Page 6 - bne_newspaper_June_15_2018

The Regions This Week
June 15, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Southeast Europe
Romania’s ruling coalition is reportedly about to start procedures to suspend President Klaus Iohannis. Local media quoted sources saying the attempt may be launched at a special parliament session on June 20 after the president failed to act on a Constitutional Court ruling that he must dismiss the head of the anti-corruption agency.
Movement of migrants through the Western Balkans intensified in 2018 and peaked in May,
a report from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said. Migrants from the Middle East and North Africa are increasingly using the new route from Greece via Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina to EU member Croatia.
Turkey wants to impose new requirements on textile companies importing material from China, a prospect that is alarming leaders of one of the country’s biggest export industries. A quarter of Turkey’s $10.1bn of textile imports last year were from China.
Albania launched procedures for a third Eu- robond issue aimed at refinancing the country’s external debt and reducing pressure on internal financial markets. Tirana is reportedly planning a five-year Eurobond issue of up to €500mn.
Drivers in Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia blocked roads in protest against high fuel prices. The protests caused chaos in the rush hours in several cities, as well as temporarily paralysing major highways.
The number of jobless people in Macedonia declined by 4.8% y/y to 188,105 at end of May, according to data from the employment agency. The jobless rate has been constantly falling in the last few years, but the country
still has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe.
Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov threatened to resign as an ongoing row with his cabinet colleague, Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova, deepened. The row started when Simeonov accused Angelkova of protecting bars and restaurants built on the south beach of the popular Sunny Beach resort that he says were built illegally and should be torn down.
The World Bank has not decided whether to finance a new 500 MW coal-fired power plant in Kosovo due to be built by US energy group ContourGlobal, Reuters reported. A bank spokesperson commented to the newswire that, “pace of technology change in the energy sector is moving fast” raising questions about whether it would fund a major new coal-fired plant.
Moldova’s headline inflation eased to 2.8% y/y
in May from 3.7% y/y in April as the food prices’ annual advance moderated to 4.2% y/y (from 6.8% y/y), the country’s statistics bureau said. This was close to the lowest inflation since 2009, and the 10%-13% cut in the electricity price as of April will further push down average consumer prices.
Tourism makes up a larger percentage of GDP
in Croatia than any other country worldwide. Tourism accounted for 18.8% of its GDP, or around $9.6bn, in 2016, said a report from consultancy network UHY.
China's Hisense Electric Co further increased
its stake in Slovenian household appliances manufacturer Gorenje Group to slightly over 33%. Hisense acquired a 10.74% stake from Panasonic, which exited the Slovenian company.