Page 5 - bne_newspaper_June_29_2018

The Regions This Week
June 29, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 5
Central Europe
Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia boycotted an emergency meeting of EU leaders on migra- tion in a manifestation of disdain for the EU’s current migration policy, especially of the quota system. The four Central European member states say the quota system should be replaced by
a solution worked out in the European Council by political leaders.
Prices of residential real estate grew in Poland
in the first quarter owing to robust demand, the National Bank of Poland said. However, residential developers appear close to their output capac-
ity and could face problems fulfilling demand if it continues to grow.
Estonia’s economic growth rate will enter a slow- down phase by 2020, the central bank said. The economy will manage growth of 3.5% in 2018 and 2019, but expansion will slow down by a full per- centage point to just 2.5% in 2020 as feeble invest- ment rates by businesses will bite, said Eesti Pank.
Lithuania’s Sun Investment Group plans to invest €200mn in two solar power projects in Poland in the next two years. Poland is one of the least-satu- rated solar power markets in Europe.
The Czech competition watchdog approved Chi- nese state conglomerate CITIC's takeover of
the troubled Czech-based division of Chinese conglomerate CEFC Europe. CEFC Europe assets in Czechia include the brewery Lobkowicz, first division football club Slavia Prague, and hotels and office buildings.
The far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), a jun- ior partner in the coalition government, wants to
introduce penalties for retail chains that don’t sell enough Slovak-produced products. "We need to teach our consumers to buy local products, but these must actually be Slovak ones, made by Slo- vak producers," SNS leader Andrej Danko said.
The Latvian authorities are looking into claims that failed bank ABLV handled money from a Russian fraud revealed by former investor turned Kremlin nemesis Bill Browder. Browder said he has filed complaints with evidence showing the connec- tion of multiple accounts at ABLV to the $230mn fraud uncovered by the late Sergei Magnitsky.
Lithuania reportedly plans to launch the first legal platform for initial coin offerings (ICOs). The news comes amid reports that ICOs and blockchain companies in the Baltic country have raised up to €500mn in the last year.
Czech rolling stock manufacturer Skoda Trans- portation will deliver 45 subway trains to Poland worth CZK6.5bn (€252mn). The Czech producer will also build 80 trams for Germany worth almost CZK7bn, the Czech engineering company's biggest export deal ever.
Retail sales growth in Hungary slowed from 8.7% in March to 4.4% in April, the Central Statistics Of- fice said. The April figures were the lowest for this year, as retail sales rose markedly in the previous month due to the Easter holiday, analysts said.
GDP growth in Lithuania is expected to moderate
to 3.2% this year, the IMF said. The fund warned that as a small open economy Lithuania is “highly vulnerable to a retreat from global trade, renewed euro area strains, geopolitics and global growth”.
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