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The Regions This Week
August 25, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Southeast Europe
Youth unemployment in the aspiring EU member states of the Western Balkans is uniformly high, with the world’s highest youth unemployment
rate recorded in Bosnia & Herzegovina. 62.8% of the Bosnian workforce aged between 15 and 24 are unemployed, according to data compiled in the latest CIA World Factbook. Kosovo with youth unemployment of 55.3% (and as high as 63.8% for young women) is third placed on the global index, following Bosnia and Namibia (56.2%).
The European Commission asked Romania’s au- thorities to explain the proposed amendments to the key laws on the judiciary system. Romania’s 10-year progress in streamlining judicial practice and independence will be wiped out if the gov- ernment’s amendments to the basic laws on the functioning of the judiciary are endorsed by par- liament, President Klaus Iohannis has said.
The Romanian finance ministry reportedly plans to cut the contribution to the second pension pillar from the current 5.1% of gross salary
to 2.5%. In June, Finance Minister Ionut Misa said Romania would give up the second pension pillar by the end of this year. However, he retract- ed his statement the same day.
Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate DNA announced it has formally indicted telecom company RCS & RDS, some of its former manag- ers, and the former head of the Professional Foot- ball League (LPF) Mitica Dragomir in a bribery case. RCS & RDS allegedly paid a €3.1mn bribe
to Dragomir, who in exchange amended a contract between RCS & RDS and LPF by lowering the fees paid by the former for the broadcasting rights.
Bucharest bourse head Ludwik Sobolewski an- nounced that he would no longer act as CEO, in order to avoid legal complications. The manag- ing board of Bucharest Stock Exchange failed to extend, in its latest August 18 meeting, the term of office of CEO Sobolewski and this created “an unusual legal situation”.
The CEO of Romanian flag carrier Tarom, Eugen Davidoiu, resigned following the prime minister’s criticism of the financial performance of the com- pany. The net loss of Romanian flagship carrier Tarom widened to RON104.3mn (€22.8mn) in the first half of the year.
Moldova asked the UN to include on its agenda the topic of the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the breakaway province of Transnistria, prompting outrage from its unrecognised govern- ment and, inevitably, Russia.
Bulgaria’s gross external debt amounted to €34.6bn (70% of GDP) at the end of June 2017, remaining constant in absolute value since June 2016. The debt-to-GDP ratio, however, decreased by 3.1pp y/y to 70%.
Bulgaria’s Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) withdrew the operating license of the insurer Nadezhda. The insurer’s owner, Viktor Serov, said he would appeal the decision. The FSC claims Nadezhda failed to comply with solvency requirements and violated the Insurance Code, impeding regulator's oversight work.
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