Page 6 - bne_newspaper_May 5 2017

The Regions This Week
May 5, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Southeast Europe Construction work on Turkey's first nuclear
power plant will start in June, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybeci said. Turkey commissioned Russia’s Rosatom in 2010 to build the $20bn Akkuyu power plant.
Bosnian auto supplier Prevent denied plans to take over its German rival Grammer. Prevent, which holds a 20% stake in Grammer, recently demanded to participate in its supervisory board.
More than 1,000 people protested in the Roma- nian capital after senators amended a draft bill to grant amnesty to people sentenced for corruption. Members of the senate’s legal committee later backed down and reversed the vote.
The Croatian Financial Supervisory Agency sus- pended all eight of struggling Agrokor’s listed subsidiaries from trading on the Zagreb Stock Exchange. The companies will be suspended until they publish audited financials after restructur- ing advisors at Agrokor announced there could be potential errors in the group’s accounts.
Signs are emerging that Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) could soon be embroiled in bitter internal feuding. The party leadership has come under fire for floundering and failing to devise a concrete policy direction
in the wake of its loss in the April 16 referendum that will pave the way for an executive presidential system.
FDI in Kosovo increased 46.7% y/y to €43.3mn in the first two months of 2017, according to central bank data. The two-month figure is equal to 0.7% of projected 2017 GDP.
Austrian Post wants to buy 50% of Turkish par- cel service provider Aras Kargo from Aras family members. The Austrian company, which bought 25% of Aras Kargo in 2013, has applied to the Turkish competition authority for approval.
Around 100 protesters ironed used ballot papers and handed them out to passersby along with a $1 banknote bearing billionaire George Soros’ face at a protest against Serbian Prime Minister and president elect Aleksandar Vucic in Bel- grade. The performance was intended to symboli- cally warn of electoral fraud, in particular vote rig- ging and vote buying.
Montenegro's registered unemployment rate reached 22.87% in April. The rate is increasing faster than the government has projected.
US-based fast food chain Subway plans to open 20 stores across Croatia. Subway initially entered the Croatian market back in 2006 and opened eight restaurants in the country, but closed them all in 2009 as the economic crisis hit.
Sinisa Mali will not continue as mayor of the Serbian capital Belgrade, Prime Minister Alek- sandar Vucic said. Mali is extremely unpopu-
lar due to his suspected involvement in the con- troversial demolition of buildings in the Savamala district in April 2016.
A Skopje court postponed the main hearing of a
case against ex-Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski until June 28. Gruevski has been charged with ordering an attack on the op- position mayor of Skopje’s Centar municipality.
Moody's maintained its negative outlook on Turkey's banking industry, reflecting its expecta- tion of weakening financials over the next 12-18 months. Moody's expects factors including do- mestic political and geopolitical tensions, poten- tial currency depreciation, and weakening investor confidence to take a toll going forward.
The EBRD will work with Albania to develop renewable sources of energy in the country. According to Albanian Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri, investing in solar energy can help reduce the country’s dependence on imports.