■ Energy
Moscow reconsiders PSAs
Russia may cancel the licenses of three foreign companies with production sharing agreements (PSAs) to develop oil and gas fields for not fulfilling the terms of the agreements, the ministry of natural resources said yesterday. "At the present time, not one technical project has been carried out at any of the three Russian PSAs," which is one of two terms under which the agreements can be canceled,ministry director of government policy Sergei Fyodorov said. The three companies currently holding PSAs are US ExxonMobil and British-Dutch Shell, which have agreements to develop offshore oil and gas fields at the far eastern Sakhalin Island, and France's Total, which has a PSA for the northern Kharyaginsk oil field.
■ Electronics
Samsung predicts big sales
Samsung Electronics Co said sales of its semiconductors for games and graphic design will exceed 1 trillion won (US$1.05 billion) this year. The company forecast total revenue from its semiconductor division will reach US$40 billion in 2010, Choi Hae-won, a Samsung Electronics spokeswoman said yesterday. Choi confirmed details in a Korea Economic Daily report that said the company forecast memory-chip sales for games and graphics this year would reach 1 trillion won, and an article in the Dong-a Ilbo, which said revenue at the semiconductor unit would reach US$40 billion in 2010. Both reports cited interviews with Samsung president Hwang Chang-gyu. Sales of dynamic random access memory chips will be driven mainly by demand for digital televisions, games and mobile phones, the Korea Economic Daily reported, citing Hwang. The demand will probably continue until 2008 because personal-computer makers are also increasing output ahead of Microsoft Corp's release of its new Windows Vista operating system, the newspaper said.
■ Aerospace
Boeing buys Huneed stake
US aerospace giant Boeing has acquired a 16.93 percent stake in South Korean defense firm Huneed Technologies for US$20 million, both companies said yesterday. Boeing's purchase of 16.5 million new common shares in Huneed was agreed late last month and completed with regulatory approval on Friday, they said in a statement. Huneed is a leading supplier of communications network systems for South Korea's military. It said the deal will help it build up its expertise in areas including command, control, communications and networks. Boeing and Huneed have also signed a 10-year partnership agreement.
■ Auto industry
Scania rejects takeover bid
Swedish truckmaker Scania AB yesterday rejected a 9.6 billion euro (US$12.2 billion) cash and stock takeover offer from Germany's MAN AG. The board "unanimously decided not to support the proposals outlined," Scania said in a statement. MAN, Europe's third-largest truckmaker, offered 0.151 new shares and 38.35 euros in cash per Scania share, valuing the company at 48 euros per share. The offer represents a premium of 39 percent and 36 percent for each Scania class A and B share respectively, based on the three-month weighted average price up to Sept. 11. MAN said it would pay for the cash part of the deal from cash reserves and a credit facility. A tie-up would create a challenger to Volvo and DaimlerChrysler in the commercial vehicles market.
PRECISION STRIKES: The most significant reason to deploy HIMARS to outlying islands is to establish a ‘dead zone’ that the PLA would not dare enter, a source said A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be deployed to Penghu County and Dongyin Island (東引) in Lienchiang County (Matsu) to force the Chinese military to retreat at least 100km from the coastline, a military source said yesterday. Taiwan has been procuring HIMARS and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the US in batches. Once all batches have been delivered, Taiwan would possess 111 HIMARS units and 504 ATACMS, which have a range of 300km. Considering that “offense is the best defense,” the military plans to forward-deploy the systems to outlying islands such as Penghu and Dongyin so that
WHAT WAS ALL THAT FOR? Jaw Shaw-kong said that Cheng Li-wen had pushed for more drastic cuts and attacked him, just for the outcome to be nearly identical to his bill The legislature yesterday passed a supplementary budget bill to fund the purchase of separate packages of US military equipment, with the combined amount of spending capped at NT$780 billion (US$24.8 billion). The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their legislative majority to pass the bill, which runs until 2033 and has two main funding provisions. One was for NT$300 billion of arms sales already approved by the US for Taiwan on Dec. 17 last year, the other was for NT$480 billion for another arms package expected to be announced by Washington. The bill, which fell short of the NT$1.25
A former television news host and six military personnel — active and retired — have been indicted on espionage charges, Kaohsiung prosecutors said yesterday. Lin Chen-you (林宸佑), a former CTi News host and YouTuber, last year allegedly made videos at the direction of a Chinese agent criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party’s recall campaign, the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office told a news conference in Kaohsiung. He allegedly received 4,325 tether coins for the videos from an unidentified person surnamed Huang (黃), believed to be an agent of a hostile foreign power, they said. Lin, also known as Ma Te (馬德), has a show named
‘CRITICAL MOMENT’: Any delay in the passage of the remaining funds would weaken Taiwan’s security and play into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, the AIT said While welcoming the Legislative Yuan’s approval of a supplementary defense budget, the US Department of State said that further delays to Taiwan military spending are a “concession” to China. The remarks came after the legislature on Friday passed the budget bill to fund the purchase of separate packages of military equipment from the US, with total spending capped at NT$780 billion (US$24.82 billion). One package allocates NT$300 billion for arms sales approved by the US for Taiwan on Dec. 17 last year, while the other sets aside NT$480 billion for an arms package expected to be announced by Washington. The
RSS