Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/373141
Events 44 maltatoday, Sunday, 31 auguSt 2014 Oil logistics and trading consult- ant, Charles L. Daly has been co- opted to the Medserv plc board. Daly has been appointed as a non-executive director with ef- fect from the 28 August 2014 and will be replacing Johannes Jaco- bus van Leeuwen who is retiring from the board after many years of service to the Medserv Group. "We would like to take this op- portunit y to thank Jan for his support and invaluable contribu- tion to the Group over all the 17 years he has spent with us either as a non- executive director of Medserv plc or of other Group companies and we wish him well " said Mr Anthony Diacono, Chair- man of Medserv plc Daly brings a wealth of indus- try experience to the table hav- ing gained very substantial ex- perience in the downstream oil business working for many years in BP and Ultramar, initially in research then in logistics and re- finery supply and subsequently in developing business internation- ally. As well as working in the Netherlands, USA and Canada, he has in more recent years been based in London, where he has held senior management posi- tions in a number of companies in the refining, supply/logistics, shipping and oil trading sectors. "An international oil market expert and consultant to estab- lished and emerging companies, he is a recognised authorit y on oil supply markets in the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Rus- sia. " Charles will be a very valu- able addition to our board and we welcome him" said Diacono. In addition, the Group today an- nounced its interim results which indicate that performance for the year is expected to be line with forecasts previously announced; a Group profit for the year before tax in the region of €2 million. Medserv (Cyprus) Limited com- pleted construction of its base at the port of Larnaca on time and the supply of operational support services to ENI also commenced on time on the 1st June 2014. A contract to provide mainte- nance services to an oil platform offshore Egypt has been success- fully completed as was the con- tract for the supply of services in relation to the drilling of the ex- ploration well offshore Malta. Operations at the Misurata base continue but at a very low level. Work has also commenced on one of the two offshore contracts announced earlier this year relat- ing to drilling offshore Libya, and the other is due to start in the fourth quarter of this year. The Company also reports that it remains confident that the offshore maintenance contract referred to in the Chairman's re- port for 2013 will be awarded to Medserv, and attributes the delay due to the difficult y in obtaining all the necessary signatures to the contract due to the present difficulties in Libya. Commenting about the cur- rent situation in Libya, Diacono added "Whilst the situation on the ground is difficult and we continue to support our Libyan colleagues to the best of our abil- it y, the state of affairs in Libya at the moment has had little further impact on our business perform- ance, due to the fact that our in- volvement with International Oil Companies operating in Libya is related to offshore activit y. Off- shore work continues and is im- portant to Libya itself. We are currently supporting operations from Malta and are receiving all the support necessary from the Libyan Authorities when re- quired." www.medservmalta.com Malta places 2nd in Barista of the Year European Finals Wayne Falzon, just 18 years old, placed 2nd in the Costa Coffee Ba- rista of the Year European finals held in Warsaw, Poland. The competition took place over two days and consisted of two main challenges. The first tested their coffee making skills whereby par- ticipants had to produce techni- cally faultless cups of hand-crafted coffee in a set amount of time. The second challenge required the con- testants to create and present their own unique signature coffee bev- erage which is judged on its taste, presentation and inventiveness. The Barista of the Year competi- tion is organised annually to give Costa Coffee baristas all over the world the chance to showcase their skill, personality and passion in what they do. It recognises that every barista is unique. Not only are they the experts in making quality hand-crafted coffee with speed and precision but also that each barista brings their own f lair and creativ- ity to every cup. The winner of the European finals, which this year happened to be Czech Republic, continues on to compete in the glo- bal competition for the Champion of Champions title. Jennifer Sant, Malta's core skills training manager, responsible for training all Costa Coffee baristas in Malta and who trained and support- ed Wayne throughout said, "I am very proud of him. It is an amazing achievement to place second and he deserves every bit of it. He worked extremely hard and it ref lected in his performance throughout the whole competition." Wayne describes his time in Po- land with a permanent smile on his face, "It was a truly amazing experi- ence that I will never forget! Even though I didn't place first I encour- age others to participate because it feels so good to be able to stand on stage, prove your skills and share your passion with others. I am very grateful to Costa Coffee Malta for giving me this opportunity and I hope I one day make it to Cham- pion of Champions!" Charles L. Daly is appointed Director on the Medserv plc board Sensible spirit of drinking promoted in latest TSG ads Targeting a range of demograph- ics, the latest initiative by The Sense Group (TSG) promotes individual and social wellbeing by raising aware- ness further about the misuse of al- cohol including, particularly, binge brawl, underage drinking, and drink driving. This summer, the responsible drinking advocacy body is launch- ing a series of television and internet commercials reminding different segments of people not to take any chances with their lives and to be re- sponsible. Consisting of three infomercials, the 30sec public service messages have all been filmed under the theme of "You have a choice: Be drink aware", and shot with real life scenarios that underpin a sensible spirit of drinking. These can be viewed at www.drinka- waremalta.com TSG's Director General, Ray Grech, said, "Our efforts to promote respon- sible drinking stem from our commit- ment to safeguard a healthy and safe Malta that places special emphasis on a healthy society. The fact is that, like many other products, when misused, alcohol can lead to individual and so- cial harm." The campaign forms part of the TSG's 2014 action plan in connection with www.drinkawaremalta.com The site pulls together resources from a rich variety of sources and enables those with an interest in responsible drinking to learn existing and emerg- ing facts. The key areas the site com- bats are: underage drinking, drink driving, behaviour of young adults, and responsible drinking. Since 1997, TSG has launched sever- al campaigns that offer practical rec- ommendations with the main aims being that of achieving increased lev- els of awareness and more use of com- mon sense to combat alcohol misuse. "Most experts now agree that alco- hol misuse is a complex issue involv- ing a variety of physiological, psycho- logical, social and cultural factors. TSG works to bring general awareness that changing behaviours and culture around alcohol misuse requires a mul- titude of efforts ranging from educa- tion to enforcement," said Grech. With the campaign in full swing, TSG is appealing once again for a uni- fied approach by all stakeholders in order to tackle problems where they exist. Founded in the late 1990s by produc- ers and importers of alcoholic bever- ages, TSG promotes programmes and practices that create a positive role for alcohol in the Maltese society and ad- dresses issues related to alcohol abuse and misuse. For more information visit www.drinkawaremalta.com The screenshots of the new campaign by TSG highlighting the consequences of the misuse of alcohol AFTER grabbing public attention with the stunning new 2008 DKR, Team Peugeot-Total has finally lifted the lid on the inner workings of this muscular beast, which will take on the 4x4 brigade on the 2015 Dakar with just two driven wheels. To tackle this tremendous challenge, Team Peugeot-Total has followed a very daring technical path, "Much like we did at the Le Mans 24 Hours by electing to run a closed-cockpit car, we decided to adopt an innova- tive concept," reveals Peugeot Sport Director Bruno Famin. In order to balance out the chances of the different solutions, the rules in effect compensate the inherent ad- vantage of 4x4 vehicles by allowing two-wheel-drive machinery to benefit from certain advantages. Technical project manager Jean- Christophe Pallier summarises them, "In motorsport, weight is counter to performance. However, in the case of cross-country rallying, two-wheel drive cars are allowed to be signifi- cantly lighter than 4x4s. They are also entitled to use bigger wheels, which provide them with a certain advan- tage when it comes to coping with the many pitfalls associated with this type of terrain. "On top of that, they allow us to minimise the front overhang. The 2008 DKR can practically climb ver- tical walls! And that's not all! Longer suspension travel – 460mm instead of 250mm – enhances its ability over dunes and when soaking up uneven ground. That's a key asset on an event like the Dakar!" A bold technical gamble: Meet the Peugeot 2008 DKR Your first click of the daY www.maltatoday.com.mt