Page 6 - bne_newspaper_August_24_2018

The Regions This Week
August 24, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Central Europe
Hungary's Capital Court has rejected Croatia’s request to extradite Zsolt Hernadi, the chairman and CEO of the MOL energy company on August 23. Hernadi is charged in Croatia with bribing for- mer Prime Minister Ivo Sanader in 2009 in order to have MOL gain a controlling stake in the local oil firm INA.
A company owned by PM Viktor Orban’s son- in-law, Istvan Tiborcz has gained a 20% stake of BSE-listed property holding group Appeninn, which is owned by Orban's friend, and proxy, Lorinc Meszaros in a deal estimated to be worth HUF6bn (€1.85mn) and proving business links between the two families for the first time, it was announced on August 23.
Disgruntled workers of the Polish airline LOT are planning to strike in September to protest over low pay. The union oppose a 2013 pay deci- sion made by the airline when it was set to de- clare bankrupt that caps wages and put all new hires on temporary contracts.
Hungary’s retail sales growth decelerated to 6.8% y/y in June, down from 7.1% in the previ- ous month, according to detailed figures of the Central Statistics Office (KSH) on August 23. The figure was revised up from 6.5% in the preliminary figure. Retail sales volume came to HUF965bn (€2.98bn).
Polish corporate wage growth was weaker than expected in July and the National Bank of Poland expects growth will be limited this year. Wages are being pushed up by the chronic labour shortage in the region, but have not fed through yet to corpo- rate wages.
Retail sales in Poland continue to surge ris- ing 9.3% in July compared with the same month last year, according to country’s Central Statisti- cal Office (GUS). Polish retail sales grew 8.2% y/y in constant prices in June – the fourth month of expansion since the April low of a 4% expansion.
The number of Polish mortgage and housing loans increased by a quarter (23.6%) in July
in monetary terms, Poland’s Credit Information Bureau (BIK) reports. Polish banks granted a total of 19,500 loans in July worth a total of PLN4.93bn (€1.2bn), an increase of 12.7% in volume terms and 23.6% in monetary terms, respectively, com- pared to the same period a year earlier, BIK said.
Czech mutual funds assets increased by 0.9% in the first half of the year to CZK488bn ($22bn), financial daily Hospodarske noviny reported. Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Ipsos for Raiffeisenbank found that 86% of Czechs regularly put aside savings.
Hungary’s central bank (MNB) has tightened the loan to income ratio rules for mortgage loans
to cool a hot property market. The MNB intro- duced debt cap rules in 2015 in order to prevent excessive household indebtedness and a renewed build-up of foreign currency loans in the wake of the economic crisis.
The Hungarian unit of French hypermarket chain Auchan plans to open four new stores in 2018 and targets a 10% increase in revenues, it was announced on August 23. However, its expansion into small- er-sized stores may hit obstacles thanks to a new legislation. At present, Auchan has 19 hypermarkets, 18 petrol stations and a webshop in Hungary.
x3 PER WEEK EDITOR'S PICKS
Keep up to date with our editor's picks email. Sign up to receive a free email three times a week listing the best stories on bne's website, chosen by the editor. Sign up by filling out the form here.
Or go to bne.eu/welcome to see samples of this and other products.