July / Augustus 2009 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

Business news
Sources: Het Financieele Dagblad and Reuters
Holland rich in undiscovered gas fields
There is ‘significant potential’ to discover large quantities of gas on Dutch
territory, particularly in unconventional sources such as shale, coal beds and
shallow fields, the oil and gas industry body EBN said. The report ‘Focus on
Dutch Gas’ looks at the current state of gas production in the Netherlands and
its future potential. ‘Shallow gas has always been avoided because of the drilling
risks and is only rarely taken into production,’ according to EBN chairman Jan
Dirk Bokhoven. ‘But last year that happened for the first time.’ Bokhoven said
that if all the untapped sources of gas are combined, the total could amount
to 500,000 cubic metres. ‘That is a very rough estimate, but some of that
can be extracted’. The biggest Dutch gas field was found in Slochteren in the
northern province of Groningen in 1959 and established the Netherlands as
a major gas exporting country.
Birthday kiss at work
not popular
Birthday kisses from colleagues are a
major annoyance for a third of people
who celebrate their birthday at work,
according to research by jobs website
NationaleVacaturebank.nl. Next on
the list of dislikes is singing (hated by
26%) and bad speeches (disliked by
24%). A gift token is the most common
present, if presents are given, the survey
showed, while one in eight workers are
given something ‘original’. Some 15% of
workers are prepared to donate more
than €10 towards a present while 23%
give between €6 and €10.
Jobless benefit claims
rise by 11,000
The number of people claiming
unemployment benefit rose by 11,000
in April, the sixth successive monthly
increase, says the national statistics
office CBS. Corrected for seasonal
influences, some 203,000 people were on
jobless benefits (WW). In October 2008,
the jobless total was a record 40,000
lower. Unemployment among men was
up 31%, while only 13% more women
were without a job of at least 12 hours
a week. In particular, people employed
through staffing agencies were hard hit,
the CBS said
‘Buffer needed
between banks and
Bos’
Christian Democrat, Labour and Liberal
MPs want the government to set up an
intermediary body between finance
minister Wouter Bos and financial service
companies, such as ABN Amro, in which
the state has a stake. It is important that
Bos does not appear to be both bank
manager and finance minsiter at the same
time and he should not be held liable for
‘every little move’ made by the banks, the
MPs said. ‘That is not in the companies’
interests,’ CDA finance spokesman Frans
de Nerée said. The general audit office
has already warned the government of
these risks. ‘We want a buffer when it
comes to exercising shareholders’ rights,
investments and managing supervisory
board members who are acting on the
government’s behalf,’ the MP said. Bos is
expected to tell MPs how he plans to deal
with his banking role. The minister has
already said there are both advantages
and disadvantages with setting up an
independent foundation. In particular,
an intermediary would change the way
he reported on the banks to MPs, Bos has
said. Labour MP Paul Tang said that he
wants to make sure that banks which have
been bailed out with government money
keep to new guidelines on executive pay
and bonuses. ‘I still have my doubts about
whether banks have learnt their lessons
or should we take the risk that they
are [still] gambling with other people’s
money?’ he said.
Up to 18,000 firms face hard times
Some 18,000 Dutch companies may be in financial difficulties because of the
recession, according to calculations by Deloitte reports. Half of these companies
will depend on credit to get through the next six months, but almost half of
them are finding it hard to get new financing, the paper says. And a large
proportion have not discussed their difficulties with their bank, the research
shows. ‘Doing nothing is not an option,’ Deloitte spokesman Oscar Snijders said.
‘Companies have to sit down with their bank. To make sure their requests for
credit run smoothly, firms must be open and transparent.’ While 38% of the firms
polled by Deloitte said six months ago they expected the recovery to begin in
the third or final quarter of this year, only 29% now think so. Just over half the
firms questioned expect the recovery to begin next year.
Eneco buys Econcern
solar power unit
Energy firm Eneco said it is to buy some
of the solar power operations of the
bankrupt sustainable energy project
developer Econcern. Rotterdam-based
Eneco, which is owned by local and
provincial governments, said it would
buy part of Econcern’s consultancy and
wind energy businesses. Econcern was
declared bankrupt earlier this month.
Talks are continuing on the takeover
of Econcern’s international solar power
activities. Financial details were not
disclosed.
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Vol.19 • No. 6 • July/August 2009