- EIB signs a SEK 2.5 billion loan with Wallenstam for nearly-zero-energy-buildings

- Agreement supported by European Commission’s European Fund for Strategic Investments

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a SEK 2.5 billion loan agreement with Wallenstam AB to support the construction of sustainable affordable housing classed as “nearly-zero-energy-buildings” in Sweden. The EIB financing is supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.

Yesterday saw the ground-breaking of the “Väven” project, which will consist of 116 rental homes and is one of the projects under the financing agreement, for which a first SEK 500 million was disbursed. Over the rest of the year, the rest of the loan, which has a one year availability period, is planned to be drawn down in connection to several other sustainable housing projects. The EIB is providing an unsecured credit facility of SEK 2.5 billion with a tenor of seven years.

As required by the EIB, all new constructions will meet the “nearly-zero-energy-building” standard. The goal of the financing is to support the construction of rental property to reduce the current housing shortage in Sweden’s largest cities.

“Wallenstam's operations are very much aligned with the EIB's mission, which is not only to contribute to employment and growth, but very much also to support climate investment. Therefore, I am pleased that the EIB can contribute to reduce the strain on the availability of rental properties in Sweden through an investment in sustainable housing,” says EIB Vice President Thomas Östros.

European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for An Economy that Works for People, said: “For Europe to transition to a climate-neutral economy, there is a huge need for investments in making our buildings seriously energy-efficient. By using the EU budget guarantee to support this project with Wallenstam in Sweden, we are putting sustainability at the heart of how we invest EU-taxpayer’s money. The fact that the project is for affordable housing makes it doubly important.”

”The EIB’s engagement is a quality stamp for our company, including our business concept of developing new energy efficient housing, we are very proud of the collaboration.” added Hans Wallenstam, CEO of Wallenstam AB.

Την ανάκληση της παρτίδας 379252 του συμπληρώματος διατροφής SOLGAR RESVERATROL 60 Vegetable caps με ημερομηνία λήξης 3/22, αποφάσισε ο Εθνικός Οργανισμός Φαρμάκων (ΕΟΦ).

Όπως αναφέρεται, βρέθηκε να περιέχει αυξημένα επίπεδα πολυλυκλικών αρωματικών υδρογονανθράκων, χημικών ενώσεων που προκύπτουν φυσικά στα τρόφιμα συνήθως κατά την ξήρανση αυτών ή διεργασίες όπως το κάπνισμα ή η θερμική επεξεργασία.

Το προϊόν διακινείται στην ελληνική αγορά από την εταιρεία ISO-PLUS ΑΕ. Η παρούσα απόφαση εκδίδεται με σκοπό να ενισχύσει την εθελοντική ανάκληση της εταιρίας , η οποία οφείλει να επικοινωνήσει άμεσα με τους πελάτες της, προκειμένου να το αποσύρουν από την αγορά.

LV= General Insurance (LV=GI), a UK-based insurance provider, has introduced voice skill for car insurance customers with Amazon Alexa or Google Home Assistant products.

The new service will enable customers to ask and get answered, a range of questions about their car insurance policy by asking their smart speaker to ‘Open LV’.

With the new services, LV= GI car insurance customers can ask questions about their policy using their home assistant products.

New voice skill will be able to answer over 500 policy-based questions initially

Said to be the first of its kind within the general insurance industry, the new voice skill will be able to answer over 500 policy-based questions initially. The questions have been collated from commonly asked questions on LiveChat and the call centre.

To make sure that the solution works as effectively as possible, LV= GI will also receive constant updates to help add or refine answers and will update the software whenever needed.

LV= GI sales and marketing director Jon Mansley said: “At LV= GI we’re always trying to make things easier for our customers, so with nearly 13 million smart speakers sold in the UK in 2019 we thought a voice app would be helpful.

“With the launch of this new voice skill, customers can now find out details of their policy in a matter of seconds, simply by asking their smart device.”

The new service has been rolled out to deliver policy information for customers who are less able to use a computer or telephone or check their documents.

The solution is also expected to help reduce over 28,000 questions on policy documents that are received by call centre employees every month, freeing up time for more in-depth call handling or claims, the company stated.

LV= GI worked with Rabbit and Pork to help build the solution’s functionality, which will go live on Amazon Alexa and Google Home Assistant devices.

Claimed to be the first voice skill for car insurance customers by a direct insurer, the company plans to add other products to the solution in due course of time.

Rabbit and Pork managing director John Campbell said: “We’re really excited to be working with LV= on this voice project to help make answering questions about insurance easier, quicker and more conversational. We are delighted to launch on both the Google Assistant and Alexa platforms at the same time, which allows us to reach a wider audience.

“It’s important that companies such as LV= have a presence on voice-enabled devices, as we are seeing them become part of our daily lives. We look forward to building on this first version with more content and features in the future.”

Συνολικά 79 παραβάσεις ατομικού χαρακτήρα της εργατικής νομοθεσίας περιέχονται στο νέο ποινολόγιο του Σώματος Επιθεώρησης Εργασίας (ΣΕΠΕ), με «τσουχτερά» πρόστιμα από 3.000 έως 8.000 ευρώ. 

Στις ατομικού χαρακτήρα παραβάσεις το πρόστιμο υπολογίζεται ανά θιγόμενο εργαζόμενο, δηλαδή για κάθε παράβαση επιβάλλεται συνολικό πρόστιμο που προκύπτει με πολλαπλασιασμό του καθορισμένου ποσού προστίμου της κάθε παράβασης επί τον αριθμό των θιγόμενων εργαζομένων.

Τα πιο υψηλά πρόστιμα προβλέπονται για όσους εργοδότες παραβιάζουν την εργατική νομοθεσία που προστατεύει τις γυναίκες, τις εγκύους, τους ανήλικους ή όσους εμποδίζουν τη συνδικαλιστική δράση.

Τα πρόστιμα ανεβαίνουν και ανάλογα με το μέγεθος της επιχείρησης.

Έτσι σε επιχείρηση/εργοδότη που απασχολεί από 1 έως 10 άτομα, το συνολικό πρόστιμο για κάθε παράβαση ορίζεται: 300 ευρώ για χαμηλές, 500 ευρώ για σημαντικές, 1.000 ευρώ για υψηλές και 1.800 ευρώ για πολύ υψηλές παραβάσεις.

Σε επιχείρηση/εργοδότη που απασχολεί από 251 και άνω άτομα προσωπικό στον ελεγχόμενο τόπο εργασίας, το συνολικό πρόστιμο για κάθε παράβαση ορίζεται: 2.000 ευρώ για χαμηλές, 3.000 ευρώ για σημαντικές, 4.000 ευρώ για υψηλές και 8.000 ευρώ για πολύ υψηλές παραβάσεις.