Page 6 - bne_newspaper_June_22_2018

The Regions This Week
June 22, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Central Europe
Czech carmakers and component suppliers' sales increased by 7% y/y in 2017 to a record- breaking CZK1.09 trillion (€42bn). The carmakers had a profit of CZK614bn, which represents
an increase of 10% y/y, the Czech Automotive Industry Association said.
Hungarian soft drink makers pledged to halve the sugar and calorie content of their products from 2010 levels by the end of 2020. Members of the Hungarian Mineral Water, Fruit Juice and Soft Drink Association are reworking their recipes, cutting back on sugar content and expanding their offering of low-calorie and zero-calorie products, the association said.
The EBRD invested in the Port of Tallinn’s operator to support its IPO. The development bank took a 3.6% stake in infrastructure company AS Tallinna Sadam, whose majority owner remains the Estonian government.
Lithuania should be prepared for a Russian invasion, President Dalia Grybauskaite said
in an interview with Der Spiegel. However, the Lithuanian president added that if her country demonstrates that it is able and willing to defend itself, no one will attack.
The original Czech maker of most of Europe's hospital and nursing beds, Linett Group, is in talks with private investors to sell a stake in the group. Sources close to the deal told Reuters that two influential private equity investors, Advent and CVC, are interested.
The Latvian central bank lowered its 2018 growth forecast to 3.9% from an earlier projection of 4.1%. The downgrade reflects a stronger than previously expected decline in activity in the scandal-hit financial sector and declining optimism about
the external environment.
Capacity constraints are slowing growth in Hungary's construction sector, with workforce shortages being the main problem, industry representatives say. Still, the output of the sector climbed 14.2% y/y in April, bouncing back from
a sluggish 1.4%, data released by the Central Statistics Office 15 show.
Estonian online ID verification startup Veriff raised $7.7mn of venture capital in a funding round led by Mosaic Ventures. The company plans to use the finance for product development and to expand to the US.
The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) plans to spend €800mn in Slovakia to promote social programmes, CEB governor Rolf Wenzel and Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kazimir said. The bank will collaborate with the Slovak Investment Holding on the social projects, while other co-funding enter- prises will be under the Czech environment ministry.
The Lithuanian goods transport sector saw its growth rate pick up speed y/y in Q1. The volume of goods moved by the Lithuanian transport industry grew 16.3% y/y in the first quarter, though this represented a slowdown from the 15.8% annual expansion in the preceding three months, data released by Statistics Lithuania showed.
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