Page 6 - bne_March2019_20190306 magazine

6 I The Month That Was bne March 2019
Business
Eastern Europe
Leading Russian gold miner Polymetal to build the largest gold concentrate processing plant in Russia. The project is worth $431mn and will eliminate the need to use a similar plant in China, the company said on February 11.
Apple Inc. detailed the user data it
is storing in Russia, reports East-West Digital News (EWDN). Apple users in the region have data including their name, delivery address, email address and phone number stored on servers in Russia.
Russian gas giant Gazprom is mulling building a second Turk Stream pipeline that will further increase the transit capacity that bypasses Ukraine, the com- pany said on February 14. The so-called Turk Stream 2 is only an idea now and would be subject to potential demand
for gas and getting all approvals.
Six new shopping centres, containing a record 400,000 square metres of rentable space, are to open in Kyiv in 2019, according to the Ukraine Retail centre. This would be eight times the new leasable space of last year and
a record for the capital, says Daryna Kulaga, a market analyst for Jones Lang LaSalle Ukraine. Although developers often do not reveal construction costs, the six could total around $350mn.
Central Europe
Czech energy company Sev.en signed an agreement to buy 50% of energy company InterGen from Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, will close in the next few months. The acquisition of InterGen is considered to be an important step for Sev.en’s international expansion.
Hungary was ordered to pay Sodexo €73mn in an arbitration ruling by the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes
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(ICSID). The ruling concerned regula- tory changes affecting the country's voucher system seven years ago.
Swedish SCA is close to buying 10,000 hectares of forest land in Latvia from Latvian Forest Company. The two companies signed a letter of intent on the transaction, which would be worth around SEK260mn (€26mn).
Czech beer producer Budejovicky Bud- var posted the highest revenues in its 123-year history in 2018. The company increased its output by 3.6% to 1.602mn hectolitres, the second highest level in the company’s history, driven by a by 7% y/y increase in sales of lagers.
Group’s strategic business plan for the 2018-2022 period.
Turkey’s gaming exports were worth more than $1bn in 2018, Anadolu Agency reported the brand and market- ing communication manager of the Gaming Istanbul 2019 (GIST 2019) expo as saying. Some 600 enterprises work on game development in the country.
Moldova plans to sell 51% of telecoms incumbent Moldtelecom, according to the amended privatisation schedule. The value of Moldtelecom is estimated by Mold Street at €100mn, one-fifth of its value ten years ago.
Eurasia
Uzbek state-owned car producer Uza- vtosanoat is to rename automaker GM Uzbekistan following the completion of its full buyout of General Motors’ (GM) stake in the joint venture. GM Uzbeki- stan’s exports of vehicles and car parts in 2018 were valued at $25.5mn.
Georgia Capital PLC acquired the remaining 40% stake it didn't already own in a luxury hotel in Tbilisi, for $5.2mn, Alliance News reported. m2 real Estate, a subsidiary of Georgia Capital and owner of the Hospitality & Commercial Real Estate business, first acquired a 60% interest in the hotel in December 2017.
Giant Chinese automaker Chery Automobile is to stay in Iran despite the downturn in the US sanctions-hit market. Chinese car producers are feel- ing the squeeze on the Iranian market given that around 90% of the parts they use are imported.
Russian oil major Lukoil and Kazakh- stan’s state-run oil and gas company KazMunayGas are close to signing
a contract on the joint development of the Zhenis block in the Kazakh segment of the Caspian Sea. The deal is expected to be signed within a month.
Southeast Europe
Retailer Mercator sold ten shopping centres in Slovenia to Austria’s Super- nova for €116.6mn. The deal is aimed at reducing the company’s debt and ensur- ing pre-conditions for a new investment cycle, which is of critical importance for Mercator's further development.
Fintel Energija plans to start the con- struction of Europe's largest onshore wind farm in Serbia in 2019. Built by the Serbian subsidiary of Italy's Fintel Energia Group, Maestrale Ring wind farm will have an installed capacity of 572 MW and will be located in the northern Serbian region of Vojvodina.
Slovenia's biggest telecom operator, state-owned Telekom Slovenije, sold Bosnia’s Blicnet to Telekomunikacije Republike Srpske. The sale of Blicnet is in accordance with Telekom Slovenije