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Weekly Lists
August 17, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 31
bne:TMT
PPF Group reportedly
eyes Balkan TV stations
Kazakh IT expert in trouble over comments alleged to “incite ethnic hatred”
Czech investment group PPF Group is interested in expanding its media portfolio with the addition of United Group, a major cable and pay-TV operator in the Balkans, Balkan Insight said on August 13. PPF has been seeking to buy up assets in Southeast Europe recent- ly acquiring several Telenor subsidiaries in the region, and attempt- ing to buy Nova Broadcasting Group in Bulgaria.
United Group is owned by US investment vehicle KKR. It is the big- gest cable company in Serbia and also operates in Bosnia, Monte- negro and Slovenia. United Group has TV channels SBB, Telemach, Total TV, Sport Klub and regional N1 TV.
Kazakhstan’s leading IT expert, Konstantin Gorozhankin, has been expelled from the board of directors of state internet conglomerate Qazcontent over claims he made on Facebook about the alleged rape of young boys in South Kazakhstan Province in the 19th century, the company’s chairman Yevgeny Kochetov said on
August 9.
Kazakh police are investigating his comments in response to allegations of “inciting ethnic hatred”. Gorozhkin, an ethnic Russian, wrote about "travelers to Kazakhstan in the 19th century [who] often mentioned in their diaries about bestiality and homosexuality among the local population." He also added that “it is all about genes”.
Production of tablets in Armenia increased by 6.6 times y/y in the first half of 2018, according to National Statistical Service data quoted by local media.
The numbers remain small, however, with 364 tablets produced in January-June, up from 55 in the first half of 2017.
The statistics office also reported a 22.7% increase in computer manufacturing.
The first Armenian tablet, ArmTab, was produced by Technology & Science Dynamics (TSD) founded within the Yerevan-based Mergelyan Computer Research and Development Institute.
Armenia hikes tablet production