Page 8 - BNE_magazine_06_2019

8 I The Month That Was bne June 2019
Business
Eastern Europe
Russian state oil pipeline operator Transneft should compensate the losses incurred from supplies of contaminated oil should the damage be proven, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told the press on May 16 after a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Igor Lyashenko and the head of Transneft Nikolai Tokarev.
Reportedly, major trading houses Vitol, Glencore and Trafigura are struggling to find buyers for at least 10 crude tankers with 1mn tonnes
of Russian crude that also has been tainted with organic chloride. The sellers of the oil reportedly include such major oil companies as Rosneft, Russneft, Surgutneftegas, and Kazakh firms. Troubles of Russia's largest independent vertically integrated refinery Antipinsky continue,
as a London court ruled to freeze €225mn worth of assets and oil products of the company over a claim of VTB Commodities Trading,
a subsidiary of the country's second- largest bank VTB Bank.
Russian uncut diamond
monopoly Alrosa reported a dive
of 14% month-on-month in rough diamonds sales to $316mn in April 2019, the company said. Nevertheless, the company maintains a moderately positive outlook and expects the market to improve in the second half of the year.
to $1.99bn in US dollar terms), the company said on May 13. Despite the output decline in the reporting quarter, Rosneft managed to post 3.5% quarter- on-quarter increase in crude sales on seasonal destockings.
Russia's car and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) sales in April posted a 2.7% year-on-year decline to 0.148mn vehicles, after sales contracted for
the first time in two years in February and improved slightly in March, accord- ing to the press release of the Associa- tion of European Businesses (AEB).
Central Europe
The number of tourists visiting Latvia grew 1.3% y/y to nearly 460,000 in the first quarter, the Central Statistical Bureau said. Tourists from European countries made the top 10 visiting groups in the first quarter, with the most – at just over 58,000 –- coming from Russia, although the number of Russian tourists dropped 6.4% y/y.
The payment discipline of Slovakia’s companies is the worst in Europe, according the European Payment Practices 2018 study conducted by EOS KSI in 17 countries examining 3,400 companies. 27% of the payments by Slovak firms arrive either late or never.
Southeast Europe
Turkey’s new $12bn mega airport, Istanbul Airport, is using some of
the most cutting-edge technology available, Forbes magazine reported. Officials want the flight hub to become the world’s busiest within a few years. Once fully completed (in 2027 if all goes to plan) at its location north of Istanbul by the Black Sea, it will have the capacity to handle 200mn passengers a year.
The commercial court at Pazin decided to start bankruptcy proceedings at Croatia’s Uljanik Shipyard. Uljanik,
which owns the Uljanik shipyard in Pula and the 3. Maj shipyard in Rijeka, is in severe financial difficulties, and the government declined to endorse
a proposed restructuring plan.
US ATM producer National Cash Register (NCR) launched construction of a $90mn campus in Serbia, the government in Belgrade said. Serbia signed a public-private partnership agreement with NCR in 2017.
Globalworth, the biggest owner of office space in Romania, announced the launch of the Global Logistics brand, which will bring together all its properties in the logistics segment. The group also announced a new logistics project in Chitila (9km northwest of Bucharest), which will require a €35.5mn investment.
Eurasia
The sixth largest Russian oil producer Tatneft signed an agreement with Uzbekistan’s state-run oil and gas company on conducting geological exploration in Uzbekistan. Uzbekneft- egaz is also negotiating with Tatneft
on enhanced oil recovery projects, the chairman of the board of Uzbekneftegaz, Bakhodirjon Sidikov, said.
State-run Uzbek railway operator
Uzbekistan Temir Yollari plans to update its fleet of electric locomotives for a total value of $226.14mn, UzDaily news agency reported citing a recently approved government resolution. The ADB will provide a $170mn loan to Uzbekistan, while Uzbekistan will cover the remaining required $56.14mn with its own funds.
Georgian pharmaceutical company PSP Group confirmed it is considering acquiring the network of GEO Hospital clinics. PSP Group has been operating on the Georgian market for 24 years.
Russia's largest crude oil producer state-controlled Rosneft posted a 62% year-on-year jump of net profit to RUB131bn in 1Q19 (up 39% y/y
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