Page 19 - bne_newspaper_December_14_2018

Southeast Europe
December 14, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 19
bne:Tech
May, 2018 www.intellinews.com @bneintellinews
Avast to enter London bourse in bid to raise up to $1bn Jaroslav Hroch in Prague
Avast, which owns the popular consumer antivirus company AVG, will apply to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange in the hope of raising $200mn (CZK4.1bn) in primary proceeds from an IPO, the Czech-founded company announced on April 12.
See page 2
St Petersburg's start-up scene flourishes on high talent and low costs
Contents
Avast to enter London bourse
in bid to raise up to $1bn 1 Avast to enter London bourse in bid to raise up to $1bn 2 St Petersburg's start-up scene
flourishes on high talent and low costs 3 Romania entrepreneur aims to put home-grown UAV defence technology industry on the map 6
FinTech
Russia's mobile major MTS increases stake in Ozon to 16.7% 9
Blockchain
Romanian startups at the heart
of blockchain energy trading rally 10
Central Europe
Russian-Lithuanian startup Gosu.ai
raises $1.9mn from Russian and
French investors 13
Eurasia
Iran hit by cyber attack that left US
flag on screens 14 Iranian government set to block hugely popular Telegram messaging app 15 Iran's black market phone disconnection drive pushes up legal mobile imports 15
Eastern Europe
Internet catches up with TV on Russian
ad market 17 Sales of connected appliances jump
in Russia 17 Russia's HeadHunter Group seeks
to raise $250mn with NASDAQ IPO 18 Russia ranks second in the world
for digital piracy 18 Russian messaging service Telegram raised another $850mn with ICO 19
Southeast Europe
Russia's HeadHunter Group seeks
to raise $250mn with NASDAQ IPO 20
The Regions This Month 21
Filip Brokes in St Petersburg
See page 3
GET THE BEST CONTENT DELIVERED STRAIGHT INTO YOUR INBOX!
SIGN UP HERE
bne Tech
We have launched a new publication bneTech
A FREE newsletter covering technology, blockchain, ICOs, TMT and all aspects of the "new economy" in Emerging Europe, Central Asia and MENA.
*Please note by clicking the button you give permission for bne to send you e-mails as per the EU's GDPR rules.
SIGN UP HERE
Societe Generale’s local arm, state-owned Komer- cijalna Banka, Banka Postanska Stedionica and OTP Bank Serbia have agreed to lend €10mn each, with Vojvodjanska Banka to lend the remaining €30mn.
Dusan Bulatovic, head of Srbijagas, said that the construction of the stretch could begin in the first half of March 2019.
In October, Srbijagas said that it expects investment in the country's natural gas distribution network will amount to €3bn in the next five years. The money will be spent on building a natural gas pipeline con- necting the Bulgarian and Hungarian gas networks, which will be part of the Turk Stream gas pipeline.
The 109 km pipeline is one of the two large projects Srbijagas is planning, with the other being a gas pipeline from the border with Bulgaria to Hungary.
Meanwhile, in Bulgaria the opposition Democratic Bulgaria has called on the government not to sign any deal on Turkish Stream before providing solid proof that the project is worth the cost.
Earlier in December, the country's parliament gave the green light to state-owned gas company Bulgartransgaz to launch tenders to build the new 484km gas link that will carry mainly Russian natural gas from Turkey, bypassing Ukraine to the south. The construction is expected to cost €1.4bn.
According to Democratic Bulgaria, there is no guarantee that the project's cost will not exceed that sum and that Bulgaria will benefit from it.
At the end of November, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said that the country will generate a profit of €2.2bn within 20 years.
In Bulgaria, Gazprom reportedly plans to build almost 500 km of new pipelines as well as using part of the existing network. The gas will enter the country through the Nova Provadia station, while in Serbia it will enter via a new station near Zaychar. The route almost completely repeats that of the cancelled South Stream project.