ENERGY AND OPPORTUNITIES

By incorporating the German energy-companies HEW (public utility company from Hamburg), VEAG and LAUBAG in August 2002 and Bewag (public utility company from Berlin) in January 2003, Vattenfall Europe is now an integrated energy company and within the Swedish Vattenfall Group a leading player on the North European market. Today, Vattenfall generates electricity and heat and delivers energy to about 6 million customers in Northern Europe, concentrated to Sweden, Finland, Germany, Poland, France and Italy. Vattenfall Group is the fifth largest electricity generator and the largest district-heating company in Europe.

Vattenfall Europe is active throughout the value chain of the energy industry and includes the following Business Units: Mining & Generation, Trading, Sales, Transmission, Distribution and Heat. The units` collaboration is featuring for the vision to be a leading European energy company, taking the responsibilities for the closely linked energy, environment and economy.

BIQ – A "ONE-STOP-AGENCY"
In charge of the business premises and industrial sites of the former VEAG in Eastern Germany, BIQ's services are supporting the complexly processes throughout remediation and revitalization those sites, especially non operative power plant sites now owned by Vattenfall Europe AG.

With our linked experiences of the sections Real Estate Management, Industrial Site Management, remediation and Employment Qualification with over 20 specialists we have established a „One-Stop-Agency“ philosophy concerning all matters of interested investors. We are particularly supporting industrial settlement and investments, since they are electricity customers as well. The results so far: almost 500 companies with more than 10.000 employees have settled on sites of Vattenfall Europe companies from Hamburg to Dresden.

The companies settled are partly well known such as Rigips and Lafarge (Gypsumproduction), Iris-Ceramica-Group (one of the leading tile production companies) and Mero (steel products for famous building like the house of parliament of Scotland and the new Central Station in Berlin).

Many purchaser communities and private customers are already using the advantages of our services:

• individual analysis of community-owned and private-owned industrial and commercial sites (status to be developed, planning, soil prices, flexibility at site development)
• consulting focusing on the choice of branch and subject of the location requested
• specific conveying of planning and engineering partner to implement the location analysis
• optimizing and controlling customer inquiries we record your establishment into our network
• administration of the entire sites and estates portfolios based on a customer information system for real estates
• transparency in configuration and accounting of consulting

Underlining the role of Vattenfall as an attractive business partner, BIQ is focusing on long-term financial and business development issues, falling back on innovative networks and the further development of new services.

BIQ – THE BUSINESS LOCATIONS
After a period of dismantling and reorganizing the originally established industries in Eastern Germany (such as energy, chemical and pharmaceutical industries), car manufactures and suppliers, metal and plastics processing, textiles and clothing, and agriculture became highly modernized. New expanding sectors such as information and communications technology, biotechnology, microelectronics and life sciences have emerged.

Meanwhile, the particular law and all politicians support the process of revitalization of former industrial sites. The advantages of these East German locations are:

• experience of our authorities to handle new investments and projects at such sites
• speed of the more or less equal approval procedures, (2-3 months for industrial projects)
• acceptance by the people around the sites as they are used to industrial production, which allows a reduction in the time of approval procedures and
• subsidies to assist the project are higher than elsewhere in Germany

SKILLED WORK FORCE
Based on the outstanding location to the political and economic centres Berlin/Cottbus, Leipzig/Halle and Dresden, the acceptance of the population towards industrial settlements is encouraging many companies to relocate to the former cleaned-up sites. You'll find a wide availability of skilled work force, productivity and a reputation for flexible working. Furthermore, BIQ is individually supporting tailor-made employment–qualification–programmes including customised training packages, personnel management of staff-members and connections to the local Employment Service.

Within a one-hour drive, beyond the highly ranked Universities of Technology in Dresden, Berlin, Leipzig, Cottbus and Zittau there are Universities of medicine, humanities, art and media. They are working with international partners to enforce experienced and professional training and education for excellent graduate recruitment opportunities.

ACCESS
During the past 13 years, the crucial component of development and stabilization the Eastern regions were the investments for renewing and extension the infrastructure, since it will always be a key consideration for investment decisions. Nowadays, the network of motorways, canals and rivers linked to the sea, the junctions of supra-regional and operational railway systems and the international and regional airports close by allowing the fast transport access to the European, the Eastern market and the rest of the world.

INVESTMENT PROGRAMS
The federal, regional and local economic teams are looking for eligible companies for Central Government's grant assistance, especially companies interested in investments at Eastern Germany (e.g. www.invest-in-germany.com).

This in mind, we have build up an excellent network of partners and practical experience to all approval authorities since 1991 thru to the service of the former VEAG company. Within our local teams we are offering all the service you need to profit from those facilitate projects.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Throughout the years BIQ has succeeded to put into practice regeneration schemes. We were constitutive managing the establishment of Industrial Parks as well as parks of floating and technology. Offering companies fully serviced, telecommunication and e-business supported, revitalized sites, the areas became well honoured business locations. The benefits are obviously: Since most of the locations are sites of combined power and heating plants or district heating plants and Ready Therm plants, Vattenfall Europe has all the qualifications to be the number one choice for customers, the environment and the economy. You might take advantage of the customized efficient energy solutions, high supply reliability and competitive prices.

BIQ – RANGE OF PROPERTY
In charge of a wide and varied portfolio of land and property in Vattenfall Europe's ownership, right now we are managing 3091 acres (1252 hectares) of land and 456.200 square meters of effective surface of buildings (residential buildings and other single properties, e.g. former worker's hostels, administration buildings and holiday homes).

A selection of reclaimed land is available with plot sizes ranging from less than 1 acre (0.405 hectares) to up to 148 acres (60 hectares). Properties as well as land or industrial sites are available at highly competitive cost compared to other regions of Germany.

To profit from our resources and knowledge of energy and opportunities, please contact Frank Weber, MD of BIQ Tel: +49-(0)30 - 5150-4357; e-mail: frweber@biq-mbh.de; or visit our website: www.biq-mbh.de

 

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