Page 14 - bne_newspaper_March_29_2019

Central Europe
March 29, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 14
bne:Tech
May, 2018 www.intellinews.com @bneintellinews
Avast to enter London bourse in bid to raise up to $1bn Jaroslav Hroch in Prague
Avast, which owns the popular consumer antivirus company AVG, will apply to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange in the hope of raising $200mn (CZK4.1bn) in primary proceeds from an IPO, the Czech-founded company announced on April 12.
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St Petersburg's start-up scene flourishes on high talent and low costs
Contents
Avast to enter London bourse
in bid to raise up to $1bn 1 Avast to enter London bourse in bid to raise up to $1bn 2 St Petersburg's start-up scene
flourishes on high talent and low costs 3 Romania entrepreneur aims to put home-grown UAV defence technology industry on the map 6
FinTech
Russia's mobile major MTS increases stake in Ozon to 16.7% 9
Blockchain
Romanian startups at the heart
of blockchain energy trading rally 10
Central Europe
Russian-Lithuanian startup Gosu.ai
raises $1.9mn from Russian and
French investors 13
Eurasia
Iran hit by cyber attack that left US
flag on screens 14 Iranian government set to block hugely popular Telegram messaging app 15 Iran's black market phone disconnection drive pushes up legal mobile imports 15
Eastern Europe
Internet catches up with TV on Russian
ad market 17 Sales of connected appliances jump
in Russia 17 Russia's HeadHunter Group seeks
to raise $250mn with NASDAQ IPO 18 Russia ranks second in the world
for digital piracy 18 Russian messaging service Telegram raised another $850mn with ICO 19
Southeast Europe
Russia's HeadHunter Group seeks
to raise $250mn with NASDAQ IPO 20
The Regions This Month 21
Filip Brokes in St Petersburg
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development abroad, particularly of German and Slovak economies, and uncertain Brexit.
The bank moderated its view of pro-inflationary risks due to weaker CZK compared to the CNB assumptions and slowdown of the European growth, which brought more doubt on how much or even whether loans cost may grow further this year. The CNB forecast expects inflation to return to 2% target after a temporary increase in the 1H19. “Anti-inflationary risks stem from the global economy, weaker wages growth and households consumption in 4Q18,” said ING Chief Economist Jakub Seidler.
According to the CNB board member Tomas Holub, the bank is likely to hike its interest rates once or twice this year. “Overall, data from the domestic economy seems to me to be slightly supporting a further rise of interest rates. I see zero to two [hikes this year]. I don't rule out the zero as such, but I don't see it much likely. We are still in the process of normalising monetary policy,” Holub said.
Another CNB board member Vojtech Benda anticipates the bank could even raise its rates three times in 2019, due to weaker koruna. “If the crown were to remain near the current levels, it is likely to happen that there could be three rate hikes by the CNB this year,” Benda said.
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