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The Regions This Week
April 20, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Southeast Europe
Opposition parties urged the Bulgarian government to abandon the Belene nuclear power plant project. Sofia is currently mulling its options after so far spending €1.5bn on the stalled project to build the country’s second nuclear power plant.
The Western Balkans countries pledged to reduce prices for mobile roaming in the region and with European Union countries at a summit in Skopje. Other conclusions of the summit include a pledge to improve access to broadband.
Montenegro’s high court delayed the trial of opposition leader Nebojsa Medojevic. Medojevic, one of the leaders of the pro-Russian Democratic Front, has been charged with money laundering.
German consumer goods manufacturer Henkel opened a new factory in the Serbian town of Krusevac. The investment is worth €20mn and will create jobs for 50 people.
Turkish clothing retailer DeFacto plans to open 330 new stores through 2020. The company will use proceeds from a planned IPO scheduled for May to pay its outstanding debts and fund the opening of the stores.
The international consortium that upgraded the Bucharest-Constanta railway is suspected of bribing Romanian officials. The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) claims it paid €20mn to Romanian officials including former finance minister Sebastian Vladescu.
Macedonia is drawing up a new reform
plan, dubbed “Plan 18”, after it received a recommendation from the European Commission to start EU accession negotiations. “Plan 18” will replace the previous 3-6-9 reform plan, which was adopted by the current government that came
to power in May 2017, and has been successfully implemented.
Kosovo will delay the introduction of fees on imports of dairy products from Bosnia, seeking to find a compromise and cancel the measure completely. Pristina recently decided to impose fees after an increase in dairy imports from Bosnia in 2017, in order to protect its domestic producers.
Turkish Summa Group is developing a second Radisson Hotel and two skyscrapers in the Moldovan capital Chisinau. Construction work has already started, although the developments have not been officially confirmed yet, local media said.
Albania’s opposition Democratic Party is on the verge of splitting. A splinter group says it will form a new party as it disagrees with the Democrats’ strategy of civil disobedience.
Croatia is poised to sign the contract on construction of the Peljesac bridge with a consortium led by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). The project has already proved controversial: Bosnia has sought to block construction as it will restrict access to the Bosnian port of Neum, while Austria’s Strabag, which bid to build the bridge, has challenged the decision to pick CRBC.
Employees in the Romanian public healthcare and social assistance sectors will go on strike on May 11 as they are unhappy with the bill on public sector wages, the Sanitas trade union announced. Saints claims that while doctors and nurses’ salaries have risen, other healthcare workers have seen their take-home pay reduced.
The IMF raised its 2018 growth forecast for Turkey to 4.4%, up 0.9pp from its previous forecast. This is well below the 7% expansion Turkey achieved in 2017, and growth is expected to slow further to 3.7% in 2019.