Mr Fresco already plans to raise at least euro2 billion from asset sales this year.

ECONOMIST: Junked? | The

It is slated to require euro2 billion of capital expenditure this year and next.

ECONOMIST: Sommer gets the boot | The

An hour of labour in Italy costs euro19, and in France euro30: the equivalent in Poland is euro2.

ECONOMIST: Manufacturing in Europe: How to make it | The

HVB's bad-loan provisions this year, some think, will be even more than the euro2.5 billion forecast by the bank.

ECONOMIST: German banks

At that time, Canal Plus was loss-making and had around euro2.8 billion of debt, so it seems Vivendi paid a frothy price to begin with.

ECONOMIST: Vivendi Universal

As a result, last year Vivendi's telecoms businesses contributed a disproportionately high euro2.31 billion to its euro5.04 billion ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation).

ECONOMIST: Vivendi Universal

As The Economist went to press, there were rumours that Vivendi might soon announce its intention to reduce its holding, raising around euro2.3 billion, thereby losing control.

ECONOMIST: Vivendi Universal

In the first half of this financial year, its net debt rose by euro400m to euro2 billion, despite a euro700m gain from the disposal of its contracting arm.

ECONOMIST: Alstom

These substantial Mittelstand companies include such famous names as Miele (white goods), Behr (air conditioners), Stihl (chainsaws) and Trumpf (laser-cutters), which each have a turnover of between euro1 billion and euro2 billion and employ between 5, 000 and 15, 000 people.

ECONOMIST: What's ailing German industry