Page 8 - bne_newspaper_May_03_2019

The Regions This Week
May 3, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Southeast Europe
Slovenian household appliances manufacturer Gorenje plans to lay off 270 workers out of
the current 4,212 employees as part of its reorganisation and business optimisation process. Gorenje embarked on the restructuring that is expected to see 6% of its workforce laid off after being taken over by China's Hisense Electric Co last year.
Two listed automakers, Tofas and Ford
Otosan, owned by Turkey’s largest industrial conglomerate Koc Holding, managed to post profits in the first quarter of 2019 despite the economic turmoil that has engulfed the country.
Romania’s Sphera Franchise Group plans
to borrow up to €70mn through a bilateral, syndicated or club loan. Sphera’s portfolio includes brands operated from a franchise perspective such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut Delivery and Taco Bell in Romania, KFC in Moldova and KFC in the northeast area of Italy.
Serbia's economy expanded by 2.3% y/y in the first quarter of 2019, the Serbian Statistical Office announced in a flash estimate. The rate is lower than the GDP growth in the previous quarter, which reached 3.5%. The World Bank and the IMF have projected Serbia’s GDP at 3.5% for 2019.
Albania's new national air carrier Air Albania announced plans to add flights to new destinations in Europe and North America.
Air Albania is a joint venture between Turkish Airlines, which owns 49% of the company, locally- owned MDN Investment controlling 41% and state-owned air controller Albcontrol, which has a stake of 10%.
North Macedonia's industrial output expanded by 7.5% y/y in March, slowing down from a 7.3% y/y increase a year earlier, statistics office data indicated. The growth accelerated in March due to the higher growth of the mining and manufacturing output.
Turkey leapfrogged Greece to become this sum- mer’s second most popular package holiday des- tination for British holidaymakers, Thomas Cook said. “Turkey accounts for a quarter of all Thomas Cook Airlines flight-only bookings so far,” the tour operator added in its 2019 UK Holiday Report.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and
the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) signed two deals worth €342.5mn, the EIB announced. The funds will be used for the upgrade of a major hospital in Rijeka and to support mid-caps, municipalities and public companies.
Serbia and Kosovo agreed to resume talks at
a meeting in Paris in July despite initial strong negative positions after the leaders of France and Germany warned them that resolving their dispute was crucial to future ties with the European Union. This followed a largely unproductive meeting between the two countries’ presidents in Berlin.
Romanian natural gas transport company Transgaz signed all the contracts for building
the Ungheni-Chisinau pipeline in Moldova. The project has been declared one of national interest in Moldova. It will help the country increase energy security and to integrate into the EU energy market
Bosnia & Herzegovina’s industrial output decreased 4.9% y/y in March, worsening from a 3.8% y/y fall in February, affected by the negative performance of the utilities sector, according
to working-day adjusted data reported by the country’s statistics office. In seasonally adjusted m/m terms, industrial production dropped 0.1% in March after rising by a revised 1.9% in February.
Romania’s Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said she is not ready to go ahead with a government restructuring. Instead, Dancila nominated replacements for three ministers that quit recently and said she will consider a reshuffle after the European Parliament elections later this month.