BUSINESS 14 - 20 November 2014 THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK Major player in game of drones D ENMARK is emerging as a major player in the ever-growing drone industry, and the last week has featured a number of potentially lucrative developments. DanDrone has landed a contract that is expected to treble its turnover in two years, while a new Danish-built drone to tackle maritime sulphur emissions has been attracting wide attention. 3DROBOTICS.COM Domestic companies thriving in brave new world Chasing the tax evaders As billions leave the country, ill-gotten gains flood in T Sky isn’t the limit the Nordic countries, could increase its annual turnover from 10-12 million to 30-35 million kroner in 2016 15 WO MINISTERS last week took action to address how foreigners are increasingly using Danish structures for tax evasion, fraud and money-laundering, while more Danes are depositing their savings in tax havens abroad. The minister for business and growth, Henrik Sass Larsen, and the tax minister, Benny Engelbrecht, both plan to introduce new rules to control the respective systems. business authority Erhvervsstyrelsen an extra 4 million kroner a year to strengthen its efforts to conduct inspections of ‘company manufacturers’ – firms that set up corporate structures on a commercial basis. It is part of overall plans to establish a public register of all Danish companies (including limited partnerships) with details of their ultimate beneficial owner. In recent weeks, Børsen and DR’s P1 radio station have reported how eastern Europeans are misusing Danish structures for criminal activities. “We need to react to it. And that’s what we’re doing now,” Larsen told Børsen. Ethical rules for consultants ENGELBRECHT, meanwhile, is introducing a new set of ethical rules for tax consultants in a bid to cut down on the estimated 275 billion kroner stashed away by Danes in tax havens abroad last year. A minority of consultants counsel their clients to exploit the tax system although they are not technically breaking the law. The new rules call for greater transparency and less unsolicited advice from the consultants. Paul Mollerup, the managing director at Danish Lawyers, told Metroexpress the report was “a reminder that will hopefully reach those with a tainted business model”. (CW/LR) Deal with Richard Branson DANDRONE believes that its new deal with the Richard Branson company 3D Robotics, which gives it the exclusive right to sell its Iris+ model in Tackling sulphur emissions MEANWHILE, the Danish company Explicit in co-operation with Force Technology has developed a drone that can measure the sulphur content of a ship’s fuel by flying above its smoke plume. (PT/CW) Record cartel fine Thule airbase deal lost Trucker’s had enough Potential Turkish delights Chinese exports rise THE DANISH competition authority, Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen, has issued a record 10 million kroner fine to the construction company Elindco Byggefirma for price-fixing in connection with private and public building projects – the biggest in Danish history for a cartel case. The state attorney’s department for special economic and international crime said it was satisfied to have “taken another important step in ending and investigating illegal price-fixing in the building trade”. Agnete Gersing, the head of the competition authority, said that the high fine was warranted by the severity of the case. (PT) THE DANISH civil engineering giant MT Højgaard has lost one of its most lucrative contracts: the operation and maintenance of the American airbase in Thule, northwestern Greenland by its subsidiary Greenland Contractors. The deal, which dates back to 1971 and is being taken over by a US company, brought in 590 million kroner between 2009 and 2013 – 120 million kroner a year for the bottom line at a profit margin of 30 percent, which is astronomical compared to current industry averages. “We’ve been happy with it – that’s no secret,” Torben Biilman, the head of MT Højgaard, told Børsen. (PT) ONE OF Denmark’s biggest trucking companies, Kim Johansen International Transport, is moving large parts of its business abroad after battling the union 3F for a decade over its use of Romanian drivers, which it hires via its Lithuanian subsidiary company to drive the company’s Danish-based trucks. “The consequences are that my trucks no longer generate profits for the Danish company,” Johansen explained to Børsen. “In the future, revenue will be recorded in the foreign subsidiary companies.” 3F, meanwhile, said that Johansen’s move abroad won’t be a major loss for Denmark. (CW) DESPITE recent tensions with Turkey, the climate and energy minister, Rasmus Helveg Petersen, visited the country last week as part of the government’s growth strategy to increase Danish exports to Turkey by 50 percent from 2012-2016. Turkey wants to increase its share of sustainable energy to 30 percent and increase its wind energy tenfold by 2023 – a great opportunity for Danish wind-turbine producers. Turkey – the 16th largest economy in the world – imports 75 percent of its overall energy consumption from abroad, and it expects to double its energy consumption over the next decade. (CW) EXPORTS to China increased by nearly 100 percent from 2008 to 2012, while the German export market decreased during the same period. Although Germany remains the country’s largest export market, markets outside Europe are now showing the largest degree of growth. The new figures from Danmarks Statistik reveal a change in Danish export patterns. Export markets outside the EU now account for the largest increase in Danish exports abroad. China jumped from being Denmark’s 12th biggest trading partner in 2008 to being the sixth largest export market for Danish companies in 2012. (RW) Public register needed LARSEN is granting the READ THE REST OF THESE STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK Østergade 57, 1100 Copenhagen K Tel: 33 93 80 82 • 33 93 80 99 • www.mamarosa.dk com Østergade Østergade 57, 1100 Copenhagen K 57, 1100 Copenhagen K 33 93 80 82 • 33 93 80 99 • www.mamarosa.dk Tel: 33 93 80 82 • 33 93 80 99 Tel: • www.mamarosa.dk Østergade 57, 1100 Copenhagen K Tel: 33 93 80 82 • 33 93 80 99 • www.mamarosa.dk