Page 11 - bne_newspaper_July_06_2018 700.png

The Regions This Week
July 6, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
Southeast Europe
CEFC’s acquisition of 51% of Romania-focussed
KMG International will not be completed given the Chinese investor’s financial problems. Several other deals in Central and Eastern Europe have fallen through after it was revealed that CEFC chairman Ye Jianming is being investigated in China for alleged economic crimes.
The largest network of hotels in Poland and in Eastern Europe, Orbis Hotel Group, has signed an agreement to purchase Mercure Bucharest Unirii hotel in Romania for €11.35mn. Orbis’ CEO called Romania an attractive market with strong potential.
Thousands protested in the Moldovan capital Chisinau after the High Court upheld a lower court’s decision to invalidate the Chisinau mayoral elections. The vote was won by pro-EU opposition politician Andrei Nastase, who has accused ruling coalition leader Vlad Plahotnuic of influencing the courts against him.
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is heading towards a crisis as the party’s presidential candidate Muharrem Ince, who lost the race to President Recep Tayyip Er- dogan in the June 24 polls, has moved to topple the party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
President Borut Pahor will hold a second round of talks with political parties in an attempt to form
a new government in Slovenia. No party secured enough seats in the parliament to form a govern- ment after the June 3 general election.
Creditors of Croatia’s highly indebted food and retail giant Agrokor approved the debt-for-eq- uity settlement, the company said. 80.2% of the creditors voted in favour of the deal that will make Russian Sberbank its largest shareholder.
Prime Minister Edi Rama confirmed that Alba- nia is preparing for a new Eurobond issue, as conditions on the market are favourable. The Eurobond placement is aimed at refinancing the
country’s external debt and reducing pressure on internal financial markets.
Russian overseas state oil agency Zarubezh- neft is reportedly ready to cut its stake in Bos- nian refineries Brod and Modric, Vedomosti daily said citing the head of the company Sergei Kudryashov. Zarubezhneft plans to focus on upstream activities, and the two Bosnian refineries are its only downstream assets.
The spat between two Bulgarian cabinet ministers deepened, when Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Sime- onov referred Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova to the Bulgarian prosecution. Simeonov claims Angelk- ova’s ministry illegally approved the construction of bars and restaurants at the Sunny Beach resort.
Macedonia’s main opposition party, VMRO- DPMNE, filed treason charges Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and other top officials and MPs. VMRO-DPMNE says the conclusion and adoption of the name deal with Greece is “unconstitutional and unlawful”.
Turnover on the Montenegro Stock Exchange (MNSE) sank 48.5% y/y to just €3.95mn in June, after jumping to €70mn a month earlier. The most-traded shares were in insurance company Generali Osiguranje Montenegro and in oil firm Jugopetrol.
Russia’s second-biggest lender VTB decided to sell its Serbian subsidiary VTB banka a.d. Beo- grad. The Russian lender has been mulling a sale since it took over the bank as part of its acquisi- tion of Bank of Moscow.
Turkish energy company Guris is set to open the first ever wind farm in Kosovo, as part of the country’s efforts to reach EU renewable energy standards. Kosovo relies mostly on thermal plant power production, but it frequently faces short- ages of electricity due to the lack of investments in modernisation of the current facilities.