Page 6 - BNE_magazine_10_2019 kolomoisky

6 I The Month That Was bne October 2019
Politics
Eastern Europe
The charges against Baring Vostok executives could fall apart as investigators have re-appraised the value of shares of a bank, which
was central to the case. These shares were handed over by Baring Vostok
to Vostochniy Bank as part of a loan repayment; and their value was, in reality, many times higher than the amount alleged by the plaintiff in the case.
Central Europe
The Prague Public Prosecutor’s Office has halted a nearly four-year-long investigation into Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO), his family members and suspected in the Stork’s Nest case. Chief Prague prosecutor Martin Erazim agreed with a decision presented by a state prosecutor assigned to the case, Jaroslav Saroch. Two weeks ago, Saroch completely reversed his position on the case and proposed his supervisors halt the investigation.
runner-up in the poll, but trailing by 22.2pp at just 21.2% of support.
Slovakia's Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) will remain in his post after the opposition failed to gather enough votes to oust him in
a no confidence vote. The opposition parties had hoped to unseat the prime minister due to his reluctance to propose that Monika Jankovska (Smer-SD) should be dismissed from the post of Justice Ministry.
Southeast Europe
India’s President Ram Nath Kovind, accompanied by a business delegation, paid an official visit to Slovenia on September 16, during which a number of documents in the field of investment, sports, culture, science and technology were signed. This is the final leg of the Indian president's visit that also included Iceland and Switzerland. It was the first ever visit of an Indian president to Slovenia.
Romania’s Constitutional Court ruled in favour of Prime Minister Viorica Dancila that President Klaus Iohannis should accept the nominations for interim ministers she has sent to him. This gives Dancila a 45-day grace period (the lifetime
of interim ministers), or even more since Iohannis has not yet appointed the interim ministers, to re-gain the majority in parliament.
The decision to take prominent broadcaster Silvia Velikova off the
air caused a storm in Bulgaria as it was seen as yet another attempt to silence journalists critical of those in power and led to the first five-hour silencing of the public broadcaster Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) in history on September 13.
The Croatian government has agreed to return the retirement age to 65, just months after raising it to 67, following
a campaign supported by hundreds of thousands of citizens.
Eurasia
Law enforcement authorities in Kazakhstan detained 57 anti-China protesters while breaking up rallies held in several cities, including the capital Nur- Sultan. The demonstrations were organised by the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) opposition movement. The arrests came despite Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev announcing early in September that he would allow anti-government rallies.
Kazakhstan President Kasym- Zhomart Tokayev reshuffled the cabinet on September 18 appointed
a new foreign minister, minister of industry and infrastructure development and chief of staff. Tokayev is continuing the tradition of periodically reshuffling the government set by his long-ruling predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Kazakh President Kassym-
Jomart Tokayev on September 2 re-nominated Dariga Nazarbayeva,
a daughter of his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, for the Senate speaker position. Nazarbayeva has served as head of the upper chamber since March, but since her mandate was renewed
in August, the Senate is now required to re-elect her.
Poland sees “no need” to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia and expects to notify Moscow by the end of the year it will not renew its current long-term gas supply contract with Gazprom, a government official said on September 18.
Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party had the support of 43.4% of respondents in the latest poll by pollster IBRiS. If a vote were held tomorrow PiS would win another four-year term with a straight majority. The main opposition group, the Civic Coalition (KO) was
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