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Luxembourg may clip wings of two Abramovich jets

Luxembourg's civil aviation authority is investigating whether two business jets owned by a company linked to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's business network must be barred from flying under new EU sanctions.

The two Luxembourg-registered planes - a Gulfstream G650 with the tail number LX-RAY and a Bombardier business jet identified as LX-LUX - are owned by Jersey-based company Clear Skies Flights Limited and operated by Global Jet Luxembourg, based in the village of Hesperange.

Clear Skies Flights is tied to the business network operated by Abramovich, business registry and financial filings show. Abramovich, best known as the owner of the Chelsea Football Club, has become the target of EU sanctions because of his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

PwC Luxembourg is next to suspend Russia website

Accounting firm PwC Luxembourg has pulled a website advertising its services for Russian clients in the Grand Duchy - a country with close ties to Russian oligarchs - as companies across the world seek to cut ties with Moscow.

The firm was still advertising the services of its Russia desk in Luxembourg as late as Tuesday last week, almost two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in a war that has killed thousands, caused millions to flee their country, and triggered a barrage of Western sanctions against the Kremlin.

"All PwC member firms outside of Russia will not undertake any work for the Russian Federal Government or State-owned Enterprises," PwC said in a statement on Monday, after it had taken down the web pages.

Schneider defends role at Russia-focused fund company

Former economy minister Etienne Schneider this week defended a Luxembourg company he supervises that is heavily focused on Russia and which the Grand Duchy's finance watchdog warned was fooling investors.

The investment fund company Mikro Kapital Management had been falsely claiming it was regulated by the EU and supervised by Luxembourg authorities, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) said on Wednesday.

"Mikro Kapital Management SA is not supervised by the CSSF and does not have CSSF authorization to provide investment services, asset management services or other financial services to or from Luxembourg," the watchdog said.

The CSSF warning was based on a faulty statement on the company's website based on a wrong translation, Schneider told the Luxembourg Times. The problem was fixed immediately, said Schneider, who joined the company's five-member supervisory board two months ago.

Luxembourg salaries soar as business bounces back

Are you thinking of switching to a new job to scoop up a pay rise? Now is the time. Luxembourg’s labour market quickly overcame the pandemic slump and is now dishing out huge salary increases.

Whereas job seekers would switch jobs for an average 10% salary top-up until 2020, new employees have been receiving double that since, said Kieron O’Connor, a director at KR Recruitment. And that’s not just in financial services or asset management – two booming industries – but across the board, he said.

As the economy is bouncing back strongly from the pandemic, employers have come under pressure to loosen their purse strings for skilled people.

And Luxembourg’s labour market in particular is squeezed hard by two separate forces: a small pool of regional talent and an incessant demand for highly specialised staff. This, in turn, is driving salaries up as employers outbid each other for the best candidates.

Not a good time to honour Soviets, says town of Esch

Plans for a statue honouring Soviet prisoners forced by the Nazis to work in Luxembourg's steel industry during World War II are on hold, now that Russia is waging war against Ukraine.

The project to build the monument, which Russian diplomats had pushed for, will be shelved, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel decided after a mutual consultation with the city council of Esch-sur-Alzette in the south of the country, once a hotbed for Luxembourg's communist party.

"At the moment it is unfortunately not possible, with the necessary distance and the necessary calmness, to do the important memorial work that is worthy of the victims and which is needed to contribute to a better understanding between the nations," Bettel said in a written response on Monday to a question from national lawmaker Fernand Kartheiser.