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The Regions This Week
March 16, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Southeast Europe
Milo Djukanovic will run again for the Monte-
negrin presidency in the April 15 election. Dju- kanovic, who has led Montenegro either as prime minister or president for nearly 30 years, leads the polls ahead of the election despite the deci- sion of several opposition parties to unite behind a single candidate.
The European Commission opened an in-depth investigation into whether Romania’s support for energy producer CE Hunedoara was in line with EU rules on state aid. In April 2015, the Commis- sion approved temporary rescue aid of €37.7mn (RON167mn) for CE Hunedoara, which had been in financial difficulties since 2013.
The Macedonian government is mulling plans to cancel the concession agreement for the con- struction of the Kazandol mining complex after environmental concerns were raised. Sardich
MC signed a concession deal for the exploration of copper, gold and silver at the Kazandol site in 2015.
Kosovo found a short-term fix for the en-
ergy glitch that slowed digital clocks across Europe by up to six minutes, but the problem may re-emerge if the underlying issues are not solved. The problem was caused by a spat be- tween started when Kosovo was unable to pro- duce enough energy for its own needs, and neighbouring Serbia — which does not recognise Kosovo as independent — refused to make up the shortfall.
Gas transmission system operator Bulgar- transgaz commissioned two companies to draw up a feasibility study on the proposed Balkan gas hub in Bulgaria. Bulgaria wants to store gas from Russia and the Caspian region at the planned hub at the Black Sea port of Varna, which could cost up to €2.4bn to build.
International banks have extended loans and guarantees totalling €727mn for at least 82 hy- dropower projects across Southeast Europe, ac- cording to a study carried out by CEE Bankwatch Network. Until recently, the region’s hydropower was relatively underexploited but there has been an explosion in activity recently, including in pro- tected areas.
Chinese mining firm Zijin Mining is interested in the privatisation of Serbian copper smelting and mining complex RTB Bor. RTB Bor is one of the largest burdens on Serbia’s budget, and the gov- ernment plans to launch a privatisation process in the second half of this year.
Five companies are interested in becoming Slovenian household appliance manufacturer Gorenje Group’s strategic partner. The Slovenian company said it had received non-binding bids from four Asian companies and one in Europe, all active in the household appliances industry.
Bjarke Ingels Group was selected to design the new National Theatre in the Albanian capital Tirana. The flagship project, championed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, has draw harsh criticism from the opposition as well as artists.
Bosnia’s registered unemployment rate slightly increased to 38.7% in December, after falling to the historically low level of 38.6% in November. Bosnia has one of the highest levels of unemploy- ment in the region as the country is still suffering from the consequences of the 1992-1995 war.
Croatia’s Agrokor expects to sign a deal with its largest creditor Sberbank by March 23. In No- vember, Agrokor accepted creditor claims worth HRK41.2bn (€5.4bn) but disputed other claims worth a total of HRK16.5bn, including around €1.1bn owed to the Russian lender.