Page 5 - bne_newspaper_May 5 2017

The Regions This Week
May 5, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 5
Central Europe
A Latvian financier acted as a go-between for the Russian government and French presiden- tial candidate Marine Le Pen as her political party sought millions of euros in funding over the past year, the Riga-based investigative journalism project Re:Baltica reported. Vilis Dambins, a Latvia-based consultant who has managed offshore assets for the wealthy and politically influential in Russia, includ- ing those of Alexander Babakov, a sanctioned Krem- lin envoy to Russian organisations abroad, acted as an intermediary to help arrange a Russian loan for Le Pen’s political party, Front National.
Senior Czech government and football officials were arrested in connection with a probe into state subsidies. Organised crime police units raided the offices of the Czech Football Asso- ciation and arrested head Miroslav Pelta, while Deputy Minister of Education Simona Kratoch- vilova was also detained for questioning.
Seasonally adjusted Czech unemploy-
ment inched lower to 3.4% in March, putting unemployment 0.7pp lower on an annual basis. Czech joblessness continues to sit at all-time lows; it also remains the lowest unemployment rate in the EU.
Czech lender Komercni banka reported a 41% rise in net profit attributable to shareholders to CZK4.1bn (€153mn) in the first quarter of the year, boosted by one-off items and a drop in provisioning.
Slovak retail sales expanded 7.5% y/y in March.
The result extends a trend of recovery in retail turnover that has run since November.
Slovakia's banking sector profit grew 21.2% y/y in the first quarter to total €165mn. The overall operating income of the banking sector fell 3.3%, though a fall in provisions and reserves drove the net result higher.
The Polish nation should voice its opinion on the future of the political regime in a constitutional
referendum in 2018, Polish President Andrzej Duda said. It was unclear what the substance of such a move would be, given that any referendum would only be advisory anyway.
Hungary's highest judiciary, the Kuria, ruled in favour of a company owned by Lajos Simicska, an oligarch who has fallen out with Hungarian PM Viktor Orban. The Public Procurement Arbitra- tion Court said the government has unlawfully excluded Simicska's company Kozgep from public procurement contracts for the last three years. Simicska can now request compensation.
The National Bank of Poland will pay PLN8.7bn (€2.1bn) out of 2016 profits to the state budget. The payment is a new record, driven by the weakening of the zloty against the euro and US dollar, currencies in which NBP keeps most of its reserves.
Hungary aims to bring down its gross state debt ratio by 12.8pp over the next five years, accord- ing to an updated convergence plan submitted to Brussels. The government plans to trim the ratio to 61.2% of GDP by the end of 2021.
Hungarian retail sales growth accelerated to 3.6% y/y in March, and 5.6% when adjusted for calendar effects.
Hungary’s trade surplus fell by €86mn in annual terms to €881mn in February. Hungary’s trade surplus is widely expected to fall this year from the record high of €9.98bn in 2016.
Gazprom’s commitments to lessen the impact of its dominant position as a supplier of gas to Lithu- ania and other CEE countries are not sufficient and the European Commission should ensure they are revised, the Lithuanian government said. Brussels asked CEE states to respond to Gazprom’s suggestions for addressing concerns over its market position. Vilnius claims that the proposal is no longer sufficient because market conditions have changed.