Page 5 - bne_newspaper_August_10_2018

The Regions This Week
August 10, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 5
Central Europe
Passenger numbers at Budapest's Liszt Ferenc International Airport surpassed the 1.5mn mark in July, an all-time monthly peak, as Hungary’s tourism industry continues to boom. The country had its best year ever in 2017 with overnight
stays by foreign and domestic visitors climbing to 29.5mn.
A Spanish fighter jet accidentally fired a
missile over Estonia while on a Nato air-policing mission. The Estonian air force launched a search operation to find the missile which is believed
to have landed around 40km north of Estonia’s second city Tartu.
Czech retail sales disappointed in June, falling from record highs a month earlier, the government statistics agency reported. Seasonally adjusted sales stagnated month-on-month in June due to rising inflation, hot weather, increasing prices of housing and fewer working days.
Slovak ex-Interior Minister Robert Kalinak took a lie-detector test in connection to the case of kidnapped Vietnamese businessman Trinh Xuan Thanh, the result of which suggest he was telling the truth. Kalinak took the test after Slovak daily Dennik N reported that he was involved in the abduction of the businessman.
A post-independence record of 1,470 candidates will stand in Latvia’s parliamentary election this autumn. An average of 15 candidates will battle for each seat in the 100-seat parliament.
Polish state-controlled oil and gas company Lotos signed an oil supply deal with Russian producer Rosneft. The agreement covers supply
of 6.4mn-12.6mn tonnes of oil until the end of 2020, Rosneft said.
The EBRD provided a loan of €71mn to Millennium Leasing, a subsidiary of Poland’s Bank Millennium, to enable financing investment in environmentally-friendly solutions by Polish small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Advance viewings of a suggestive new advertising campaign for the Lithuanian capital sparked a row between the city authorities and the local Catholic Church. Adverts proclaiming “Vilnius, the G-spot of Europe” will go live shortly before Pope Francis is due to visit the Baltic country.
Estonia's consumer price index gained 3.5% in annual terms in July, 0.5pp below the annual reading from the previous month, data from Statistics Estonia showed. The reading shows Estonian inflation losing growth dynamics after picking up speed in three previous months.
Hungarian property manager Appeninn expanded its retail portfolio, buying a property suitable to be developed into a retail unit and signed contracts to purchase another two properties. The properties will be leased to German discount chain Aldi.
The Office for the Protection of Competition approved the acquisition of Czech furniture retailer Kika by Austrian holding Signa at a symbolic price. Kika has been in the Czech market since 2005, but its previous owner, the South African company Steinhoff International Holdings, has come under scrutiny for alleged accounting discrepancies.
x3 PER WEEK EDITOR'S PICKS
Keep up to date with our editor's picks email. Sign up to receive a free email three times a week listing the best stories on bne's website, chosen by the editor. Sign up by filling out the form here.
Or go to bne.eu/welcome to see samples of this and other products.