Elizabeth Pineau News

French President Emmanuel Macron's chief of staff has been indicted by the national financial crimes prosecutor over a conflict of interest relating to his alleged links with Swiss-Italian shipping company MSC, the prosecutor's office said.Alexis Kohler, Macron's closest and most influential adviser, sits at the top of the Elysee Palace's administrative pyramid, and news of his indictment - a legal step that puts him under formal investigation in France - is a blow.The prosecutor's office "confirms Alexis Kohler…

European Union countries are considering a ban on Russian ships entering the bloc's ports, aiming to tighten sea restrictions after a halt on air traffic, European officials say, a step that would further hamper Russia's commercial shipments.Britain already decided on Monday to deny entry to British ports to all ships that are Russian owned, operated, controlled, chartered, registered or flagged. Canada followed on Tuesday, saying it would shut its ports to Russian-owned ships later this week, a day after it banned Russian crude oil imports.

The French government will reimburse 30 million euros ($35.5 million) in payroll costs to French ferry companies hit by the coronavirus crisis and Brexit, Prime Minister Jean Castex told parliament.Shipping firms have suffered from lower traffic to and from Britain due to quarantine measures and uncertainty around Britain's exit from the European union."We have decided to reimburse all of Brittany Ferries' payroll costs for the 2021 financial year.

French shipyard STX has secured an order for up to four more ships from MSC Cruises, in a 3.6 billion-euro ($4.1 billion) deal announced on Wednesday. MSC Cruises, part of privately owned shipping group MSC, has in recent years been the main customer for STX France, which is based at the Atlantic port of Saint-Nazaire. The two companies signed a letter of intent for the order at a ceremony on Wednesday at the Elysee palace in Paris, reflecting the importance placed on the investment for French President Francois Hollande who is struggling to bring down unemployment.

About 10 countries, including Egypt, are interested in buying two French helicopter carriers whose planned sale to Russia has been cancelled due to the Ukraine crisis, a source familiar with the situation said. A second source, a French diplomatic source, said that other countries interested include Brazil, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Canada, which could be the most suitable candidate for the ships because they were designed for cold waters. France, whose navy already operates three of the Mistral helicopter carrier warships, has no use for the two ships and will have to pay Russia nearly 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for cancelling the contract. The first source also said that Egypt is negotiating the possible exercise of its option to buy two Gowind corvettes.

France chose General Electric to form an alliance with Alstom on Friday - rejecting an offer from Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries - but said the deal still needed some work and added it would buy a 20 percent stake in the hotly-contested company. Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg said he had used a newly- created state decree to reject both of the existing offers as not being in France's strategic interest, and had formulated fresh demands to GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt. The decision ended weeks of suspense surrounding one of Europe's fiercest industrial battles in years, but left open major questions about the final shape of an alliance which GE hopes will give it access to new power markets.

Germany's Siemens and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries presented a joint offer to France's Alstom on Monday that included 7 billion euros ($9.5 billion) in cash, challenging a bid by General Electric. Under the deal, Siemens offered to buy Alstom's gas turbines business for 3.9 billion euros in cash, and MHI to buy stakes in Alstom power assets including hydroelectric power equipment and grid, to be held in separate joint ventures. MHI would inject 3.1 billion euros in cash into Alstom and offer to take a stake of up to 10 percent in the French firm from shareholder Bouygues. "Alstom would remain an independent energy and transport player with a strong brand," Siemens Chief Executive Joe Kaeser said. Alstom said it would review the proposal in the coming days.

President Francois Hollande and his Economy MinisterArnaud Montebourg will meet General Electric chief executive Jeff Immelt on Monday to discuss the future of French engineering group Alstom, a presidential official told Reuters. The meeting follows news last week that GE is planning a $13 billion deal to buy Alstom's power turbines business, and comes after the intervention on Sunday of the French government and industry rival Siemens of Germany. Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Andrew Callus; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Alstom's arch rival Siemens wants talks with the struggling French engineering group, the German company said on Sunday, the day General Electric boss Jeff Immelt is due in Paris to thrash out a deal to buy Alstom's global power arm. Siemens said in a statement that it had written a letter to "signal its willingness to discuss future strategic opportunities" with the French group. France's government has said it wants to find alternatives to the GE offer, which sources say puts a value of $13 billion on the turbines and power grid equipment business and could be announced in days. Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg said last week that he plans a meeting with Immelt.

U.S. industrial conglomerate General Electric Co is in advanced talks to buy the global power division of struggling French engineering group Alstom SA for about $13 billion, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Sources said a deal was backed by Alstom's main shareholder, French conglomerate Bouygues with 29 percent, and could be announced in the coming days after an Alstom board meeting on Friday afternoon. The board was due to meet again on Sunday to discuss the transaction, French daily Le Figaro said. "Talks are going ahead swiftly, the deal's structure is defined and everything is almost ready," one of the sources said. Alstom Chief Executive Patrick Kron confirmed to union representatives there were talks about an "industrial deal," but did not name GE.