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8 I The Month That Was bne November 2018
Business
Eastern Europe
Ukraine has installed a 1MW solar power plant in the contaminated area adjacent to the decommissioned nuclear power station in Chernobyl. The photovoltaic facility is comprised of 3,800 panels and is expected to pro- duce enough energy to meet the power demand of 2,000 local apartments.
The Russian government has
asked state-controlled banks Sber- bank and VTB to set up a regional air carrier, Vedomosti daily said on October 17 citing unnamed sources. The new airline could be established after 2019 with a passenger turnover of 6mn-10mn people annually.
The Greenhouse Group of Arkady Abramovich, thought to be the son of London-based billionaire Roman Abramovich, plans to build 300 hect- ares of high-tech greenhouses pro- ducing tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers in the Russian Far East district. The investment is estimated at $2.5mn- 3mn per ha or $750mn-900mn overall. Abramovich-junior already invested in greenhouses in Russia's southern Bel- gorod region.
Russian crude oil production in Sep- tember exceeded by a small margin its previous peak in the post-Soviet era, the Russian Energy Ministry reported. Russia’s average daily production in August rose by 1.3% y/y to 11.4mn barrels.
Russians spent $5.19bn on the purchase of goods in foreign online stores in the first half of the year, according to statistics from the Central Bank. This is 24% higher than the level of January-June last year.
Russia's grain harvest in 2018 will be a solid 106mn tonnes, the Minister of Agriculture Dmitri Patrushev estimated on October 9 during an interview with the Rossiya 24 channel. The estimate is in line with previous reports that harvest in Russia could be 10-15% lower than
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previously expected due to adverse weather conditions.
Central Europe
The government in Vilnius is in talks with Japanese companies as it prepares to decommission the nuclear power plant in Ignalina, eastern Lithuania. Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas discussed possible participation in the decommissioning with Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp.
Swedish furniture giant Ikea plans to open stores in Estonia and Ukraine, among several other new markets. Ikea
is already present in Latvia and Lithuania.
German company Bauer Media Group agreed to sell Bauer Media in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Mafra publish- ing house, a member of Agrofert group. The decision follows from Bauer Media Group’s intention to focus on the markets where it is among the leading players.
Eurasia
Serbian BK Group launched a $1.2bn residential real estate project in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana. The BK Tesla Park will be built in one of the main streets of Astana by BK Group’s Kazakh subsidiary Tesla Grad Astana.
The Central Bank of Iran ring-fenced $3bn of reserves to cover the financ- ing of imports of pharmaceutical products, Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The country is making sure nearly all pharmaceutical products will remain available despite sanctions.
Royal Dutch Shell backed out of plans to buy a stake in Kazakhstan’s KazMu- nayGas (KMG), Bloomberg reported, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the matter. The decision came following a due diligence process which included discussions on corruption risks at the state-run oil and gas company.
including Zentiva Romania, by Advent International (€287mn estimated value).
Albania will force urban casinos
and betting shops to relocate to the outskirts of cities. The aim is to prevent the proliferation of gambling in Albania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, as the gambling industry has seen steady growth in the last few years.
Slovenian resort operator Terme Catez sold Marina Portoroz. The company's new owners are Adventura Holding, a company owned by Slovenian businessman Darko Klaric, and Glen, which is owned by the managers of wood processing company Lesnina.
Albania’s AlbChrome will expand its ferrochrome production by investing €10mn at its plant in Burrel, in the coun- try’s north. The expansion is expected
to have a major impact on the economic development in the region of the cities of Bulqiza, Klos, Burrel and Elbasan.
Carmaker Magna International opened its fifth plant in the Czech Republic to support its new BMW Group business. The plant plans to produce more than 360,000 seating systems in various configurations for BMW models per year.
Southeast Europe
Romania’s M&A market expanded 15% y/y in 3Q18, a Deloitte study showed. Total M&A transactions were in the €1.4bn to €1.6bn range, with the largest being the acquisition of Zentiva,