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May 25 2012 13:58
The costs of the first phase of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project have increased significantly to almost R90bn, according to a report.
May 24 2012 17:31
The Reserve Bank will maintain current interest rates, and a considerable reduction in the local petrol price is anticipated, says governor Gill Marcus.
May 25 2012 11:36
The JSE has identified and stopped "incorrect" trades from one of its members, and will reverse the trades and lower the session's total value after the close.
Caracas - Venezuelan unions estimated Saturday that nearly 22 000 oil contractors stand to lose their jobs after President Hugo Chavez's government seized the assets of 60 local and foreign-owned oil firms.
"This law does not benefit us," Bernardino Chirinos, leader of the Union of Oil Workers in the western state of Zulia, told El Nacional newspaper.
"There are 35 000 workers on the east coast (of Zulia state) and only 8 000 will be absorbed. There are 22 000 workers without guarantees."
Venezuela, the Americas' largest oil exporter, began Friday to expropriate some oil service providers, a day after the National Assembly passed a law extending the state's control to all activities related to the oil industry.
Shortly after the law's passage, the government announced that private contractors servicing wells, transporting workers and providing other services in the oil-rich Maracaibo Lake area in Zulia state will be taken over by the state-run Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
Some 8&nb000 workers there were confirmed to become PDVSA employees.
"We are liberating the homeland, building socialism with workers," Chavez ssp;aid.
Opposition lawmakers have criticized PDVSA for running up debts and being unable to meet payments despite a months-long windfall from high oil prices. As of September, PDVSA had $7.858bn in debt to its suppliers.
- AFP