Page 8 - bne_Magazine_May_2018_print

8 I The Month That Was bne May 2018
Business
Eastern Europe
Gazprom shipped a new record-high monthly volume of natural gas to Europe in March 2018 – 19.6bcm. The previous all-time monthly record high of 19.1bcm was posted in January 2017. This continues Gazprom's extremely strong export performance after a new record-high year in 2017 when the company shipped 194.4bcm to non-FSU Europe (+8.4% y/y).
The turnover of Russia's e-commerce reached RUB1.04 trillion ($18bn)
in 2017, growing by 13% year-on-
year, Vedomosti daily said on April 4 citing the data by the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT).
World's largest beer brewer Anheuser- Busch InBev (AB InBev) is merging
its Russian and Ukrainian assets with Turkish brewing major Anadolu Efes, the company said at the end of March. The united company will control 11 breweries and three malting plants
in Russia, as well as three breweries in Ukraine.
Russia's largest carmaker Avtovaz completed a second stage of recapi- talization by its main shareholders French car major Renault and state technology agency Rostec, the company reported on April 12. The recapitaliza- tion of Avtovaz has been on the agenda since 2016. The sales of cars in Russia grew by 22% y/y in January-March to 0.39mn units, as the recovery of the sector continues its strong growth.
Central Europe
Skoda Auto agreed to a 12% wage increase for its workers, offered gener- ous annual bonuses of CZK110,000 on average, and backed off from introduc- ing Saturdays as full working days, averting the threat of a strike and bring- ing an end to lengthy negotiations. The deal shows the muscle of Czech unions amid a booming economy and under-
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scores the dire lack of available skilled workers in the country.
Three large German companies
have chosen to invest in Hungary's second-largest city Debrecen since Lufthansa launched its first direct flight two years ago. Lufthansa has seen strong growth in Hungary, with an
8% rise in passenger traffic to 1.75mn on its Hungarian routes last year.
back of the favourable macroeconomic environment.
Slovenian aircraft manufacturer Pip- istrel started building a new factory in Jurong, China. Pipistrel is investing €350mn alongside its Chinese part-
ner Kang Quai Group in a major $1bn development comprising an airport and an apartment complex as well as the factory.
Moldova plans to ban sales of farm- land or forests to foreign citizens under a new draft law. Currently around 15% of Moldova’s farmland is owned by foreigners despite restrictions on land ownership by foreign firms.
Eurasia
Uzbekistan resumed exports of natu- ral gas to Tajikistan for the first time since 2012. Uzbekistan is expected to supply around 126mn cubic metres of gas worth $15.1mn to its neighbour this year.
Bishkek is to privatise 51% of Air Kyr- gyzstan. If the buyer is foreign, their stake must not exceed 49%, with 2% to be sold to other private investors.
Drought-stricken Iran banned the cul- tivation of rice in all provinces apart from those on the Caspian Sea coast. Farmers in Isfahan province have been mounting protests to demand the govern- ment turn water supplies back on as much of the water of their region has been redirected to surrounding arid regions.
Hong Kong-listed Citic Resources is reportedly negotiating to sell a sig- nificant minority stake to Kazakhstan. An unnamed Kazakh government entity is said to be planning to inject energy assets into Citic Resources in return for
a stake in the company. The entity may be Karazhanbasmunai, which operates Karazhanbas oilfield, and is 50%-owned by Citic Resources.
The Czech government chose a Czech- Toll and SkyToll tie-up to run the country’s highway toll system for 10 years starting in 2020. The consortium beat the current toll operator Kapsch with a CZK10.75bn (€424mn) bid.
The former owner of two failed Baltic banks was reportedly arrested in Russia. Vladimir Antonov is the former co-owner of now-defunct lenders Snoras and Latvijas Krajbanka, which collapsed in 2011.
Southeast Europe
Car production at Romania’s Dacia plant increased by 2.1% y/y to 85,365 units in the first three months of the year, according to data from the Associa- tion of Automotive Manufacturers of Romania (ACAROM). Dacia, owned by France's Renault, is one of the country's biggest exporters.
Real estate transactions in Romania reached a record level last year, exceeding €1bn, at least 10% up compared to the previous year, a report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC showed. The rise comes on the