Finance

One week of negotiations on nature conservation and water law.

Planned course of the Lobau tunnel.

The hearing with the Federal Administrative Court on the first section of the Lobau Autobahn on nature conservation and water law begins today, Monday. The negotiation will take a week. Environmental organizations and citizens' groups want to continue to fight “this crazy project” legally and therefore call for a demo in front of the BVwG at the start of negotiations.

The protest registered by the police will take place from 8 a.m. to 8:45 a.m., announced the citizens' initiative “Save the Lobau nature instead of concrete”. The participants are asked to wear masks and to keep their distance.

According to its own information, the citizens' initiative has been active against the motorways planned in northeastern Austria, in particular the Lobau motorway, since 2003 and is involved as a party in the associated environmental compatibility and material proceedings.

“We say 'No to transit hell. No to a Lobau autobahn. Yes to climate-friendly mobility. Yes to species protection and local supplies of vegetables in Marchfeld'”, said Jutta Matysek, chairwoman of the initiative, in a press release.

The Lobau tunnel is part of the planned northeast bypass from Schwechat to Süßenbrunn. It has been a controversial topic for many years and is now also a political bone of contention. That was the case under red-green and has not changed under red-pink.

Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) described the northeast bypass as “important for the city”. Politicians hardly have any leeway here anyway, the matter lies with the courts or the Asfinag. Vice Mayor Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) admitted that the NEOS consider a tunnel to be “ecologically and economically not sensible”. He sees the last word with Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens).

Courts and authorities have also been involved in the project for years. When, whether and in what form it will actually be implemented is therefore an open question. The state-owned motorway holding company Asfinag expects the decisions of the BVwG in the first half of 2021. “We will wait for them before we take the necessary steps towards the start of construction as a project applicant,” a spokeswoman for the APA recently announced on request.

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  The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has presented 3 new Redmi phones: Redmi K40, the K40 Pro and the K40 Pro +. All 3 are preparing to become a flagship killer.

  With a comparatively low price and top equipment, the Redmi K40 smartphones are making a name for themselves. The display in particular could put the competition under pressure.

  Top display

  The heart of the K40 series is the 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1,080 x 2,400 pixels. The high refresh rate of 120 Hz is unusual for smartphones that cost less than 300 euros.

  All 3 K40 phones have a triple camera. 8 MP wide angle lens and 5 MP macro lens are the same on all 3 devices. While the main camera of the Redmi K40 has a resolution of 48 MP, the K40 Pro comes with a 64 MP main camera and the K40 Pro + with a 108 MP camera.

  Powerful processor

  The K40 Pro and K40 Pro + are powered by a Snapdragon 888, the standard model by a Snapdragon 870. All 3 devices are 5G-capable and compatible with WiFi 6.

  The battery of the K40 series has a capacity of 4,520 mAh and can be charged with a maximum of 33 watts. Wireless charging is not possible.

  The fingerprint sensor is located on the side of the home button and the K40 users have to do without a conventional 3.5mm headphone connection.

  

  Prices and availability

  The 6/128 GB version of the Redmi K40 is available for the equivalent of 250 euros. The K40 Plus is available from the equivalent of 350 euros and the Redmi K40 Pro + costs at least 480 euros.

  It is still unclear when the Redmi K40 series will be launched in Europe and how the phones will be called in this country. The euro prices will also differ slightly from the information given.

“Unsatisfactory” implementation of four-year-old recommendations to MPs, judges and prosecutors. No code of conduct for MPs.

Austria more and more corrupt

The Council of Europe's Anti-Corruption Group (GRECO) has reprimanded Austria for the “unsatisfactory” implementation of recommendations in the field of legislation and justice.

Only two of 19 recommendations from 2016 were implemented in a satisfactory manner, according to a report published by the expert group on Monday. Austria must therefore submit a further progress report by the end of September at the latest.

The recommendations concern measures against corruption among MPs, judges and prosecutors. Austria had justified the slow implementation of the GRECO recommendations with the turbulence of the Ibiza crisis and the new elections. However, the recommendations had already been adopted by the expert group in October 2016.

It looks particularly bad in the legislative area, where, according to GRECO, there is “a constant lack of progress” which the group of experts “regrets”.

Specifically, for example, secure rules for review procedures, but also the resolution of a code of conduct for members of parliament, are required in order to address all kinds of conflicts of interest. In the Austrian parliament, for example, there are still no internal rules regarding the acceptance, evaluation and disclosure of gifts, hospitality or other benefits.

In the case of judges and prosecutors, many measures have been initiated but not yet completed. But there is progress, it said, with reference to new provisions that prohibit judges and prosecutors from holding offices in government or parliament.

Another “important achievement” is the resolution of a code of conduct for judges and public prosecutors. However, it should be ensured that compliance with the rules is effectively monitored. Furthermore, more systematic training in the areas of corruption prevention and integrity is required.

The selection process for judges is criticized by the experts. For example, the decision as to who is accepted as a candidate for a judge's office lies “in the hands of a single person, namely the president of the relevant higher regional court”. Furthermore, there was no progress in the admissions process for administrative judges, which was “a cause for concern”.

The working group was set up by the Council of Europe in 1999 to support the member states in the fight against corruption. GRECO relies on “pressure exertion by colleagues”, an evaluation process operated by other member states. GRECO representatives from Russia and Liechtenstein wrote the report on Austria.

Industrial Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 50.6 points

Sentiment in China's economy clouded over in February amid bank holidays and new restrictions in the corona pandemic. The purchasing managers index (PMI) of the industry fell to 50.6 points and thus to a nine-month low, as the National Statistics Office announced in Beijing on Sunday. In January the barometer was 51.3 points. Economists had expected a decline, but rated it as not that difficult with 51 points.

Among other things, according to the authority, incoming orders from abroad decreased. This year, the Chinese New Year celebrations also fell in February – this is the time when many economic activities are suspended. In addition, China also had to struggle with new Covid-19 outbreaks regionally.

In the service sector and the construction industry, the mood also fell, the corresponding purchasing managers' index fell from 52.4 to 51.4 points and was also weaker than experts estimated at 52 points. Overall, the index value was 51.6 points after 52.8 points in the previous month – a low since the lockdown in China a year ago.

Despite the decline, the sentiment indicator continues to point to growth in the Chinese economy. Index values above 50 points signal an expansion of economic activity, while values below the so-called growth threshold signal a contraction.

The aim is to jointly develop and manufacture replaceable batteries for motorcycles and scooters.

KTM boss Pierer gives full throttle

The motorcycle manufacturers KTM, Honda, Yamaha and Piaggio have signed an agreement to create a consortium for the production of replaceable batteries for motorcycles, mopeds and light electric vehicles. The consortium will start operations in May, the four companies announced in a press release on Monday.

The consortium aims to set the technical standards for replaceable batteries for “L” category vehicles. These are mopeds, motorcycles, and other small vehicles with three or four wheels.

The founders of the consortium want to promote the use of electric vehicles with an innovative system of replaceable batteries in accordance with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The aim is to increase the service life of the batteries used in the transport industry, according to the press release. The charging times of the batteries are to be reduced.

Consumed less than ten kilograms per capita for the first time since 1982.

The Swiss ate as little chocolate in 2020 as they have not in forty years. This decline was solely at the expense of the local chocolate industry. And sales also stalled in the export business. The branch turnover collapsed by a good 15 percent.

Per capita chocolate consumption in Switzerland fell below ten kilograms for the first time since 1982, at 9.9 kilograms, as the Association of Swiss Chocolate Manufacturers Chocosuisse announced on Monday. Only in 2019 did consumption stabilize after years of decline.

In the wake of the corona crisis, restaurants, hotels and cafes were closed for several months and business with international tourists was almost idle. As a result, local chocolate manufacturers turned around 15 percent less domestically. Especially bitter for them:

At the same time, consumers consumed more foreign chocolate. Of this, 1.8 percent more was imported in 2020. The import share rose to a new all-time high of 43 percent after 41 percent in the previous year.

Even in the actual main profit business – exports – things did not go much better: There sales fell by almost 14 percent. 70 percent of the chocolate produced by the local industry is exported. Overall, the industry had sales of 1.53 billion francs, 14.5 percent less than in the previous year. The amount of chocolate produced in Switzerland fell by over 10 percent to 180,000 tons.

Switzerland's production location also continued to lose weight in 2020: after a chocolate factory was closed in 2017 due to relocation of production to France, another chocolate factory had to close its doors forever in 2020, writes Chocosuisse. As is well known, the Gysi chocolate factory in Bern had to cease operations at the end of June.

According to the information, 16 chocolate factories remain in Switzerland today. Across the entire industry, the number of employees fell by 4.8 percent to just under 4,400.

Chocosuisse sees the chocolate industry under further pressure. The start of 2021 was characterized by ongoing challenges. In January 2021, the export volume decreased by 15.3 percent, but imports of foreign chocolate increased by 5.4 percent.

This development is promoted by the asymmetrical border protection of raw materials and processed products: As a result, certain raw materials are twice as expensive in Switzerland as abroad, the association warned. With the establishment of a minimum border protection for sugar demanded by the sugar manufacturers, there is a threat of additional raw material prices. Chocosuisse is calling on politicians to abandon this protectionist measure.

AMS Meidling

In Austria around 509,000 people were unemployed at the end of February. This emerges from statistics published on Monday.

As the official labor market data show, around 509,000 people in Austria were unemployed at the end of February. The number of people registered as unemployed with the AMS is 436,982, and 71,941 are currently in training. A total of 508,923 people are currently registered as unemployed with the AMS or are in training.

The monthly balance of unemployment figures in February shows that the number of people registered with the AMS has steadily decreased over the course of the month. Compared to the previous month, 31,000 fewer people were unemployed at the end of the month.

While unemployment has fallen, the number of training participants has risen by 4,800 people in a month-on-month comparison. This is a positive signal that shows that qualification offers are being used as part of the job offensive.

Crisis-related unemployment is currently around 102,995 unemployed and has therefore also decreased significantly compared to the previous month, in which crisis-related unemployment was still around 113,000. Although the closures in tourism caused by the infection situation are still having an impact, at the same time the first opening steps in retail have brought a slight recovery in the labor market.

Year-on-year unemployment in tourism is currently 36,896 higher than in the previous year and thus more than twice as high. Despite opening steps, there is also a crisis-related gap to the previous year in retail with currently 13,043 more jobseekers. In the seasonal construction sector, the unemployment rate is roughly in line with the usual seasonal rate, with currently 52,690 unemployed. With the start of the season under construction, experience shows that a large part of them will start work again, according to a broadcast from the Ministry of Labor.

“The February balance shows a slightly positive trend in terms of labor market development. Around 100,000 job seekers have been placed since the beginning of the year. The opening steps in retail are showing their effect here,” explains Labor Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP).

“At the same time, there are currently around 5,000 more people in training than a month ago. That is positive because it shows that our qualification offers are being accepted. that industries in which short-time work is still necessary can keep their employees and have planning security until the summer, “said the minister.

The government apparently does not let itself be deterred from easing considerations even by the steadily rising corona numbers. From government circles the APA was informed that a regionally different approach is being considered. Accordingly, there could be easing in Vorarlberg, which would then become a kind of test area in view of the comparatively low incidences. In any case, the decision on how to proceed will be made today.

Image: APA (Anschober)

Initially, the government will meet a group of experts alone, including the virologist Dorothee von Laer, the epidemiologist Eva Schernhammer and the Vice Rector of the Medical University of Vienna Oswald Wagner. Then the opposition parties are switched on via video. Finally, there will be a conference with the state governors, some of whom will arrive personally. The further procedure will then be made public.

From the government it is said of the APA that the experts are also in favor of a regionally adapted approach. Of course, most of the medical advisors had recently warned against further easing. The traffic light commission had even suggested that opening steps should be withdrawn if there is an incidence of 200 per 100,000 inhabitants.

This is almost reached in Lower Austria at 196.2. Vienna, which was consistently below 100 in lockdown times, is also approaching the 200 market with large strides (currently 186.6). Why the infection rate is growing so rapidly in the east is the subject of different considerations. On the one hand, the more infectious British variant is said to have spread earlier, on the other hand, schools in Vienna and Lower Austria opened a week earlier, which could also have a greater effect.

The mark is only below 100 in two federal states, just under in Tyrol despite the presumably more vaccine-resistant South Africa variant that is rampant there, and more clearly in Vorarlberg. The 72.8 / 100,000 noted on Sunday are of course an increase again. A few days ago the value in Vorarlberg was still close to the desired level of 50.

The problem for the government is that the pressure to open has increased in the past few days. Several governors wanted to see the gastronomy open as early as the middle of the month. To this end, sports clubs are pushing for young people to be allowed back into training, as they will be tested in school anyway – with the not particularly reliable nose drill tests, of course. Of course, the cultural institutions also want to open, and tourism still has a hint of hope for a small Easter business.

Recently it was often heard that at least dates could be promised. Now one should have turned on a regional course. How far one goes here will probably only become apparent during the consultations with the governors themselves. Whether a field test in the west is enough for opening supporters like the Burgenland regional chief Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) is one of the more interesting questions raised by the group.

New York. Going public is usually a complex undertaking: You have to approach potential investors at road shows. Investment banks are exploring what price buyers are willing to pay. Then there is a subscription period within which one can acquire new shares. And a few days later, the shares will be traded on the stock exchange for the first time.

Coinbase works differently. The largest US trading platform for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin wants to bring its shares directly to the New York tech exchange Nasdaq. Coinbase generated sales of $ 1.3 billion in 2020, more than twice as much as in the previous year. The Californian company also made it into the black, making a bottom line profit of $ 322 million after a loss of $ 30 million the year before. Coinbase claims to have 43 million users, 2.8 million of whom carry out transactions at least once a month.

Coinbase had already applied for a so-called direct placement with the SEC in January. The papers are brought directly to the stock exchange without the accompaniment of investment banks and a prior pricing process. Other larger companies such as the music service Spotify or the office chat app Slack have already been successful with this rather unusual, but cheaper variant.

Coinbase has thus set the course for the premiere of a large US Bitcoin exchange on the public capital market. However, it is still unclear when exactly this will happen. (APA / red.)

Iran has initially rejected the EU proposal for an informal meeting to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. “In view of the recent positions and actions of the USA” and the three European countries that are participating in the agreement, Germany, France and Great Britain, the government “does not consider the time to be a suitable time to hold the informal meeting proposed by the European coordinator,” said the Foreign Ministry in Tehran on Sunday.

Image: APA (AFP)

The five UN veto powers and Germany concluded the nuclear deal with Iran in June 2015 after years of negotiations in Vienna. It is supposed to prevent the Islamic Republic from building nuclear weapons.

Former US President Donald Trump rejected the agreement negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama as completely inadequate and terminated it in 2018. Then Trump imposed a series of sanctions against Iran, from which the country's economy suffers massively. Tehran, for its part, has since gradually withdrawn from its obligations under the agreement.

The new US President Joe Biden has agreed to return to the nuclear deal. However, Washington and Tehran are arguing over who should take the first step to revitalize the deal.

On Friday night, on Biden's instructions, the US army carried out air strikes against pro-Iranian militias in Syria. The deployment was preceded by several rocket attacks on US bases in Iraq, for which the US blamed a pro-Iranian militia.