MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Uruguay awards French company contract for 1.2bn dollars re-gasification plant
Uruguay awarded French gas and power group GDF Suez SA a contract to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) re-gasification plant at an estimated cost of 1.125 billion dollars, the government said on Tuesday. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesdont tell Stevie
May 15th, 2013 - 08:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0He thinks a democratically elected governement awarding licences to a European/NA country is piracy and theft.
LOL
But no remarks about improving the gas network beyond MVD.
May 15th, 2013 - 07:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Hey this is a step forward for Uruguay, i'm glad they finally decided to go on things alone rather than waiting for the help from Argentina that will never come. Although I'd also rather have the LNG go to some other country besides Argentina, maybe to Paraguay. Also maybe we can get companies to help with the dredging of the Martin Garcia channel and forget Argentina.
May 15th, 2013 - 11:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Does anyone know of Gaz de France having a bad reputation? This has been mentioned by some union leaders and opposition politicians.
May 16th, 2013 - 05:03 am - Link - Report abuse 0Gaz de France is a small aprt of GAF Suez SA, the largest part being the British Company International Power (electricity and gas major projects business with an impeccable reputation prior to August 2010 wheb GAF Suez bought 70% (they now own 100% as of last year).
May 16th, 2013 - 01:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Unions always bitch about any foreigner taking work that 'they could do'. The facts are always different: Uruguay cannot even install wet, gas powered central heating in anybody’s home. I cannot even buy the parts for installation by me – they are not imported and the reason I was given was ‘it’s too complicated’.
The opposition are always the opposition. Do they have ANY objective evidence of incompetence on the major projects that International Power have done over recent decades, NO they do not.
My concern is the involvement of this government who frankly have proven (via UTE and Pluna) that they cannot get their heads around the due diligence aspect of major projects from a customer standpoint, the combined H&P nonsense with Hyundai Heavy Industries was laughable in the extreme. This is what happens when the President uses his mates in ministerial positions.
I have just spent a lot of time researching the history of the elements that comprise this massive organisation and have not found anything to be concerned about. That does not mean there is nothing to be concerned about but listening to vested interests bitching without evidence is not one of them.
ChrisR @ 5
May 16th, 2013 - 06:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Glad to hear your positive opinion re GAF Suez SA, Chris. I agree that Uruguayan union leaders (most) and certain opposition politicians seem to object to everything as a matter of principle. Reminds me of the UK in the sixties. Regarding the lack of competence of current Uruguayan ministers and other big shots in the government, the trouble is that the FA really doesn't have many intelligent supporters and Mujica won't ask the other parties for help.
6 ynsere
May 16th, 2013 - 09:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The UK and the unions in the 60's: UGH! One of the best things Maggie did was let the unions hang themselves trying to put one over on her.
URUGUAY:
I suspected that was the problem with Mujica and his 'team'.
He made such a great start I was impressed, and believe me I am not easily impressed.
For a time now I have been wondering if the man is ill, especially with the stupid fiasco of PLUNA.
What do you think of his wife being in the echelons of power in the forthcoming government, only it seems to me she is running the show anyway?
Chris, the President's wife is a pain in the backside. A fascist know-it-all who, by the way does NOT donate half her senator's salary to housing projects for the poor. That couple must have a bloody good income, and no children or grandchildren to look out for.
May 17th, 2013 - 02:16 am - Link - Report abuse 0Don't think she's bright enough to run anything.
8 ynsere
May 17th, 2013 - 04:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Thanks for that.
BTW the money Mujica gives to the poor would never pay for all the money lost on PLUNA which can be directly attributed to him 'trying to be clever'.
Chris @ 9
May 17th, 2013 - 08:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I'm no Mujica fan, but to be fair Pluna's problems go back to long before his administration, although the latest bunch of executives were not exactly wonderful. The President himself once asked, why is it that the lawyers working for the government are so hapless? Pluna's problems, it seems to me, were more legal, financial and administrative than technical or related to marketing/sales.
In the meantime, most worthwhile former Pluna employees have been headhunted by other airlines in the region and worldwide. We're left with the non-tecnical people trying to set up a government-funded cooperative, which may well be another fiasco.
10 ynsere
May 17th, 2013 - 09:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The situation with PLUNA does go back a long way but Pepe oversaw:
1) vastly overpriced aircraft put to auction;
2) insisted the routes be auctioned separately AFTER the planes were sold;
3) his bestist mate never did a due diligence on the 'approved bidders', not even if they were who they said they were and whether they had two pesos to rub together!
And I could go on.
I am not surprised we are about to pay additional taxes to support the co-operative of also rans: it was always going to be thus in my judgement. Pepes a commie and co-ops are things commies do; even if they haven’t got a wing or a prayer of succeeding (did you like that).
My point is that if the Uruguayan lawyers had done a better job when the Pluna/Varig agreements were signed, it wouldn't have been necessary to dismantle the airline overnight to sidestep lawsuits in Brazil. I agree that the manner in which the airline was dismantled was peurile beyond belief.
May 18th, 2013 - 01:02 am - Link - Report abuse 0Regarding co-ops, I would have thought the Communista hated them. If successful, co-op members will become bourgeois capitalists and take on their own employees to exploit. Several examples exist in Uruguay. Do you by any chance have a figure for what percentage of politically inspired co-ops are successful? Remember Triumph Motorcycles in the late seventies/early eighties? How about Funsa here in Uruguay?
12 ynsere
May 18th, 2013 - 01:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Russia went through a spate of co-ops, the most famous being the land scheme which failed miserably and cost a lot of Russian peasants their lives due to starvation.
It does of course depend on what type of co-op it is as to whether it will survive. The Co-Operative of the UK was very successful up to the 2000s but has gradually lost market share across the board. John Lewis is 'owned' by its employees but is run as a normal business with high flying management which has ensured its growth even now. Triumph motorcycles are no longer the co-operative which existed from 1975 to 1983 when John Bloor, recognised as the saviour of the brand, took over.
Although Triumphs are sold in Venezuela Triumph would not sell me a 1050 (which is a great bike) to bring to Uruguay citing the complicated import rules which I thought was caving in to the government so I bought a new Suzuki GSX1250FA (ABS, eFI, 250kph, 0-100kph in 2.9 sec, 0-100-0kph in 4.0 sec) and imported it myself. Best thing I have done so far.
So I think that co-ops can work but only if they are run strictly on commercial lines; those having a genuine co-op structure of everybody making decisions together are doomed to failure. I hope I am wrong but I cannot see the latest PLUNA development being a success if only for the fact all the best people will have left the company and who in their right mind would leave another company to join it?
Chris, I'm afraid I have to agree with you about Pluna.
May 18th, 2013 - 07:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In 1980 a friend and I imported eight Triumph Bonneville 750s. The cooperative management were not at all cooperative, not even answering the original letter of enquiry. Eventually we had to find an intermediary in the UK to get things done.
Regarding the Funsa cooperative here, all I know is that they're no longer manufacturing tyres for the VW Beetle, although some outlets still have a few in stock. I don't think it's been a roaring success despite the government hype.
Many of the farmers' co-ops on the other hand seem to be doing quite well, including Conaprole, despite industrial action by employees against the members of the co-op and management.
14 ynsere
May 18th, 2013 - 09:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes, where would we be without the fcuking unions.
BETTER OFF.
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!