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Day: 19 April 2022

Lack of natural snow no deterrent on season

by: Stephanie Horsman
19/04/2022

Isola 2000 and Auron both closed their slopes on Monday after a winter with little snowfall, but the season was deemed a success nonetheless with the help of artificial snow.

Local ski resorts Isola 2000 and Auron have both made it to the traditional end of the ski season by the skin of their teeth. With a winter of disappointing snowfall averages, the stations were able to stay open this long thanks to the artificial snow they’ve been pumping out all season.

Isola has not seen any new snow since 3rd April and is on drought alert, with locals making reference to the alarming dip.

“We had two or three times less snowfall than usual,” Christian Belpois, a ski instructor since 1974, told France 3.

“Such little natural snow is extremely rare in Isola 2000,” Mylène Agnelli, the mayor of Isola, added. “Indeed, the equivalent of 1.5 meters of snow fell on the town this winter. It is unheard of.”

The season was made possible by the snow cannons which spread 550,000m3 of artificial white stuff, but the lack of “real” snow didn’t deter snow bunnies from making the trip up. After two seasons of denial due to the pandemic, skiers were just happy to be on the slopes and without masks.

In Auron, the feeling was roughly the same. The resort opened 23 out of 43 slopes and was operational for 129 days. Over 2.2 million people used the stations ski lifts during this time with 15th February being a peak day of 5,668 skiers and snowboarders.

This year, foreign tourists represented about 10% of stays, said Director of the Auron tourist office Pascal Lequenne. “In December, they couldn’t come, we found them from February, mainly British and Scandinavians.” 

Despite the lower numbers and lack of snow, the year was considered pretty positive and lasted until the traditional end of the season. Now, snow enthusiasts can look forward to 2022-23, when hopefully Mother Nature will comply with their needs a bit better.

 

 

Photo source: Isola 2000

 

 

 

 

Monegasque man awaits extradition over attempted murder

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/04/2022

A 34-year-old Monegasque man has been remanded in custody in France ahead of his extradition to Monaco after the attempted murder of a woman in Monaco on the weekend.

The man was reportedly arrested at the Menton motorway exit on Saturday after an international warrant was issued for his arrest. He is suspected of stabbing his 24-year-old partner 10 times that morning in their apartment in the Moneghetti district of Monaco.

The victim was rushed to the intensive care unit at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre and reportedly remains in a stable condition after undergoing surgery on Monday. She is yet to be questioned by police.

The alleged perpetrator, believed to be a municipal employee, appeared before an Aix-en-Provence court on Tuesday morning where he was remanded in custody, as authorities prepare a case for extradition to the Principality where the man is expected to face charges of attempted voluntary homicide.

 

 

 

Photo of the residence building where the attempted homicide reportedly took place, by Monaco Life

 

 

 

2021 trade uptick after dismal pandemic year

by: Stephanie Horsman
19/04/2022

While trade in Monaco was heavily impacted in 2020, last year saw rebounds in overall volume and a shift in some habits, including a record number of imports from outside the EU.

According to the latest trade report by Monaco’s statistics group IMSEE, the year 2021 saw a gradual resumption of economic activity after a disastrous 2020, which was marked by Covid-19 and lockdowns.

Reaching €2.9 billion in overall trade by the end of 2021, the Principality saw a massive +23% rise, excluding France. This is a good uptick but is not quite back to pre-health crisis levels, though signs indicate that the positive momentum will continue.

The volume of exports was €1.2 billion, near 2019 levels, which was notable as it marked historic highs, though in value terms, imports grew 1.5 times faster than exports, creating a trade deficit of €634 million. Nonetheless, the relative increase in imports and exports was equal and a coverage rate of 64.5% was maintained.

Last year was notable on another front in that, for the first time since 2012, imports from outside the European Union (EU) beat out ones from inside. This is not to say trade with Europe is not strong. In 2021, it was up 20.2%, corresponding to 77.6% of Monaco’s transactions. This was followed by Asia which accounts for 10.3%.

For the first time, Monegasque revenue, excluding Financial and Insurance Activities, exceeded €16 billion, thanks to two trade sectors: wholesale and retail. It was up by €1.9 billion compared to 2020, equaling a +13.3% increase, and by €1.0 billion, or +6.9 %, compared to 2019.

More than one out of two exported products was from “Other manufacturing”. This includes products like jewellery, perfume, cosmetics, and chemical and pharmaceutical products. Up 22.0% from 2020, these products exceeded 2019 levels.

As with exports, goods from “Other manufacturing” dominated the Principality’s imports. Although they were 39.2% higher than in 2020, they were -31.3 % lower than in 2019, as were goods from the electrical, computer and electronic equipment categories. Manufacture of machinery was down -36.5 % and manufacture of transport equipment was down -39.3%.

Italy continues to be Monaco’s biggest customer, with more than a fifth of custom being with the Italians. Switzerland is next, having outpaced Germany slightly, followed by Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom. Italy is also the biggest supplier, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, China, the United States and Switzerland.

On the surplus front, Monaco ran a trade advantage with Switzerland, who made up 46% of the €140 million in surpluses, followed by Algeria, Hong Kong, Spain and Poland. A cumulative €558 million in trade deficits was with Italy, who account for 41% of the deficit, as well as smaller levels with the United Kingdom, China, the United States and Tunisia. The largest surplus came from the manufacturing of basic pharmaceutical preparations, which represented €61 million.

The amount of intra-community EU deliveries excluding France increased by more than 16.6%. With €209.8 million in deliveries to Italy representing +30.5 %, the country retained its position as the Principality’s leading customer. The Netherlands dropped by more than a third, leaving the podium behind Belgium and Spain. Together with Italy, these three countries accounted for almost two thirds of Monaco’s sales to the European Union.

Acquisitions from Italy were still down by a significant -13.3 %, but the country remains the Principality’s leading supplier, accounting for more than half of Monegasque purchases. The top five countries are identical in the ranking of intra-community deliveries, the top three being rounded out by Germany and Belgium. Excluding the United Kingdom, who withdrew from the European Union in 2020, this triumvirate has stayed stable for four years.

After a sharp decline in 2020, the overall volume of trade with the European Union slowly picked up, gaining +€104.8 million, or +7.3 %. While the majority of categories of goods saw an increase in transactions, the amount of trade did not reach its 2019 level for most of them.

 

 

Photo source: Unsplash

 

 

 

 

Russian soprano hired by Monaco after being shunned in NY

by: Stephanie Horsman
19/04/2022

Superstar Soprano Anna Netrebko will sing the title role with the Monte-Carlo Opera later this month, despite controversy at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and her perceived links to Vladimir Putin.

Anna Netrebko once endorsed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s re-election and, in 2014, was photographed holding a flag used by Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine.

After initially denouncing the war on Ukraine but staying quiet on Putin, 50-year-old Netrebko from Krasnodar, Russia, faced a wave of cancellations at leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera.

Then, Netrebko issued a statement saying that she was “neither a member of a political party nor am I linked to any leader of Russia”, and confessed that she “recognises and regrets that my actions and statements in the past could in part be misconstrued.”

The singer had, at the time of writing the recant, been in a kind of self-imposed exile after the fall-out with the Met and then a cancellation in Hamburg.

After making her new position known, the Monte-Carlo Opera took the bold decision to hire the soprano star to sing the title role in four upcoming performances of Puccini’s ‘Manon Lescaut’ in April. She will replace Maria Agresta, who was forced to cancel for health reasons. Netrebko’s husband, Yusif Eyvazov, will join her in the role of Des Grieux.

“Through an exemplary career that began in 1994, Anna Netrebko has undoubtedly become the reigning prima donna of the 21st century,” said the opera in a statement announcing the performances. “Whether she is the headliner of the season opening productions of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan or the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the star soloist of the opening of the Winter Olympics or the first artist of classical music to appear on the Time newspaper’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, Anna Netrebko has always distinguished herself inside and outside the world of opera.”

In addition to her numerous awards and accolades, Anna Netrebko has received three Grammy Award nominations, the Bambi award in Germany, and the award for ‘Singer of the Year’ as well as ‘Female Artist of the Year’ at the BRIT Awards. She is also the global ambassador for Chopard jewelry.

The Monte-Carlo Opera maintains that the decision to hire Netrebko was purely artistic, its spokesperson Christiane Ribeiro reportedly saying that “Anna Netrebko made a statement two weeks ago regarding the war and her relationship with Putin. She has taken a clear position against the war in Ukraine.

“As a consequence, she has been declared an ‘enemy of the homeland’ by the speaker of the Duma and a theatre in Novosibirsk cancelled her appearance. Our choice is an artistic one.”

Netrebko professes to have met Putin “only a handful of times” during awards ceremonies or at the Olympics. She lives in Austria and is a tax resident of that country, and claims to receive no financial support from the Russian government.

Netrebko will be performing on 22nd, 24th, 27th and 30th April with the Monte-Carlo Opera.

 

 

 

Derby de la Côte d’Azur: “A prestigious match”

by: Luke Entwistle
19/04/2022

Wednesday’s derby against OGC Nice has a lot riding on it, not just bragging rights but potentially European qualification, as Philippe Clement pointed out during his pre-match conference on Tuesday.

Clement avoided the temptation to wax lyrical about his side’s recent run of form when he spoke to the media. Although it is the first time that AS Monaco have won four-in-a-row in Ligue 1 all season, that run has been facilitated by extra minutes on the training field.

“Naturally, when you can work on more tactical things because of the numerous days of training, it makes a difference,” began Clement. Although the reason for that extra training time issues from a net-negative – elimination from the Europa League – it has nonetheless provided a propulsion towards the European places, which, for large swathes of the season, looked near-on impossible.

“In March, we had a period where we played an important match every three days. Then we could only do tactical work and even then, not a lot because players had to recover from the previous match.”

The international break in particular was important for Clement to familiarise his players with his system, a difficult task when arriving mid-season as he did and being limited to a reduced training schedule as a result of commitments in multiple competitions.

Alexander Nubel, who also spoke to the press, agreed with his manager, telling Monaco Life, “We have more time to train. In the first part of the season, we had no training time, so just having time is the biggest thing that has changed.”

Having played on Friday, Monaco have had an extra two days to prepare, with their opponents OGC Nice only playing on Sunday, in a victory assured by a late Andy Delort goal against Lorient. For Clement, the importance of the game is two-fold.

“The difference (of a derby) is with the supporters, because it’s a prestigious match. In every workplace there are Monaco and Nice supporters, and the day after the match there will always be a side who comes in with a smile, and another that isn’t happy.” The Belgian manager added, “Naturally, it’s also an important match for the table.”

With only one point separating the rivals going into Wednesday evening’s game and only six games of the Ligue 1 season remaining, it is truly a “six-pointer” that could prove pivotal in deciding who qualifies and who misses out on European football next season.

Monaco Life attended group training on Friday at the La Turbie training ground and can report an almost clean bill of health, with both Guillermo Maripan and Gelson Martins set to return to the matchday squad. Krepin Diatta remains a long-term absentee, whilst Cesc Fabregas will get minutes with the N2 side on Saturday as he works up his match fitness.

Possessing a fit, healthy and happy squad, Clement has faith in whoever he decides to start for this crucial derby. “It is a difficult match, but I feel a lot of desire and a lot of ambition in this group to do the maximum to take the three points and to give something extra for our supporters.”

 

 

Photo by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life

 

 

 

 

“Hungry” Obradovic hunts Euroleague progression

by: Luke Entwistle
19/04/2022
monaco-life-news-monte-carlo-cassandra-tanti-editor-and-chief

Having already achieved the unthinkable in reaching the Euroleague play-offs, AS Monaco Basketball seek to continue to defy the odds when they come up against European giants Olympiacos in Greece on Wednesday.

Ahead of the crunch tie, Sasa Obradovic and Alpha Diallo spoke to the press on Tuesday, not content to merely be in the play-offs, they highlighted their desire to push-on. “You have to always be hungry and have big goals,” began Obradovic. “I think that above all, we belong in the play-offs, but you should be hungry every day and this is my life motto,” continued the Serbian coach.

In the final stages of the regular season, Monaco’s Roca Team beat Olympiacos (92-72), whilst their recent run of form, arguably the best in Europe, means that Obradovic’s men come into the tie high on confidence. But according to Obradovic, what happened in the regular season will have little bearing in the play-offs.

He told Monaco Life, “I don’t think our good form has an impact. What we did, we need to put aside, and be ready to play possession by possession.”

One quite glaring difference between that game in March and Wednesday’s game is the setting. Olympiacos will be on their own court, which will pose its own set of challenges. “Lots of guys have never played in such an atmosphere. They are incredibly tough at home, but not as much on the road,” said Obradovic.

As well as home advantage, Obradovic also sought to point out Olympiacos’ experience. “They have experience in the big games,” he said of the three-time Euroleague champions. It is not only Monaco’s first time in the play-offs or in fact the Euroleague, but it is also a side with a roster full of rookies. One of them, Diallo, however, told Monaco Life that they are leaning on the experience of players such as Mike James and Will Thomas.

“There is a lot of experience in the team and they are leading the way. We are leaning on these guys to lead us. For them, this is just another play-off,” said the American.

Although it may just be another play-off for some of the veterans in the side, it certainly isn’t for the club, for whom this is a momentous moment in an ongoing fairytale story that is yet to reach its conclusion… and hopefully won’t for some time yet as they endeavour to reach the “Final Four” in Belgrade in May.

 

 

Photo source: AS Monaco Basketball