Page 8 - bne_newspaper_March_29_2019

The Regions This Week
March 29, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Southeast Europe
All coal-based electricity generation incum- bents in the Western Balkans would go bankrupt immediately if they joined the EU and had to respect the Emission Trading Scheme Directive,
a new report from the Energy Community report finds. Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia depend heavily on coal power.
Largest Turkish mobile operator Turkcell bought back eurobonds with a total nominal value of $5mn at an average price of $88.70 totalling $4.6mn on March 25, the company said in a filing with the stock exchange. The company has intensified Eurobond buy-backs this month.
The Serbian government plans to ban the import of vehicles more than 10 years old, and those with Euro 3 and Euro 4 engines. The aim is to protect the environment from pollution. Several other countries in the region, including Albania and Montenegro, have announced similar bans.
Slovenian household appliances manufacturer Gorenje Group said its net loss widened to €37.3mn last year from a €4.3mn net loss in 2017. The company’s performance was negatively affected by lower than planned sales in the domestic appliances segment.
King Abdullah II of Jordan called off a planned trip to Romania following remarks by Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila that Romania
will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
The king's visit to Romania was supposed to include meetings with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and parliament leaders.
Albanian prosecutors questioned opposition leader Lulzim Basha over $650,000 allegedly paid to a Republican lobbyist in the US, investigative journalism site Mother Jones reported. According to Mother Jones’ investigations, the party paid lobbyist Nick Muzin to arrange a photo of Basha
with US President Donald Trump, and set up meetings for Basha with members of Congress.
Large supermarket chains Migros and Carrefoursa and hard discount retailers BIM, Sok and A101 are set to join the Turkish government scheme designed to provide consumers with cheap food products, Hurriyet Daily News has quoted Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli as saying. Critics described the scheme as a stunt in advance of the March 31 municipal elections.
A string of top Bulgarian officials resigned over revelations they acquired luxury apartments in Sofia at well below market price. The latest to step down was Tsvetan Tsvetanov, deputy leader of the ruling Gerb party, who is known as Prime Minister Boyko Borrisov’s right hand man.
The Kosovan government adopted a draft bill to ban gambling across the country and sent it to the parliament for approval. The decision was taken following the deaths of two casino workers earlier this month during armed robberies in Suha Reka and Lipjan.
Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister Iurie leanca will run on the ticket of Romanian party Pro Romania in the May European Parliament elections. Like many Moldovans, Leanca,
a former prime minister of Moldova, holds Romanian citizenship as well.
Estonia, Slovenia and Lithuania lead the EBRD Knowledge Economy Index, which measures the performance of the 38 economies where the bank invests, alongside the economies of eight frontier innovators, including the US, Germany and Japan. The index is part of the EBRD’s approach to measure countries’ progress according to
six qualities of a sustainable market economy: competitive, resilient, green, integrated, well- governed and inclusive.