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The Regions This Week
March 30, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Southeast Europe
The Albanian government plans to float state- owned electricity distribution company OSHEE on the newly created stock exchange by the end of 2018. If the deal goes ahead, it will be the first ever IPO of shares in a major state-owned com- pany in the country.
Global steelmaker ArcelorMittal is investing BAM75mn (€38.4mn) to repair a blast furnace at its steel plant in Bosnia in order to extend its lifespan and improve environmental standards. The international company has already invested substantially in its Bosnian operations, commit- ting more than €154mn since it acquired the steel factory in 2004.
Home appliances producer BSH Hausgerate GmbH, part of Bosch group, will invest €110mn in a new washing machine plant in Romania. The plant, which will be located in the western town of Simeria, will create 700 new jobs.
Croatia’s Uljanik shipyard selected local Kermas energija as strategic partner for its recapitalisa- tion process. The Pula-based shipyard — Croatia’s largest — is in crisis, and in January the European Commission cleared Zagreb’s plans to grant the shipyard a state guarantee for a €96mn loan to stop it going out of business.
30 people were indicted for their involvement in the 2017 parliament violence in Macedonia. Those indicted on terror charges include several MPs from the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party.
Thousands of Moldovans rallied in support of reunification with Romania. The event marked 100 years since the unification of the region of Bessarabia, most of which was part of modern- day Moldova, with Greater Romania, in 1918.
Seven candidates registered for Montenegro’s April 15 presidential election by the March 26
deadline. Former president and prime minister Milo Djukanovic is widely expected to win, despite the decision of several opposition parties to unite behind a single candidate.
Romanian flag carrier Tarom expects a gross profit of RON27,470 (€5,906) this year, accord- ing to its draft budget. Tarom last posted profit in 2007 and for several years has been losing market share to its low cost competitors, which have been expanding rapidly.
The European Commission plans to introduce customs duties on certain products from Serbia, primarily fruit and vegetables. The planned duties are a countermeasure, since Belgrade has been obstructing the issuing of permits for the export of metal waste since last year.
Bulgaria will propose projects worth more than BGN3bn (€1.53bn) for funding from the Euro- pean Union after 2020, aiming to improve road safety, Regional Development Minister Nikolai Nankov said. The country is relying a lot on EU finding to improve its infrastructure and the cur- rent government has set road infrastructure as one of its priorities.
Agricultural yields in Slovenia significantly worsened in 2017 compared to 2016, due to se- vere weather conditions. The agriculture sector in Slovenia has been weakening for years as small farmers leave their homesteads, while transport infrastructure and buildings spread over agricul- ture areas.
The sale of Moldova’s strategic natural gas transport company Vestmoldtransgaz to its Romanian peer Transgaz was signed. Transgaz will build a pipeline to bring natural gas to
the industrial areas around the capital city Chisinau, thus ending Moldova's dependence on Russian gas.