Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., September 29, 2008 Elul 29, 5768 | | Israel Time: 02:21 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Business in Brief The foreign currency market is quiet and calm - compared the financial storm going on around it. On Friday the dollar rose 0.7% against the shekel to a representative rate of NIS 3.421. However, for the week the dollar lost 2.8%, or 10 agorot. The euro was unchanged on Friday - and still below the NIS 5 barrier at NIS 4.9998. "We are really an island of stability. There are no signs of panic and trading is completely calm, despite that today is the last day of the quarter," said the head of foreign currency trading at Bank Leumi, Zachi Eliash. The Bank of Israel's $100 million in daily purchases of foreign currency have not been enough to support the dollar, said Bank Hapoalim economists. (Tal Levy) Investment house Altshuler Shaham has presented its employees with a plan to cut back on their driving, thereby reducing fuel use and air pollution. Employees who give up their car and arrive by bicycle will receive monthly coupons as an incentive. Similar gifts will go to those who carpool with other workers - a bonus worth NIS 300 a month. Users of public transport will receive up to NIS 500 a month, depending on how many days a week they leave the car at home. Workers who receive leased cars from the company will be rewarded too, getting back half the value of gas they save. The program is the initiative of Chen Altshuler. The company, which leases 50 cars and has 160 employees, also encourages its workers to drive hybrids. (Daniel Schmil) Advertisement Bank Leumi CEO Galia Maor and Deputy CEO Zeev Nahari took advantage of the upswing in the stock market and exercised Leumi options on Thursday - and made a nice profit, at least on paper. Maor exercised 78,330 options at a price of NIS 10.60 each, with the present market price of the shares being NIS 12.6 - a 18.9% profit on a total of NIS 830,298. Nahari exercised options worth NIS 543,752 - at similar prices and profits. However, for now they are keeping the shares. (Tal Levy) AutoServ, a company that offers insurance against car problems, will start to insure new cars imported into the country under private auspices. The AutoServ service guarantee for private imports will meet the Transportation Ministry's legal requirements and provide a way around official importers' attempts to put obstacles in the way of such imports. Often the manufacturers-approved garages refuse to repair such cars. AutoServ will work with a number of brokers who import vehicles privately, as the ministry requires such cars to have a guaranty for parts and service. The annual cost for such service is estimated at a few thousand shekels, which is not considered an impediment as most of the cars imported privately are expensive models. (Daniel Schmil) Antitrust Commissioner Ronit Kan approved the sale of control of juice and drinks producer Prigat to the Central Bottling Company, better known as Coca-Cola Israel. The present owners of the Prigat brands are the two Givat Haim kibbutzim, Ihud and Meuhad, which together own 66.6% of the company. Coca-Cola owns the rest. The deal involves selling another 18% to Coca-Cola, giving it 51% at a price valuing the firm at $65 million. Each kibbutz is expected to take in NIS 80 million, about NIS 55,000 per kibbutz member. The deal, which was approved with no conditions attached, also gives Coca-Cola an option to buy the remainder of the holdings in eight years for NIS 172 million, in 2008 terms. (Amiram Cohen) Clal Industries has signed a deal to import electric cars from China's BYD Auto. Clal, a subsidiary of Nochi Dankner's IDB Development, said the agreement - which still needs various standards, safety and regulatory approvals - was part of Clal's widening of activities in the green energy sector. "We see these activities as an additional potential growth engine for the company," Clal said in a statement last Thursday. Clal already imports DAF trucks, and owns Ford dealerships in Serbia and Croatia. BYD's electric cars are expected in Israel and Europe by 2010. BYD has said the cars could travel 300 km on a single charge. A full charge needs nine hours using its lithium-ion batteries, although they could be charged to 80 percent capacity in 15 minutes, according to BYD. Israel's government has been pushing for electric cars and is offering heavy tax breaks. Shai Agassi's Project Better Place is also planning to sell electric cars in Israel in the next few years, through its partner, the Renault-Nissan alliance. (Daniel Schmil and Reuters) Despite the credit crunch and the collapse of U.S. financial institutions, the official Export-Import Bank of the U.S. has offered the Israel Electric Corporation to finance its emergency plan to bolster Israeli electricity production, or instead to provide the IEC with a $10 billion loan for 20 years. The The Ex-Im Bank, as it is known, is the official export credit agency of the United States, and its mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets. The loans would be provided to the IEC at subsidized interest rates. The treasury is also examining the offer, and former energy minister Moshe Shahal made the connection between the bank and the IEC. The only catch is that the IEC would need to use American products and services for building new power stations. (Avi Bar-Eli) Bookmark to del.icio.us   Defending against Iran U.S. deploys early-warning radar system at Israeli base to detect Iranian missiles. Chinese train in Israel Haifa stadium had been turned into mock Bird's Nest in pre-Olympics exercises.

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