Total

Lo que son las cosas. El presidente de la segunda petrolera francesa, Total, Christophe de Margerie (foto), sí, ese que dijo que no veía razones para que el petróleo se comercializara exclusivamente en dólares, murió ayer en un aeropuerto ruso en momentos en que su avión intentaba despegar. Parece que chocó con un camión quitanieves mientras carreteaba sobre la pista. En fin. Aprovechamos el luctuoso incidente para implorar que Russia Today se digne ofrecer información similar en sus versiones española e inglesa. Acá van las dos, por las dudas. Presten atención a los últimos párrafos de la versión en inglés.

Russia Today en español

Título: Muere el presidente de la petrolera Total en un accidente aéreo en Moscú

Texto: El presidente de la petrolera Total ha fallecido en un accidente aéreo durante el despegue de un avión en el aeropuerto Vnúkovo de Moscú. El siniestro ha costado la vida a otras tres personas.

El presidente de la empresa petrolera francesa Total, Christophe de Margerie, ha fallecido en un accidente de avión en el aeropuerto Vnúkovo de Moscú en la noche del 21 de octubre, informa Interfax. La compañía ha confirmado la información.

El accidente, que se produjo como resultado del choque del avión de tipo Falcon contra un vehículo quitanieves, se ha cobrado la vida de otras tres personas, todos miembros de la tripulación. El avión se dirigía a París desde la capital rusa.

Según ha comunicado la portavoz de la Fiscalía de transporte interregional de Moscú, Natalia Bruskova, se ha iniciado una investigación para conocer por qué el vehículo quitanieves se encontraba en la pista durante el despegue del avión, lo cual representa una grave violación de las normas de seguridad básicas. Además, se determinará la responsabilidad de las autoridades del aeropuerto.

Según ha comunicado la misma fuente citada por la agencia, se van a investigar las tres posibles causas del accidente: las condiciones meteorológicas, problemas técnicos y el factor humano.

El aeropuerto de Vnúkovo ha interrumpido temporalmente la salida y la entrada de aeronaves.

Se han encontrado las cajas negras del avión, según ha informado la directora del servicio de prensa del aeropuerto, Elena Krylova, a Ria Novosti. Según ella, el personal del aeropuerto está explicando lo sucedido. 

El conductor del vehículo quitanieves se encuentra en estado de shock y está siendo examinado por los médicos.

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Russia Today en inglés

Título: CEO of France's Total dies in jet crash at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport

Recuadro: De Margerie, 63, joined Total in 1974 after graduating from the École Supérieure de Commerce in Paris. He served in several positions in the Finance Department and Exploration & Production division. In 1995, he became President of Total Middle East before joining the Total's Executive Committee as the President of the Exploration & Production division in May 1999. In May 2006, he was appointed a member of the Board of Directors. He was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total on May 21, 2010.The CEO of France’s oil and gas giant Total, Christophe de Margerie, was among four people killed in a business jet crash at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow after the aircraft hit a snowplow on take-off.

Texto: Total’s chairman and CEO was the only passenger in the Falcon 50 business jet besides three crewmembers who were also French citizens.

“Total confirms with deep regret and great sadness that Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie died just after 10pm (Paris time) on October 20 in a private plane crash at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, following a collision with a snow removal machine,” the company said in a statement.

During take-off at around 0:10am Moscow time on Tuesday, the light aircraft, according to preliminary data, hit a snow-clearing machine with its landing gear. Due to the damage, the pilot reportedly decided to turn back and land.

While still in the air, the plane was sending distress signals and reporting an engine fire and fuselage damage, LifeNews reports. Upon crashing on the runway, the aircraft was immediately engulfed in flames, killing everyone on board.

The head of Vnukovo’s press service, Elena Krylova, however, told the media that the aircraft did not leave the ground after hitting the snowplow. The investigators have already found the aircraft’s black boxes while the airport staff are writing explanatory reports, she added.

Debris from the aircraft was scattered up to 200 meters from the crash site, according to the rescue services. The engine was found some 50 meters from the crash site, while one of the landing gears was ripped off and discovered nearly 200 meters from the main mass of debris.

Vnukovo Airport temporarily suspended all flights following the incident, but by 2 am all operations were restored. While initials reports suggested only four people died in the tragedy, some sources claimed that five bodies were found at the crash site, one allegedly being the driver of the snowplow. The airport however later confirmed that the driver was not injured in the collision.

“A criminal investigation has been opened into the violation of safety regulations after a light aircraft crash in the capital's Vnukovo airport,” transport official Tatyana Morozova told RIA. An investigative group is working at the crash site, Morozova added.

Earlier in the day, due to bad weather conditions at least 18 planes were diverted from Vnukovo to other Moscow airports, Itar-tass reported siting a source at Vnukovo. Flights landing at Moscow airhubs operate “on factual weather” conditions, meaning that a crew commander decide themselves about the possibility of landing at the destination or preceding to alternative landing routes at the capital

Some 12 planes have been received by Domodedovo airport while 6 landed at Sheremetyevo as dense fog and winter weather conditions make landing difficult. According to the source, 80 percent of the diverted races were private business jets.

Total SA is France's second-biggest listed company, with a market value of 102 billion euros and the West's fourth biggest oil and gas group, as well as one of the top foreign investors in Russia.

Despite Western-imposed sanctions on Russia that prohibit western financing and technology transfer to some Russian energy projects, Total is continuing to pursue a natural gas project in Yamal, a joint venture with Russia's Novatek and China's CNPC.

“Can we live without Russian gas in Europe? The answer is no. Are there any reasons to live without it? I think – and I'm not defending the interests of Total in Russia – it is a no,” the Total boss told Reuters back in summer.

Meanwhile, another Total project, with Russia’s sanctions-hit Lukoil, is “definitely stopped,” de Margerie said in September, but since the project had not started it did not have “any impact” on Total, he told the Financial Times.

De Margerie had recently expressed his support for a wider use of other currencies in transactions outside the US – for oil purchases in particular – after the scandal involving France’s largest bank, BNP Paribas, which was slapped with a record $9 billion fine and a 1-year dollar trading ban.

“Nothing prevents anyone from paying for oil in euros,” de Margerie said in July. “The price of a barrel of oil is quoted in dollars. A refinery can take that price and using the euro-dollar exchange rate on any given day, agree to make the payment in euros.”