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The Regions This Week
June 21, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Southeast Europe
Romania’s parliament rejected a no-confidence motion filed by the opposition against the government of Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. The result will strengthen Dancila’s position as she seeks to become leader of the senior ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) after its former leader was sent to prison.
Turkey’s Energy Minister Fatih Donmez was quoted by state-run news service Anadolu as saying that Ankara is sending a second drill ship to waters in proximity to Cyprus which Nicosia has protested are part of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The announcement that will further rile the Greek Cypriots.
Slovenian privatisation holding, SDH, sold 10% of the country’s largest bank NLB to institutional investors for €109.5mn thus completing the privatisation of the bank. Last year, the Slovenian government carried out the first phase of NLB's privatisation, selling 59.1% of the bank in an IPO.
Two planned coal-fired power plants in Bosnia & Herzegovina – Tuzla 7 and Banovici – will cause hundreds of premature deaths not only in the country but also across Europe, Greenpeace warned in a recent analysis. Bosnia’s plans to build new coal-fired units have been strongly criticised by many environmental organisations.
Standard & Poor’s affirmed Serbia’s long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings at BB with a positive outlook, while praising the country’s strong economic growth. The rating agency praised the better credibility of the central bank’s monetary policy and the price and financial stability.
Lawmakers from Albania's governing Socialist Party launched a procedure to dismiss President Ilir Meta for violating the constitution by canceling the upcoming local election. Meta who canceled the local election due to take place on June 30
fearing tensions during the vote amid increasing opposition protests.
The IMF said that Kosovo’s 100% tariff
imposed on imports from Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina has increased consumer prices, especially of food, impacting lower income households. Kosovo introduced the politically motivated tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia in November 2018, after Belgrade thwarted Pristina’s bid to join Interpol.
A disused Airbus A330 passenger aircraft was deliberately sunk off the northwestern coast
of Turkey to attract diving tourists. The 65m (213ft) long aircraft now rests 30m deep in the Aegean Sea off Ibrice Harbour in Edirne province. Local officials hope the area will soon become a paradise for divers.
Moldova’s central bank decided to hike the monetary policy interest rate by 50bp to 7%, which is 2pp above this year's forecast inflation — expected to accelerate to 6.5% in 2020. The rate hike comes after the bank revised upward the inflation outlook in May.
Bulgaria will invest €12mn in the supercomputing centre the country will host after being picked
by the European Union earlier in June, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel said as quoted by news outlet Dnevnik. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are among eight EU member states selected to host supercomputing centres.
Romanian state-owned Eximbank is reportedly facing problems in financing the planned takeover of Banca Romaneasca, the local subsidiary of National Bank of Greece (NBG), which involves the re-financing of a €500mn loan extended by the parent group. Eximbank's assets are slightly smaller compared to those of Banca Romaneasca according to the latest available data.