Underemployed young Indians

ENERGY - South Stream pipeline will be built: Executive

"The giant South Stream pipeline to transport natural gas from Russia to the European Union is a reality and is on schedule to be built by the end of 2015, the chief executive of the offshore section of the line said, rebutting widespread doubts that it will ever be built.

Viewed as Russia’s response to EU attempts to find alternative suppliers, the $39 billion link will stretch more than 2,000 kilometres through the Black Sea and Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to northeast Italy. Many analysts and some diplomats have questioned the economic viability of the pipeline. In addition to the huge price tag, it faces the technical challenge of running 900 kilometres beneath the sea and going as deep as 2,000 metres. Shareholders in South Stream are the Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, French utility EDF, German firm Wintershall, and Italian group Eni. "

'via Blog this'

European Banks and Why the Deleveraging Has Only Just Begun

"“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” – Winston Churchill

Figure 1 was extracted from Bank of America’s note “Banking on the Banks” from the 16th of May, clearly illustrates why the deleveraging has only just started in Europe.

“Meanwhile, Europe continues to lag the improvements seen in the US economy and markets. Quite simply, Europe’s economy struggles with too many banks, too much debt and too little growth. A long history of empire, trade, war and commerce means a long history of banking. The world’s first state-guaranteed bank was the Bank of Venice, founded in 1157, and the world’s oldest bank today is also Italian, Monte Paschi di Siena (founded 1472). In many European countries, bank assets dwarf the size of the local economy and are far in excess of other regions in the world.” – source Bank of America Merrill Lynch."

'via Blog this'