- Cargolux China will not begin operations before the end of next year. The joint venture between Luxembourg’s freight airline and Chinese infrastructure investment firm HNCA was first mooted in 2014. However, the earliest it will be up and running is the fourth quarter of 2018, Richard Forson, CEO of Cargolux, said during a financial presentation. Chinese law indicates, but apparently does not strictly impose, a limit of a 25% stake in airlines by foreign firms, according to François Bausch, Luxembourg’s Déi Gréng (Green) infrastructure minister. However, Cargolux had planned to take a 35% stake. Xavier Bettel, the DP prime minister, plans to raise this issue during an official visit to the Middle Kingdom later this year.
- The economy minister hopes his space mining bill will receive a final parliamentary vote in June. Étienne Schneider (LSAP) told the Chamber of Deputies this week that the government would revise bill 7093 based on recent criticism of the draft law from the Council of State, Luxembourg’s quasi-upper legislative body. If passed, the law would make the grand duchy the second country, after the US, to have a legal framework for asteroid mining operations.
- Deutsche Bank Luxembourg posted net profits of €1.067bn for 2016, up from €289m in 2015. The big boost, said its CEO, Frank Krings, was due to the unit’s sale of its share in Hua Xia Bank for €741m.
- Jobseekers can now apply for government jobs online through a central portal, called GovJobs. Applicants can also register for civil service exams through the site. Last year the state received 14,767 job applications.
- Shareholders are expected to inject €10m in capital into Société nationale des habitations à bon marché (national affordable housing company), about 20% of its current total. Increased funds are needed to keep up with the SNHBM’s pace of construction, said its director, Guy Entringer. It builds between 250 and 300 new homes each year, including 50 new rental units annually. Shareholders will vote on the measure on 16 May.
The launch of Cargolux China has been blocked by Cargolux’s plan to hold 35% of the shares in the joint venture, instead of the 25% indicated under Chinese law. Luxembourg’s government plans to lobby for an exemption. Pictured: A Cargolux Boeing 747 christened “City of Zhengzhou”, the city where Cargolux’s partner HNCA and the proposed Cargolux China is based, is seen on 23 April 2016. Image credit: Daihyun Ji (CC BY-ND 2.0)