Page 8 - BNE_magazine_10_2020

8 I The Month That Was bne October 2020
Business
Eastern Europe
Russian environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor fined metals major Norilsk Nickel RUB148bn ($2.1bn) for environmental damage in the Arctic caused by a massive oil spill accident, which cut its profit to zero this year.
China’s Skyrizon company has notified Ukraine that it will launch international arbitration after it blocked a deal to take over the Motor Sich aircraft engine factory. The Chinese firm bought 56% of Motor Sich shares in 2016. Skyrizon is demanding $3.5bn in damages for being unable to enter the factory complex for the last four years.
The world's cheapest e-car Zetta was cut off from Russian state financing. Zetta’s (Zero Emission Terra Transport Asset) production has been postponed after the state Fund of Industrial Development (FRP) cut off funding.
Yandex announced that it plans to reintegrate its Beru marketplace
into Yandex.Market, which will
cater for the entire purchase process from warehousing to communicating with customers. The e-commerce marketplace now has more than 7,000 suppliers, while the Yandex.Market price comparison platform services about 25,000 clients.
Creative Russian industries account for 4.4% of GDP, or RUB4.8 trillion ($64bn) according to the Agency of Strategic Initiatives, and at 6.3% of GDP in Moscow alone. That is much higher than the global average 2.5% of GDP. Moscow employs about 0.3mn people in creative industries.
Central Europe
Estonian company Eleon and Chinese industrial group Chinese State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) have signed a second agreement on the manufacture of wind turbines.
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Manufacturing operations are to start in the final quarter of next year.
Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and his Slovak business partner Patrik Tkac’s EP Global Commerce Group (EPGC) has made a new offer to increase its share in the German retailer Metro. Kretinsky and Tkac became the largest shareholder in Metro in 2019, owning 29.99% of the company, but the board is resisting their hostile take over bid.
All three domestic mobile operators in Czechia have officially challenged the terms of the frequency auction for fast 5G networks, the Czech News Agency reported. They say the conditions are discriminatory and are also concerned about the low maximum frequency allocation which is the lowest in Europe and does not allow gigabit speeds.
Southeast Europe
Swedish furniture giant Ikea is looking for more than 300 staff for its first store in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, due to be opened later this year. Ikea laid the foundation stone of its first store in Slovenia on October 17 last year.
Romania-based carmakers Dacia and Ford produced almost 59,500 cars in July-August, up 10% compared to the same period last year, according to the Romanian Automobile Manufacturers Association. The growth was driven
by Ford’s factory in Craiova, which is working at full capacity again.
The value added generated by Romania’s IT&C sector increased by 10.4% y/y in 2Q20, defying a 10.5% GDP contraction. Romania has a strong IT&C sector with major international companies entering the country, attracted by the skilled workforce and relatively low costs.
Croatia’s tourism sector outperformed several rival destinations in the Mediterranean region in July, with foreign tourist arrivals reaching 50% of
last year’s level. For the first seven months of the year arrivals were at just 32% of last year’s level, however, Croatia was quick to open up to international tourists once travel restrictions were eased.
Turkey’s airlines need $750mn to survive 2020 and $2bn next year, Mehmet Nane, CEO of the country’s leading low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines (PGSUS), told Bloomberg. The airlines have reported derivative losses on jet fuel hedges due to tumbling oil prices.
Eurasia
Turkish company Dalsan has launched a wet wipes production plant in the Ontustik special economic zone in Kazakhstan’s Shymkent city, Kazakh Invest national investment promotion agency said. The new factory targets
the domestic market countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
Uzbek garment-textile exports rose by 112% to $1bn in the first half of 2020 as new markets opened up and new products were developed, Fibre2Fashion. com news website reported. Exports went to 57 countries, including Russia (39% of exports), China (18%), Kyrgyzstan (13%) and Turkey (12%).
Afghanistan and Uzbekistan signed
a 10-year agreement on exporting Uzbek electricity following construction of
a 500-kilovolt power transmission line with the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) financial support. The new transmission line will allow the export of 4.25 GW of power per hour to Afghanistan rising to 6 GW later.