Il fut un temps où Internet passait plutôt pour le pire ennemi du luxe. Avant tout parce que sur la Toile, on trouvait de tout – entendez du vulgaire – et bien souvent des contrefaçons. Mais l’ère du mépris a cédé sa place à celle de l’intérêt commercial. La plus belle preuve de ce changement des mentalités est venue jeudi dernier avec l’annonce officielle d’une offre publique d’achat (OPA) de la part de la société suisse Richemont sur le site Net-a-porter, qui valorise ce dernier à près de 550 millions de francs suisses. 

Fondé par la journaliste de mode Nathalie Massenet en 2000, Net-a-porter offre aujourd’hui près de 300 marques – dont Jimmy Choo, Stella McCartney ou Givenchy – dans quelque 170 pays. Son dernier chiffre d’affaires, en 2009, a approché les 200 millions de francs. Une démonstration époustouflante que le luxe peut faire recette sur Internet.

Fondatrice aux manettes

Jusqu’ici, Richemont, le premier groupe de luxe au monde (Cartier, Azzedine Alaia, Lancel, Chloé, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, etc.) détenait 33% du capital-actions de Net-a-porter. Au mois de mars, des rumeurs insistantes parlaient d’un rachat entier. La société suisse a reçu l’aval de 80% de ses actionnaires pour cette acquisition amicale. En effet, Natalie Massenet a donné son accord à ce rachat qui accessoirement lui rapportera quelque 80 millions de francs. Le nouveau propriétaire lui fait également confiance pour continuer de diriger cette société qui emploie 600 personnes dans ses deux principaux centres de Londres et de New York…
Lire la suite :
http://www.tdg.ch/actu/economie/net-porter-richemont-fait-pari-luxe-internet-2010-04-02

The younger brother of the president of the UAE was also managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Zayed Foundation for Charity and Humanitarian Works.

Meanwhile, a source in the Turkmen Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has told the opposition website chrono-tm.org that in fact, the European Union has not made any specific proposals and no meetings or dates have been discussed about deliveries, volume, or price. In 2008, President Berdymukhamedov offered the EU to purchase 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas after he visited Brussels, but the purchase has not been made and no further specifics have been given on either side. « It’s like jogging in place, » the official told chrono-tm.org, saying that the papers that were signed were pro-forma acknowledgements of the intent to cooperate, but without responsibilities outlined.

In part, the unnamed official’s message, delivered to an outlet sure to publicize it, is about telling the EU bluntly that they have to come across with an investment proposal to become attractive. Yet the official also seems to be creating internal pressure on President Berdymukhamedov to make his intentions clear, as the source called the delay in any agreement « incomprehensible » given Turkmenistan’s ostensible devotion to diversification. He reiterated the perennial Turkmen position: that Ashgabat will sell gas to anyone at its borders. What this means is that the buyer takes whatever gas there is available from whatever existing pipeline networks there are run by neighboring countries, including Russia. « Buy at the border » contains an unstated implication for those who want less dependence on Russia – to get a special high-volume deal like China, build a new pipeline from within Turkmenistan to reach outside territory, or upgrade existing pipelines starting within Turkm!
enistan to reach other countries. The energy official told chrono-tm.org that the arrangement with China was working well, and it would be hard for it not to work well given China’s $4 billion soft loan to build the pipeline and deliver first 10 bcm, and ultimately 30 bcm and more.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is scheduled to travel to Central Asia next month, with a stop in Turkmenistan on April 4. He is expected to discuss the proposals for a Central Asian nuclear weapons-free zone, and will likely discuss other issues such as support for Afghanistan and the UN Preventive Diplomacy Centre hosted by Ashgabat, which works on regional conflicts such as water disputes. Human rights groups are hoping he will also raise issues like the case of former foreign minister Boris Shikhmuradov, held incommunicado in the Turkmen prison system since 2002 and other political prisoners. Students who have been repeatedly denied permission to leave Turkmenistan in order to study abroad have also openly appealed to Mr. Ban for intervention.

The UN has a reputation of great authority with the Turkmen leadership and has enjoyed many years of quiet cooperation on low-key programs from immunizations to learning about the women’s rights treaty. The UN regional coordinator and UNICEF directors have also met with the president last week. Of course, the UN balances the need to keep all its programs functioning successfully in Turkmenistan versus confronting the government on its abysmal human rights record. A central component of Turkmen propaganda and official identity is the notion that the UN has somehow endorsed or approved Turkmenistan’s declaration of neutrality — and this story has become greater in the telling with each passing year and UN meeting. Now, the official government English-language website is claiming that the UN « delegated » this status to Turkmenistan, which simply does not square with the facts. The UN has no procedure for determining if a state’s self-declaration of neutrality is valid, and has !
no formal, negotiated, agreed criteria for making a determination of a state’s given neutrality through an application process.

What actually happened is that under past dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan made a statement of neutrality in the General Assembly in 1995. This statement was merely unanimously welcomed by other states in a brief resolution (http://www2.un.int/Countries/Turkmenistan/1161289614.pdf). It does not imply any special UN-delegated authority or any approval of other states of the actual actions of Turkmenistan, which includes active buying of weapons from Russia for its defense. The UN has never commented on Turkmenistan’s repeated propagandistic use of the concept, inflating the notion of an appreciation of a declaration of neutrality into an official recognition of the bona fides of the declaration — and likely refrains from such a comment not only to avoid antagonizing a needed regional partner but because it does not have a process for determining permanent neutrality..

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent greetings to the people of Turkmenistan on the occasion of the spring holiday Navruz, but curiously did not include in the greeting any of the statements about working together for regional peace and security as the U.S. did for Uzbekistan and others. Instead, the statement speaks vaguely of the relations of « mutual respect and mutual interest » and notes specifically only the cooperation in the field of cultural preservation, although the U.S. has provided assistance on everything from border reinforcement and agriculture and health to the opening of an Internet cafe. For some reason, the U.S, which still has no ambassador to Turkmenistan, only focuses on the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation which has gone to projects to sustain Turkmenistan’s rich historical heritage at archeological and architectural sites.

In fact, this same week the U.S. Embassy along with experts from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration opened a two-week long seminar for officers of the State Counter Narcotics Services from Ashgabat as well as Ahal and Balkan regions. The training is aimed at addressing the flow of illegal narcotics from neighboring Afghanistan, and includes drug identification, surveillance ad undercover operations, interrogation techniques and financial investigations. Turkmenistan has not yet reformed its interrogation techniques through legal amendment, and uses torture on suspects to extract confessions. The OSCE has also tried to promote legal reform by holding a week-long course about international standards for criminal justice. It is difficult to know if such brief seminars convened by foreign trainers with only people highly trusted by the Turkmen government are contributing to reform. So far, while talking about making changes in legal codes, President Berdymukhamedov has pre!
ferred to use public humiliation to try to get top officials to perform better. Both the Prosecutor General and the Interior Minister received reprimands about their poor performance and a warning to rectify unspecified shortcomings or face dismissal. As the terse notices from the presidential press office talked about « staff discipline » in the prosecutor’s office and « improper management of recruitment » in the Interior Ministry, it is likely that specific incidents of corruption or negligence could have been involved in these agencies but no information is available.

By contrast, the U.S. Justice Department has become much more specific on various « shortcomings » and « lax oversight » related to Turkmenistan in the work of Damlier AG, which has now agreed to pay a $185 million settlement following charges of bribery and falsification of records, The Moscow Times and Western wire services reported. Daimler is charged with giving a $400,000 Mercedes armored car to an unidentified Turkmen government official in February 2000, evidently in the expectation that this would lead to further purchases of the vehicle. The Moscow Times speculated that this could be President Niyazov himself, whose birthday was February 19. Daimler also spent $250,000 to translate Niyazov’s cult book, Ruhnama, into German, and printed 10,000 copies of it.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-corruption body, has also been more specific in its reprimand of Turkmenistan last month. Turkmenistan is now included in a blacklist of eight countries for alleged money laundering and terrorism financing, FATF reported on its website. The FATF noted that Turkmenistan had failed to make amendments to national law to bring it into compliance with international norms to curb corrupt and terrorism financing.

Despite concerns about Turkmenistan’s lack of actual legal reforms in these areas repeatedly expressed by international bodies, a number of countries including China have nevertheless made large loans to Ashgabat. Japan signed a loan deal with Ashgabat this week and the Japanese Bank of International Cooperation to fund the construction of ammonia plant by Kawasaki Plant Systems and the Sojitz Corporation.

Du 16 au 21 mai 2010, vous logerez dans l’une de nos magnifiques chambres ou suites et suivrez un programme taillé sur mesure pour le bien-être du corps et de l’esprit.

Vous profiterez de deux heures de Yoga et d’une heure de méditation quotidiennes et embarquerez pour un voyage spirituel au cœur de la méditation, du pranayama et des cours de cuisine diététique.
Plus de détails sur :
http://www.mamounia.com/newsletter/newsletter-2010-03-18/newsletter-2010-03-18-fr.htm

A conference in Vienna on March 5 organized by the German-based Eurasia Transition Group brought together leading experts on Turkmenistan and Central Asia to discuss the actual prospects for Nabucco and to debate whether the alternative energy route, designed to skirt Russian corridors, was economically viable or merely political in nature. Natalya Kharitonova, coordinator of the Joint Eurasian Expert Network, discussed the results of a survey her organization had done on problems in implementing Nabucco and found that respondents did not believe Nabucco would guarantee European energy security; it would merely enhance it. Turkmenistan’s participation in Nabucco will depend personally on President Berdymukhamedov and whether there will be more gas to supply it, will depend on Ashgabat optimizing the investment climate and attracting new financing and technology. The closed nature of Turkmen society meant it was nearly impossible to put any pressure on the government, inside or out.

The auction of 467 timepieces, including « The Arman Collection » from world- renowned artist Arman, drew a record 584 registered Internet bidders, with online and telephone bidders from Spain, Russia, China, Canada, Italy as well as the United States joining those who attended the event in person, the auction company said in a press release issued Friday. A total of 90 percent of the lots were sold, representing one of the highest ever sell-through rates.

The auction house credited the increase of online bidding to the introduction of a live video feed that helps Internet bidders feel as if they are in the actual room, the press release said.

Prices realized for rare vintage and modern wristwatches have increased by 15 percent in the past year, Julien Schaerer, watch director and auctioneer for Antiquorum USA, stated in the release. Those prices are likely to strengthen as consumer confidence builds, he added.

The auction’s top lot was a platinum Patek Philippe Ref. 3970, which was made in 2004, and initially sold on July 14, 2005. The water-resistant piece features a round button chronograph, register, perpetual calendar, moon phases, leap year, 24-hour indication and the brand’s deployant clasp in platinum. It fetched $141,600. The second highest ticket at the auction was the Patek Philippe, ref. 5970, in white gold, which sold for $138,000.

Other Patek models were also hits. The Patek Philippe ref. 3970 went for $87,600 while the Patek Philippe ref.3971 drew a winning bid of $84,000. In addition, the Patek Philippe ref. 1415 « World Time » in yellow gold fetched $84,000, while a « very rare » Patek Philippe ref. 2459 « Devil’s Horns » drew considerable interest from collectors and sold for $38,400, the release said.

Also of note was the Cartier « Tank Reversible Basculante, » which was in great demand and sold for $18,000, three times its high estimate. In addition, Minerva’s « Oversize Split-Second Chronograph » fetched $15,600
read more on:
http://www.nationaljewelernetwork.com/njn/content_display/watches/watch-auctions/e3i77663ea2010dbb6f2f4a86dcd324417b

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