Page 6 - bne_newspaper_May_18_2018

The Regions This Week
May 18, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Central Europe
Construction of the new blocks at Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant is on schedule, and new reactors could go online in 2026 and 2027, the minister without portfolio in charge of the upgrade, Janos Suli, said. The Paks expansion, the largest-ever investment in Hungary, will see Rosatom build two new reactors for €12.5bn.
Slovak President Andrej Kiska will not seek
a second term in the 2019 presidential election. Kiska, a key EU ally and vocal critic of Slovakia's current Smer-SD led government, said he hoped his decision will help bring an end to the current "era of political confrontation".
The Palestinian foreign ministry recalled for consultations its ambassadors in Romania, Hun- gary, the Czech Republic and Austria, after the four countries sent representatives to the Israeli celebration of the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The ministry called it "a grave violation of international law and of the numerous UN resolutions."
Czech soft drinks company Kofola Ceskosloven- sko will look for acquisitions in Poland or consid- er withdrawing from the Polish market in the com- ing months. Poland was the only market where Kofola did not manage to grow revenue in Q1.
The Lithuanian unemployment rate dropped to 7.2% in the first quarter, a reduction of 0.8pp in annual terms and a gain of 0.5pp q/q, data from Lithuanian Statistics showed. The data suggest that the tightening of the Lithuanian labour mar- ket eased in January-March, contrary to expecta- tions, Swedbank notes.
25,000 foreigners from countries outside the EU received working permits in Hungary in 2017, an increase of 10,000 from the previous year, to ease the dire labour shortage, the pro-government daily Magyar Idok reported. The number doesn’t include workers in professions suffering labour shortages as they no longer require work permits.
The profit of Polish insurance giant PZU fell 32% y/y in Q1, but beat the market consensus. PZU posted a net profit of PLN640mn (€149.2mn) in the first quarter.
Latvia’s trade deficit reached its deepest level since August 2017. The deficit deepened 62.2% m/m to €253.8mn in March, provisional data re- leased by the country’s Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) showed, though it was 34.8% smaller y/y.
The economic policy of Hungary's new govern- ment entails maintaining a tight fiscal policy, reducing state debt and creating full employment, candidate for the finance minister post, Mihaly Varga, said. Commenting on the Q1 GDP figures, Varga said growth was broad-based and no longer concentrated in traditionally strong sectors.
Czech Portland Trust sold its Oregon Park of- fice project in Bucharest to South Africa’s Lion’s Head Investments. Portland Trust evaluates the total investments in the three-building project at €140mn.
Slovakia's GDP rose by 3.6% y/y in Q1 and by 0.9% m/m, the Slovak Statistics Office said. The figures were slightly below market expectations.
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