Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2010 (22. évfolyam, 1-50. szám)

2010-03-05 / 9. szám

AMERICAN JESi ÍP Hungarian Journal Malév Moves Into 95% State Ownership An agreement has been reached on settling the situation of Malév. The parties, with Minister of Finance Péter Oszkó representing the Hungarian State, and repre­sentatives of the Russian bank Vnesheconombank, the airline’s former majority stakeholder Air- Bridge Zrt., Malév Zrt. and the Hungarian State Holding Company (MNV Zrt.) signed the document on Friday evening. Under the terms of the agree­ment the Hungarian State acquires a majority, 95% ownership share in Malév Hungarian Airlines. Air- Bridge retains the remaining 5%. The change of ownership is managed by a reduction in the equity of Malév and then a capital increase. Vnesheconombank remains one of the largest creditors of the Hungarian airline; this means that its former ownership role is fundamentally changed to that of a creditor. The ownership transfer and settlement of the position of Malév is the result of a lengthy series of negotia­tions. In the course of talks the Hungarian State always endeavoured to assert the interests of the country, ensuring the continuation of the operability of the national carrier, and to achieve all this so that the agree­ment complies with domestic and EU regulatory criteria. The Hungarian State was involved in the equity increase of Malév in part with cash, and in part with a non-capital contribution through the conversion of earlier debts. Thus the Hungarian State acquired its stake in the airline with a total HUF 25.2 billion. Earlier, MNV Zrt. initiated a call on the €32 million bank guarantee undertaken by Vnesheconombank. The bank is fulfilling this obligation. Furthermore, as part of the agreement, the bank is swapping Malév loans undertaken under relatively unfavorable conditions for more favorable, lower interest rate loans. The majority holding of the Hungarian State has opened the way to the creation of financial stability for the operation of the airline. At the same time the ongoing, intensive restructuring program must be continued partly so that the financial rescue of the company consumes the minimum possible taxpayers’ forints, and partly so that the European Union does not declare the role of the Hungarian State as banned state support. The goal of the program being conducted with the involvement of professional industry consultants is to make Malév profitable latest by 2012. In order to achieve this further tough measures can be expected in the operation of the company including, for instance, restructuring of the network, further layoffs, renegotiation of agreements with trade unions, and renegotiation of supplier contracts. Martin Gauss continues as Chief Executive Officer of Malév Hungarian Airlines. The second privatization of Malév took place in 2007, when AirBridge became the majority shareholder in the 100% state-owned company. Two Hungarian private individuals were the majority owners of Air- Bridge, and a minority stake was held by Russian businessman Boris Abramovich. The aim of privatization was to provide the continuously loss-making Malév with new market opportunities, improve its equity posi­tion and enhance the efficiency of operation of the airline. When Hungary became a member of the Euro­pean Union the possibility of artificially sustaining the airline with state financial support was closed. The intervening critical global economic crisis hindered the realization of the investment concepts. The crisis has resulted in the bankruptcy of numerous airlines around the world including the collapse of the airline network operated by Boris Abramovich in Russia. The AirBridge shares of Boris Abramovich were transferred to the Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank. In the course of privatization the bank offered financing and guarantees to Boris Abramovich. Once the Russian businessman’s empire became financially unviable the AirBridge shares passed to Vnesheconombank as right of lien. Source: Malév Hungarian Airlines Budapest Among the Most Attractive Investment Destinations In Europe Budapest has been selected as one of the top 25 European Cities of the Future by the Financial Times fDi Magazine in its “European Cities and Regions of the Future 2010/11” survey. The Hungarian capital city stepped forward 22 places compared to the 2008 poll, and has come in third in the Eastern Euro­pean ranking of the most attractive investment destinations, finishing before Prague and Bratislava. London has once again been crowned by the survey, with Paris and Moscow following in second and third places, respectively. “In the 2010/11 benchmark, London performed well across the spectrum, achiev­ing the top position in the categories of economic potential, human resources and infrastructure, as well as claiming second position for FDI Strategy. London’s domination in the competition is unsurprising given the city has attracted more than one-third more FDI projects over the past five years than any other European city,” according to fDi Markets. Budapest put in an appearance in the top 25 (25th), just like Bucharest (18th) and Warsaw (22nd). Buda­pest advanced 22 places compared to its position in the previous (2008/09) survey. Budapest is not the only Hungarian city that achieved good results. In the top 5 FDI Strategy in Eastern Europe, Miskolc and Debrecen finished 4th and 5th, respectively. Polish regions accounted for half of the top 10 Eastern European Regions of the Future; however, the Bucharest and Prague regions claimed the top two positions. The Northern Great Plain of Hungary was awarded the Best European Region in Eastern Europe for FDI Strategy, followed by Lesser Poland. fDi Cities and Regions of the Future shortlists were created from an independent collection of data by fDi Benchmark across 223 European cities and 142 European regions. This information was set under six categories: economic potential, human resources, cost effectiveness, quality of life, infrastructure and busi­ness friendliness. A seventh category was added to the scoring - FDI promotion strategy. In this category, 99 European cities and regions submitted details about their promotion strategy and this was judged and scored by the independent judging panel. Cities and regions scored up to a maximum of 10 points under each individual criteria, which were weighted by importance to give the overall scores. Where data was available only at a national rather than city or regional level, a lower weighting was generally applied.” John M. Ridland, Translator of János Vitéz, Receives the 2010 Balassi Memorial Sword Peter V. Czipott, Ridland’s co-translator of poetry by Balassi, Radnóti, Márai and others, receives the Balassi Memorial Medallion In a ceremony held on Bálint’s (Valentine’s) Day at the Gellért Hotel, Hungarian poet István Ágh and American translator John Ridland received this year’s Balassi Memorial Swords. The event commemorates Bálint Balassi (1554-1594), a warrior-poet and the first great poet to write in the Hungarian vernacular. A private organiza­tion devoted to Hungarian arts and culture in a European context, the Balassi Curatorium (www.balassi.eu ) has presented the awards each year since 1997. A packed ballroom witnessed the ceremony. Ethnographer József Zelnik introduced the work of Ágh and Bishop László Kiss-Rigó of Szeged-Csanád presented the sword to the poet. TV personality Zoltán Papp read the appreciation of Ridland’s work, written by the author Gyula Kodolányi, whom illness prevented from attending. Imre Makovecz presented the sword to Peter Czipott, who accepted and brandished the blade on behalf of John Ridland. Health concerns prevented the Santa Barbara resident from making the trip to wintry Budapest. A link to a Hungarian TV news report of the event can be found here: http://www.mno.hu/portal/694844 Czipott delivered Ridland’s acceptance speech in Hungarian. In the speech, Ridland begins by musing on how oddly the choice of a sword as a literary honor strikes an American author. However, it is a fitting commemoration of the warrior-poet Balassi, who died in defense of Esztergom against the Ottoman Dirks. Ridland places Balassi in the tradition of other warrior-poets of the time who, in addi­tion to being men of arms, were avant-garde fighters to liberate their vernaculars from subjugation to Latin or other languages: Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser in England, Joachim du Bellay and Pierre de Ronsard in France, Petrarch and Boccaccio in Italy, and Garcilaso de la Vega and Juan Boscán in Spain. Indeed, not only would Bal­assi have felt comfortable handling the sword, but so would another Hungarian warrior-poet: Sándor Petőfi, as well as the hero of fiis epic poem, János Vitéz. The sword thus turns out to be a metaphorically apt way to honor literary achievement and to commemorate warrior­­poets of the past. Had Balassi wielded only the sword, however, his reputation today would not be nearly as great as it is: in the long run, the pen is indeed mightier than the sword! The ceremony was embellished by musical interludes provided by vocalists József Dinnyés (singing poems by Balassi), Éva Sugár (sing­ing a Ridland-Czipott translation of Balassi), and the duet Hangraforgó (singing original poems of Ágh and Ridland - the latter in a Hungarian translation by Dezső Boldogh). Hungarian saxophonist and tárogató player “St. Martin” composed a work for the event and presented its world premiere. The night before the ceremony, Bishop Kiss-Rigó presided over a Balassi Mass in the Franciscan church of St. Anna in Esztergom. The Memorial Swords were blessed during the Mass, and four Balassi Memorial Medallions were awarded for service to Hungarian cul­ture. Recipients were the composer Sándor Balassa, choral conductor Károly Reményi, author and publisher György Miklós Serdiám, and Peter Czipott of San Diego. The musical ensemble Misztrál opened and concluded the Mass, while the Balassa Chorus of Esztergom, con­ducted by Medallion winner Reményi, sang the ordinary of the Mass in a setting by Italian Renaissance master Claudio Monteverdi - who visited Esztergom in 1595, a year after Balassi’s death, to perform his music in celebration of the city’s liberation. More details can be found at: http://www.kemma.hu/ Március 5,2010 / 0 Source: Portfolio Online Financial Journal DUNA Travel 8530 Holloway Dr. #102 W Hollywood, CA 90069 Spa, Hotel foglalások, Kocsi bérlés Kedvezményes repülőjegy árak LAX-BUD-LAX $448.-tói 4- Tax -I- Fee Információért hívják ZSUZSÁT TEL: (310) 652-5294 FAX: (310) 652-5287 1-888-532-0168

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