Page 8 - bne_newspaper_February_09_2018

The Regions This Week
February 9, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Southeast Europe
The Macedonian government will rename Skopje airport and the country's main motorway to Greece, as it tries to reach a deal with Greece with the aim of solving the long-standing name dispute that has been blocking the country’s EU aspirations. Alexander the Great airport will be renamed International Airport Skopje, while the motorway with the same name will be called Friendship.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his calls for lower interest rates. Erdogan reiterated his unorthodox view that high rates cause inflation and hit out at banks for making fat profits.
The number of foreign tourists visiting Bosnia increased 22.2% y/y to 37,616 in December. Bosnia is hoping to improve its tourism offering with the implementation of several big investment projects, including the €2.3bn Buroj Ozone resort.
Serbia needs to conclude a legally-binding agreement with Kosovo before it can join the EU, Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said. Brussels wants to ensure there are no outstanding conflicts between potential members after an acrimonious border dispute erupted between Croatia and Slovenia.
A group of MPs from Slovenia’s ruling Modern Centre Party put forward a bill envisaging full legalisation of cannabis. The bill was produced by the SMC's youth wing in collaboration with the non-parliamentary Pirate Party, which has been pushing for full legalisation for a while.
Moldova’s pro-Russian President Igor Dodon condemned the government’s plans for a joint Moldovan-Romanian military battalion. The plans breach the country’s neutrality as set out in the constitution, Dodon argued.
A European Parliament debate on Romania’s controversial judicial reforms ended
inconclusively, with no explicit recommendation. European Commission officials have already criticised the reforms which they say undermine the independence of the judiciary.
Turkish fast-food chain operator TFI Tab Food Investments postponed its planned $220mn initial public offering IPO in New York. The postponement came after several volatile trading days on Wall Street.
A German environmental group slammed the
Albanian government’s decision to build an airport in Vlora, “as incompatible with preserving the local ecosystem.” The Albanian parliament has already passed a law giving the green light to negotiations with a Turkish consortium to build the airport.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged Croatia to solve its border dispute with Slovenia. Croatia has refused to accept or implement a tribunal ruling which gives Slovenia access to the high seas, claiming the process
was corrupted as a Slovenian official had tried to influence the outcome of the arbitration.
Moldova’s central bank cut the projection for average inflation in 2018 from 4.0% y/y to 3.7% y/y but expects prices to accelerate at 4.7% y/y in 2019, according to the February Inflation Outlook made public by the monetary authority. The country targets 5%+/-1.5pp inflation.
Montenegro's registered unemployment rate stood at 20.91% on February 5. A month earlier, the unemployment rate was marginally higher at 21.94%, while in early February 2017 it stood at 21.95%.
For the first time since 2005, Serbia recorded
a consolidated budget surplus in 2017. The surplus stood at RSD52.3bn (€435.83mn) equal to 1.2% of GDP, the ministry of finance announced.