Page 9 - bne_newspaper_November_23_2018

The Regions This Week
November 23, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Southeast Europe
Former Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski was granted asylum in Hungary. Gruevski fled Macedonia to avoid serving a prison sentence in a case concerning the purchase of a luxury Mercedes from state funds.
French energy group Engie signed an agreement to buy natural gas from the Romanian Black Sea. Engie will buy 0.5bn cubic metres (cm) gas a year from Black Sea Oil & Gas, should the latter de- cide to continue investments at its Ana and Doina offshore fields.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey to release opposition politician Selahattin Demirtas of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) from prison. The ECHR said that behind his detention was the "ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate".
The Bulgarian parliament approved the resigna- tion of Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov and replaced him with Mariana Nikolova, who was until now head of cabinet, provoking mixed reac- tions among the public. Simeonov resigned in mid November after a month of protests demanding his dismissal.
Chinese company Norinco International started building a wind farm in Croatia, the government in Zagreb announced. The 156MW wind farm built by Norinco in the city of Senj will consist of 39 4MW turbines, and will cost an estimated €160mn.
Romania’s president rejected the government’s proposal for head of the anti-corruption body. President Klaus Iohannis said Adina Florea lacked the necessary legal requirements to head the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA). The government’s choice was also criticised by Romania’s magistrates body.
Severe climate changes are expected in Slovenia
by the end of the century, according to projections
from the Slovenian Environment Agency. It antici- pates a 6°C increase in average temperatures by 2100, and a significant increase in the number
of extreme weather events.
Kosovo will open a customs office in the Albani- an port of Durres to perform customs procedures for goods imported from Kosovo that will pass through Durres port terminal. This will facilitate the flow of goods imported by Kosovo via Albania.
Bosnia’s foreign trade deficit amounted to BAM6.2bn (€3.2bn) in the first ten months of 2018, up 4.9% y/y, data from the country’s sta- tistics office indicated. The trade gap is growing despite the government's efforts to boost exports and raise the competitiveness of local production.
Moldova’s central bank governor resigned.
Sergiu Cioclea said he had “fulfilled his mission”, even though there are still substantial challenges facing the country’s banking system, in particular the failure to recover the $1bn stolen from three commercial banks before 2015.
Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek started seismic tests in Montenegro as part of their efforts to determine whether they can extract oil, Montene- gro’s Hydrocarbon Directorate said in a statement. The consortium signed a deal with Montenegro on offshore oil and gas exploration in 2016.
Italy's Calzedonia opened its fifth factory in Serbia located in the northern city of Kula. Calze- donia, which produces socks, bathing suits and underwear, already has factories in the Serbian cities of Subotica, Sombor, Ruma and Apatin.
The number of foreign visitors to Turkey will hit a record high of 40mn this year, jumping nearly one-quarter from 32.41mn in 2017, Tourism Min- ister Mehmet Ersoy said. He added that reserva- tions already booked for 2019 indicated that next year would be far better than this year for Turkish tourism.