Page 10 - bne_newspaper_May_24_2019

The Regions This Week
May 24, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 10
Southeast Europe
Moldova’s President Igor Dodon is seeing to dissolve the parliament, after MPs failed to form a new government after the February general election. With three disparate blocs in parliament, none of which are natural allies, forming
a majority has so far proved impossible.
Turkey appears to have closed its ports to Iranian oil. That would mean Ankara is fully complying with the US drive to cut Iran’s crude shipments on the world oil market to zero — but the move would fly in the face of rhetoric from the Erdogan administration in which officials said they were not accepting a scenario in which Turkey is deprived of its right to import oil and gas from its neighbour.
Serbia plans to start works on expanding its sole gas storage – the Banat court (Bantaski dvor) – next month, aiming to double its capacity, eKapija reported. Increased gas storage will be needed if Gazprom completes the Turkish Stream project via the country.
Romania’s first motorway over the Carpathians will be ready in four years, the government said. The motorway that will link capital city Bucharest with Transylvanian city of Brasov and further to the border to Hungary, will be built by a Chinese/ Turkish consortium under a public-private partnership (PPP) contract.
Slovenia’s state-owned Abanka will pay a total €66.7mn in dividends before its planned privatisation, the bank said. Abanka recorded a net profit of €66.7mn in 2018 up from the €42.6mn net profit in 2017.
Albanian students re-launched their protests
in Tirana because the government, they claimed, failed to deliver on its promises to meet demands made during previous protests at the end of
last year. The new protest turned violent as
demonstrators started throwing smoke bombs, set a fire and broke windows of the education ministry’s building.
The EU launched a €2.2mn initiative aimed
at fighting corruption and organised crime in Bosnia, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). Bosnia has been criticised for the lack of reforms and any progress in fight against corruption and organised crime for years. Constant political tensions have stalled all reform efforts.
Montenegro’s tourism revenue could reach €1.1bn this year, as the year has started with increased interest from foreigners in the coming summer season, broadcaster RTCG reported, quoting Zarko Radulovic, head of Montenegro’s Tourist Union. Tourism is one of the sectors that attract the most significant interest from foreign investors and is contributing to economic growth along with industry.
Turkish Airlines plans to hire as many as 10,000 new personnel this year, according to the flag carrier’s board chairman Ilker Ayci. Ayci explained that after the carrier moved its hub operations
to the new mega airport outside Istanbul, the company realised that it would need more staff, and it will also receive new jets for its fleet later this year.
The planned rail project connecting Split airport with the ferry port in the Croatian city will begin in June, Ex Yu Aviation reported. Split is one of the main tourist attractions in Croatia and one of the most crowded cities.
The Romanian finance ministry approved financing agreements for 28 investment projects worth RON1bn (€210mn) through its state aid scheme. The investment projects are expected
to generate 4,455 jobs.