help those in need and offer their help and advice. The range of services is diverse and ranges from providing emergency accommodation 365 days a year to free catering.

The wireless service provider HELP mobile has also made it its task to support people or associations who are dependent on help. In order to be able to provide financial support, the “Mobilfunk mit Herz” donates monthly per active SIM card to the charity HELP me, which is behind the mobile radio.

This has made it possible to raise around 200,000 euros in donations in just three years. “The organization VinziRast makes a very important and indispensable contribution to the help of people in need. The diverse spectrum of the association makes it easier for those affected to find support quickly,” explains HELP mobile managing director Andrea Pichler.

For this reason, HELP mobile also wants to provide “more space for humanity” and last Wednesday presented the VinziRast community with a check for 10,000 euros. “We hope that we can help the association, which is dependent on donations, so that they can continue to do their valuable and social work without restrictions”, said Pichler when handing over to VinziRast chairwoman Veronika Kerres.

“For me, VinziRast is a place of encounter. Community connects us. Here I find the opportunity to contribute my resources and be part of a meaningful whole with like-minded people. Therefore, I am also very happy about the support of the mobile operator HELP mobile, who actively supports our tasks “, says Kerres.

HELP mobile is “mobile communications with a heart”. HELP mobile donates monthly for each active SIM card to the charitable organization HELP me, which supports families in need in Austria. With the annual calls for tenders “HELP mobile Robin Hood Prize” and “HELP mobile FF Award”, the mobile communications provider also actively contributes to raising awareness and strengthening social awareness in Austria.

Mundt: Will not be generous when examined – criticism of state participation in private companies.

The German Federal Cartel Office anticipates an increase in mergers in Germany in view of the corona pandemic. “The virus has set in motion an involuntary market consolidation in many industries,” said the Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt of the “Wirtschaftswoche”, according to a preliminary announcement on Thursday. By the end of 2020, the Cartel Office had “registered a growing number”. He therefore expects “a sharp increase in mergers” in the current year.

Depending on the industry, companies will find their way out of the crisis differently, predicted Mundt. There is a risk that “in some areas the intensity of competition will decrease”. Mundt expects decisions on so-called restructuring mergers: “My concern is that in the next few months we will also have to decide on mergers between companies and competitors threatened by bankruptcy that are sensitive to competition policy,” he told Wirtschaftswoche. This is always associated with high hurdles.

The President of the Cartel Office announced that it would proceed strictly with the tests despite the conditions made more difficult by Corona. “The pandemic will come to an end at some point, but merger control is permanent structural control. We cannot and must not be generous.”

Mundt was skeptical about the latest state holdings in private companies such as Lufthansa. “Of course, it has consequences for competition if companies can suddenly present the state as shareholders on the capital market and with banks – and their competitors not,” said the head of the cartel office in Wirtschaftswoche. Against this background, it is to be hoped that the state holdings entered into during the crisis will be limited in time.

Above all, exports to China are up

Glimmer of hope for Japan's corona-plagued economy: exports from the world's third largest economy rose again for the first time in a good two years at the end of 2020. Exports in December rose by 2.0 percent compared to the same month last year. Before that, exports had fallen for about two years in a row. However, imports remained weak and fell by 11.6 percent in December.

Exports to China in particular provided relief, increasing by a good ten percent at the end of the year. The People's Republic is the second largest economy in the world and is currently experiencing an economic recovery from the severe slump in the Corona crisis. This is also stimulating growth in other countries through foreign trade. Japanese exports to the US and Europe decreased.

However, the results for 2020 as a whole are fatal for Japan, which is heavily dependent on exports. Compared to the previous year, exports fell by around 11 percent. Imports fell even more sharply by almost 14 percent. Foreign trade is the mainstay of the Japanese economy.