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New cry of alarm for the Olympic infrastructures of Milan. At Palazzo Chigi, during the meeting of the control room on 30 April, the issue of extra costs emerged again in relation to the construction of the two new Milanese sports facilities for the 2026 Milan and Cortina winter games: the ice rink, which it will be built in the Santa Giulia district, already renamed PalaItalia; the Olympic village for athletes and their staff, in Porta Romana.
The two works are built by private individuals: the international Cts Eventim group in the first case, the real estate development company Coima in the second. In both cases it is not the timetable that is worrying, but rather the extra costs which, although they have dropped in recent months, are still there asking for coverage. For PalaItalia there is still talk of at least 50-60 million more costs (but the figure is not certain, and could rise), compared to a project that was initially valued at 180 million; for the Olympic village we are now at 40 million more, on an initial investment of 100 million.
During the last control room the theme was proposed again by the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala. There are no answers at the moment. The expectation of local authorities is that the government will take charge of it, with a formula to be studied, because evidently it is difficult for the public to intervene in a private activity. Private individuals do not seem willing to spend more than initially hypothesized and the problem risks exploding, given that these are two central and essential works for the Games: the PalaItalia will be used to host the men’s hockey competitions while the Olympic village for provide accommodation to athletes, technicians and sports clubs, plus journalists and communications workers. In Milan the problem has been highlighted several times, in multiple locations, but concrete help has not yet arrived. Concern is rising: if the resources do not arrive in the next few months, the construction sites are at risk.
The next control room is scheduled for the beginning of July and there will also be presented updates on the progress of projects with schools and universities. It is possible that the issue of extra costs will be brought up again here, even if everyone hopes that a solution will be identified sooner.
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Milan Cortina, cost boom for the PalaItalia and the Olympic village
About 51 percent of exports from Armenia fell to EAEU. What factors contributed to the growth of exports from the country?
– 2024-05-04 10:43:24
In the first 5 months of this year, 2 billion 689 million 637.2 thousand dollars were exported from Armenia, increasing by 93.3 percent compared to the same period of 2022. Such growth is due to both re-exports and the maintenance and growth of the main exported products. EAEU exports increased, EU exports decreased, although exports to individual EU countries even increased several times.
“Amberd” research center expert Mary Hovsepyan said this in a conversation with “Armenpress”.
“For the past 5 months, of course, exports have recorded a progressive pace, but on the other hand, taken in absolute numbers, we still have a problem with the trade balance, it is mostly negative, because in absolute terms, imports exceed exports. Of particular importance is the fact that although re-exports also have a share in the increase in exports, the main export destinations have continued to be maintained in addition to the existing ones. In other words, among other positive effects, the fact that new export opportunities were created, new connections, new markets or improved positions in existing markets were also important in this process, which, of course, can also have long-term benefits. Connections are the most valuable circumstance that businessmen can further develop,” said Hovsepyan.
The expert noticed that this trend is observed not only in Armenia, but also in the countries of the region. For example, in Turkey, trade with Russia continues to grow, even in the conditions of a decrease in the rate of exports observed in recent months. From the beginning of the year to June, exports from Turkey to Russia increased by 88.6 percent. “If, for example, 2.6 billion worth of goods were exported in the same time period, now that number has reached 4.9 billion dollars. Despite the fact that they announced that they have banned the re-export of goods under sanctions to Russia, statistical indicators indicate the opposite,” said the expert.
He also emphasized that any crisis, economic upheaval brings with it not only problems, but also new opportunities, changes in supply chains, rearrangements, businessmen start thinking about launching new ways in addition to traditional ways.
According to the data published by the Statistical Committee, almost half of the total exports from Armenia are exported to Russia. In January-May, goods worth 1 billion 318 million 154.9 thousand dollars were exported from Armenia to Russia, increasing by 3.3 times compared to the same period of the previous year. The United Arab Emirates ranks second in terms of export volumes. In January-May, the export from Armenia to the UAE increased 6 times compared to the same period last year, amounting to 445 million 20.8 thousand dollars. China ranks second in terms of volume. In the first 5 months of the year, goods worth 166 million 318.8 thousand dollars were exported from Armenia to China, increasing by 16.7 percent compared to January-May 2022.
Electric Flight, Hydrogen, or Used Frying Fat: The Future of Sustainable Aviation
NOS news•
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Elsbeth Heersink
economics editor
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Elsbeth Heersink
economics editor
The May holidays are over for part of the country after this weekend. Many people have taken a flight in recent weeks for holidays abroad: Eindhoven and Eindhoven airports Schiphol has processed tens of thousands of passengers every day.
All these planes fly on kerosene, and the Netherlands must be climate neutral by 2050, according to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency it is possible to achieve – while there is a lot of action. It is difficult to stabilize the aviation sector, but hard work is being done on alternatives to flying on kerosene.
Here are the three most promising options:
One option that many people are thinking about is an electric airplane. But it is not possible to turn every aircraft in a fleet, put a battery in and take it off. Batteries are heavy, and an aircraft must be as light as possible to be able to fly longer distances, says Henri Werij, dean of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft.
In addition, the life of an aircraft is long if it is maintained properly, about twenty to thirty years. Each new aircraft is a multi-million investment for companies and in recent years investments have been made in quieter and more economical fleets that still fly on kerosene.
If you were to ask ChatGPT if it was possible to fly long distances electronically, the answer would be “no”.
Research shows that electric flight over longer distances is not possible, but the founders of Elysian think differently. In nine years, in 2033, they want to take off a plane with ninety passengers that should be able to travel about 800 kilometers, with the ultimate goal of a range of 1,000 kilometers.
“If you asked ChatGPT if it was possible to fly long distances electronically, the answer would be ‘no’,” said co-founder Reynard de Vries, responsible for development at Elysian. But according to him, the technology is advanced enough to implement the plans. At the beginning of this year, Elysian got investment of ten million dollars.
The small Teuge airport has been working on electric flight for years. The result is a small plane for two with a range of just over 100 kilometers, not even enough to fly from Enschede to Amsterdam.
We checked the airport: