Page 6 - bne_newspaper_December_01_2017

The Regions This Week
December 1, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Southeast Europe
Bulgaria will focus on helping the Western Balkan countries get closer to European Un- ion membership during its rotating six-month presidency of the bloc in the first half of 2018. Sofia hopes to help all six countries to speed up the process via more funding for infrastructure, energy and other projects.
A former Bosnian Croat military leader commit- ted suicide in court by drinking poison. Slobodan Prljak, former commander of the Bosnian Croat forces in the 1992-1995 bloody Bosnian war, was sentenced to 20 years in jail for war crimes in The Hague.
The Romanian government’s draft 2018 budget includes strict limits on expenditures in a radi- cal departure from the policies pursued until now. The growth rate is expected to decelerate, most likely below the government’s 5.5% projec- tion, in the absence of the strong fiscal stimulus seen in recent years.
Vote-buying is widespread in elections in the Western Balkans, a new EU-funded study found. The worst offenders are Montenegro and Albania where 22.5% and 20.6% of the electorate respec- tively were offered money to vote for a candidate.
GDP in Serbia increased by 2.1% y/y in the third quarter of 2017, the Serbian Statistical Office announced. Growth is below the government’s target because of the drought which heavily hit the agriculture sector.
Bosnian border police will be allowed to keep their beards under a constitutional court rul- ing. The court said a regulation banning beards violates policemen’s right to a private life and the freedom to practice the religion of their choice.
Albania and Kosovo agreed to set up a joint electricity exchange. The project is part of plans to create a common energy market for the two countries.
The opposition Yes! Bulgaria party is pushing for an investigation into the alleged participation
of Bulgarian tobacco producer Bulgartabac in cigarette smuggling, as revealed by the Turk-
ish police. Turkeys’ service for the fight against organised crime claims cigarettes produced and distributed by Bulgartabac represent a substantial part of the illegal tobacco market in the country.
President Klaus Iohannis promulgated the law on
Romania’s purchase of seven Patriot missiles systems in a $3.9bn deal. The approval of the multi-billion euro defence package comes on the background on rising tensions between Russia and the US.
Macedonian retail chain KAM Food opened two stores in the Bulgarian capital Sofia and plans to extend the number to 10 by the end of the year. Family-run KAM Food is the sole hard discount retail chain in Macedonia and opened its first stores in 1999.
Works on the first section of the Belgrade- Budapest high-speed railway through Serbia started. The 350km rail link is expected to cut travel time between Budapest and Belgrade by more than half, from the current eight hours to less than three.
Croatia's working-day adjusted industrial output posted an annual rise of 4.3% in October, speed- ing up from 3% in September. Recent growth in industrial output has been largely supported by the recovery in both domestic and foreign de- mand, although the economy was shaken this year by the debt crisis at food and retail giant Agrokor.
Slovenian household appliance manufacturer Gorenje is looking for a new strategic partner and has appointed Rothschild S.p.A., Italy as fi- nancial adviser. Gorenje hopes a new partner will support its long-term and sustainable growth and development.