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Eurasia
March 9, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 25
Thousands of kilometres away on the Adriatic coast, tiny Montenegro also has an “enormous” debt problem. At the heart of this is the Bar- Boljare motorway project, which will link the country’s main port to the Serbian transport network. The highway is estimated to be the most expensive road per kilometre in Europe because of Montenegro’s mountainous terrain, and is being funded almost entirely by a €689mn loan from China Exim Bank. Despite the burden this will place on Montenegro’s finances, the government is reportedly considering additional Chinese funding for a controversial project to expand the Pljevlja power plant after a deal with the Czech Export Bank fell through in 2016.
Other countries from the region, in particular
Armenian parliament elects Armen Sarkissian as new president
Carmen Valache in Berlin
With 90 votes in favour, 10 against and one invalidated vote, the Armenian parliament has elected Armen Sarkissian to become the country's next president.
A former physics professor at Cambridge and a longstanding ambassador to the UK, Sarkissian ran unopposed and has no political affiliation, but was endorsed for the post by outgoing President Serzh Sargsyan (no relation) and the ruling Republican Party (HHK).
The result was largely expected. Not only did Sarkissian run unopposed while HHK controls the
Belarus — whose President Alexander Lukashenko saidlast year there is “probably no country in Europe closer to China” — and Bosnia & Herzegovina as the site of several potentially Chinese funded power plants, are also set to see a hike in debt as BRI related projects get underway. However, according to the Center for Global Development report, total public debt should remain low enough to mitigate the likelihood of default.
Other countries that are heavily involved in OBOR projects, notably Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are not included in the Center for Global Development analysis, with the think tank claiming they are "all 'not rated' countries that are at a low risk of debt distress".
Armen Sarkissian seen at a World Economic Forum event in Turkey in 2008.
majority of votes in parliament, but the largest opposition party, Prosperous Armenia, also endorsed the candidate in the days leading up to the vote.
Sarkissian will take over from Sargsyan when the latter's second term in power expires on April 9, but will have significantly less powers compared to his predecessor. That is because, as per the results of a referendum in December 2015, Armenia will switch to a parliamentary republic come April, and most of the president's former responsibilities will be passed over to the prime minister who is appointed by the party that