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The Regions This Week
October 12, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 10
Southeast Europe
A powerful explosion at Bosnia Brod oil refinery killed one man and left several injured. The refin- ery is controlled by Russia's NeftegazInKor, which in turn is controlled by Zarubezhneft.
Bulgarian journalist Victoria Marinova was bru- tally murdered. A 21-year-old local man suspect- ed of raping and killing Marinova was detained in Germany. The police said they were working on several different theories for the murder, includ- ing those related to her work — she hosted an investigative TV show — and personal life.
Serbian BK Group launched a $1.2bn residen- tial real estate project in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana. The BK Tesla Park will be built in one of the main streets of Astana by BK Group’s Kazakh subsidiary Tesla Grad Astana.
Shares in a little-known Turkish state-owned development bank clocked up a gain of 863% since Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albay- rak said on September 20 that the lender is to be restructured with an expanded mandate. Exactly how Turkiye Kalkinma Bankasi will be used to bolster growth amid Turkey’s economic turmoil is not yet clear.
Romania’s M&A market expanded 15% y/y in 3Q18, a Deloitte study showed. Total M&A trans- actions were in the €1.4bn to €1.6bn range, with the largest being the acquisition of Zentiva, in- cluding Zentiva Romania, by Advent International (€287mn estimated value).
Albania will force urban casinos and betting shops to relocate to the outskirts of cities. The aim is to prevent the proliferation of gambling in Albania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, as the gambling industry has seen a steady growth in the last few years.
Slovenian resort operator Terme Catez sold Marina Portoroz. The company's new owners are Adventura Holding, a company owned by Slove- nian businessman Darko Klaric, and Glen, which is owned by the managers of wood processing company Lesnina.
Croatia recorded Central and Southeast Eu- rope’s highest increase in insolvencies in 2017, up 40.1%, a Coface study showed. Most countries in the region experienced higher rates of eco- nomic growth in 2017, but the overall number of insolvencies in the region still rose by 6.4%.
Without prospects of joining the EU in future,
the Western Balkans might face new military conflicts soon, the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker warned. Juncker added that the history of the 1990s still has not been overcome in the Balkans.
The Macedonian parliament will vote on the name deal with Greece on October 15. A two- thirds majority is needed for the deal to pass, and as the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party is against the deal and does not support the constitutional changes, adoption is currently uncertain.
The IMF cut its growth outlook for Turkey to 3.5% in 2018 and 0.4% in 2019 in the latest edition of
its World Economic Outlook. With Turkey mired
in economic turmoil, the IMF also called for an extensive set of measures to shield the economy.
Rohatyn Group bought pet supplies companies in Romania and Slovenia. The US asset manager completed the acquisitions of Romanian pet sup- ply company Pet Product and Slovenian pet sup- ply firm Mimaja, adding to its expanding pet care platform.