Page 4 - bne_newspaper_September_21_2018

The Regions This Week
September 21, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 4
Central Europe
Poland is pushing for a permanent US military presence to strengthen defence capabilities against Russia. Warsaw is ready to table $2bn for the US to establish a permanent military base, which might be called “Fort Trump”, Polish Presi- dent Andrzej Duda told his US peer Donald Trump during a meeting in the White House.
Walmart stopped selling clothes with Soviet symbols after the three Baltic states objected. The retail giant informed Lithuania’s ambassador to the US that the offering items — which include t-shirts adorned with hammer and sickles — will be removed from its stores.
Hungary will not withdraw its Stop Soros pack- age of laws or its related constitutional amend- ment, according to the government's response to the European Commission. The EC launched an infringement procedure against Hungary over the Stop Soros laws and the constitutional amend- ment in July.
Slovak GDP will expand by 4.1% in 2018 and
the growth will accelerate to 4.5% in 2019 chiefly thanks to carmakers’ exports, the finance minis- try's financial policy institute said. Unlike neigh- bouring Czechia, Slovakia has its peak ahead and should be one of the most rapidly growing coun- tries in the EU in 2019.
Czech-based refiner Unipetrol will delist from the Prague Stock Exchange effective from Sep- tember 26. The main reason for the decision to go private follows from the refiner’s annual general meeting, which approved squeezing out the re- maining minority shareholders.
German premium carmaker Audi will manu-
facture electric cars at its base in Hungary’s Gyor. All of Audi's basic models will come with an electric option by 2025 as e-mobility is Audi's mis- sion, said Abraham Schot, the interim chairman of Audi's management board.
The Lithuanian parliament backed a new demo- graphic strategy amid concerns over population decline. The 12-year strategy will aim to raise the birth rate, reduce emigration, promote re-emigra- tion and improve the quality of life of the ageing population.
The Czech branch of Transparency International urged the European Commission to launch an investigation into graft allegations against Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. The watchdog claims that Babis is in a conflict of interest over his agricultural empire Agrofert.
The number of job vacancies in Latvia jumped 46.6% y/y in the second quarter, data from the Latvian Central Statistical Bureau showed. The growth is hardly a surprise in the context of the tightening of the labour market, driven by demo- graphics.
Czech carmaker Skoda Auto will open a new data centre with the total output of 15 peta- FLOPS or 15bn operations per second. Measured by output, it will be the biggest company comput- ing centre in Czechia.
CED Group investors decided to sell their 12.42% share in Czech soft drinks group Kofola Cesko- Slovensko. Kofola is one of the most important European soft drinks companies, with seven factories in Czechia, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.