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The Regions This Week
September 21, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 7
Southeast Europe
A Chinese consortium gave up a deal to build a new unit at Bosnia’s Tuzla coal-fired power sta- tion. The three Chinese companies – Gezhouba Group and Guandong Electric Power Design Institute and Dongfang Electric Corporation Lim- ited – blamed the parliament of the Muslim-Croat Federation for failing to approve the project on time.
Romanian winemaker Cramele Husi is in talks with Moldovan’s Purcari Wineries on a possi- ble takeover. Cramele, one of Romania’s largest wineries, owes over RON30mn (€6.45mn) to some 240 creditors.
The US government demanded the Turkish authorities immediately release NASA scientist Serkan Golge, a US citizen. Golge was arrested on charges of espionage and terror in July 2016, and later convicted of being a member of FETO, a group led by US-based self-exiled cleric Fethul- lah Gulen who Ankara claims masterminded the botched putsch two years ago.
Frontex teams will be deployed to help Serbia cope with a rising number of migrants. The move is aimed at increasing security of the EU’s exter- nal borders and is part of its anti-migrant opera- tions.
Moldovan President Igor Dodon called the or- ganisation of LGBT events “immoral” and said they “should probably made illegal”. Genderdoc NGO, which protects the rights of the LGTB com- munity in Moldova, called the Moldovan presi- dent’s statement an instigation to discrimination.
Slovenian President Borut Pahor proposed Pri- moz Dolenc as central bank governor. Dolec has been in charge as acting governor of Banka Slovenije since May when Bostjan Jazbec left the governor position.
Albania will tap international money markets on September 24 with an issue of a Eurobond worth
€500mn. The Eurobond is aimed at refinancing the country’s external debt and reducing pressure on internal financial markets.
The EBRD paid the first tranche of a €12mn loan to Kosovan telecoms company Kujtesa to support its expansion plans. The loan will encourage com- petition in the telecoms sector in Kosovo, where Kujtesa is one of the bigger players.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev backed down in a standoff with the government over the ap- pointment of three new ministers. Radev had refused to release one of the nominees from his previous post, accusing Prime Minister Boyko Bo- rissov’s government of breaching procedure.
The Croatian Employers Association warned of a “dramatic” lack of workers. Croatia has already raised foreign worker quotas to help tackle the lack of local workforce in the critical tourism sec- tor.
A new solar plant will be built close to Monte- negro’s capital Podgorica. Southeast Europe has high potential for renewable energy generation, but, to date there has been relatively little invest- ment except in hydropower facilities.
Turkish consumer confidence took a walloping,
with the consumer sentiment reading showing its biggest decline in at least 14 years in September, falling 13% m/m. That is the sharpest monthly de- cline recorded since 2004 when the index was first compiled, and follows the 7% m/m drop posted in August.
Romania’s non-performing loan (NPL) ratio edged up for the first time in 18 months, as calcu- lated under the EBA definition, reaching 5.77% in July from 5.71% in June, the central bank report- ed. The rise in the ratio could prompt speculation about the impact of the rising interest rate on the quality of banks’ portfolios and the level of house- hold indebtedness.