Day: 1 January 2017

Dubai investor Selim Fendi is going ahead with plans to open Monaco’s first gold refinery in early 2017 to meet demand from jewellers anxious to ensure the raw materials they use are not from conflict zones.

Monaco adheres to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s due diligence pointers for accountable sourcing of gold.

Aurum Monaco SAM, registered in the Principality in May 2016, will produce one metric tonne of gold each month in its first 12 months, with the capacity to boost that to three tonnes a month. Gold will be supplied by mines in Colombia, Peru, Chile and Ecuador that are exploited by Fendi’s Noble Precious Metal DMCC.

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Canadian company Lavalin has sold its operations in France and Monaco for a nominal amount and withdrawn from the airport management and maintenance business with the sale of 19 regional airports.

The airports are in smaller French cities such as Reims, Dijon, Toulouse and Tours, along with the Caribbean island of Saint Martin and the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. One airport is located in Castellon in Spain.

The Montreal-based engineering and construction firm said that the buyer is Ciclad and Impact Holding, adding that the price will be disclosed in March with the release of its quarterly results.

The deal includes 13 offices that also cover several markets such as industry, agribusiness, transportation and cities. About 1,100 employees are being transferred to the new owners. Lavalin has offices in Fontvieille, but the bulk of its operations have been conducted elsewhere.

Lavalin said it intends to focus on its four core business sectors: oil and gas, mining and metallurgy, infrastructure and power.

In June, SNC-Lavalin announced the sale of its real estate facilities management business in Canada, along with 1,100 employees, to Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions for $45 million.

Lavalin’s infrastructure president, Ian Edwards, said in a news release that results from its French operations have been disappointing.

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The Africa Eco Race from Monaco to Dakar departed Saturday morning at 11 am from Quai Antoine 1er.

From December 31 to January 14, competitors driving motorcycles, cars, trucks and 4x4s – and an experimental category for hybrid vehicles – will cross Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal. The off-road race covers a total of 6,054 kilometres, of which 3,812 are total leg kilometres, with the 12th stage and final 292 kilometres from Saint Louis to Lac Rose in Dakar.

The eco-responsible event includes assistance vehicles equipped with photovoltaic panels and, in 2015 (and this year also), team Kamaz Master entered a gas-hybrid truck “to prove that natural gas can be used as fuel”.

Discussing the course, Sports Director Rene Metge, said, “The Morocco leg will be challenging and you will have to remain focused to not throw away any chances of shining during the second week in Mauritania, which will be filled with its bunch of difficulties.” He added that racers will experience unforgettable scenery.

Race director and Azurean, Jean-Louis Schlesser, commented: “The African economy is promoted by local providers, and the route is defined in close collaboration with the countries authorities to avoid protected areas, such as national parks.”

There is also a humanitarian element to the race as participants collect school supplies (notebooks, colour pencils, books etc) and toys – even tennis balls – which are transported by race participants and organisers to various villages and schools of the Meoni Foundation en route.

Earlier in the year at a press conference, Mr Schelesser stated, “I would first like to thank Kate and Didier, the owners of Stars’n’Bars, for their invaluable support in organizing the start of the 2016 Africa Eco Race from Monaco. I also want to say thank you to all of the Principality of Monaco for having allowed the race to start from the Rock.”

Slovakian model (and former Guinness record holder for the longest legs for a female model at nearly 1.24 metres) Adriana Karembeu is a “lover of the African continent and supporting humanitarian projects”. The Monaco resident will be on hand for the official start.

From 10 am, Stars’n’Bars will be serving a buffet breakfast. The official rally shop in the port is also open to the public.

Long-time Monaco residents, Steven and Penny Gale of Gale Force, will be competing as Team 360. Follow their journey live at www.africarace-live.com/en/

A young couple from Nice have appeared before the Monaco Criminal Court charged with presenting a false work contract to an estate agent in France in order to obtain a flat to rent.

The young man was in employment, but his wife was not. Their situation became more desperate when she became pregnant, but the husband was turned away from several estate agents because his salary on its own was insufficient.

The couple decided to copy and amend the husband’s work contract to suggest that the wife was also employed by a sub-contractor of Monaco Telecom, but when this was checked the ruse was discovered.

While all this happened in France, the case was heard in Monaco because the company is Monegasque. The couple told the court that they had no choice but to do what they did, otherwise they faced living in the street. Subsequently, the husband lost his job.

The prosecuting counsel claimed that the couple’s crime deserved two months jail, suspended, but the court decided to fine them €250 each.

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