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June 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 18
the current crisis environment,” an analyst at investment broker The Share Centre Helal Miah said, adding that “out go stocks from sectors that have taken a beating and questions arise as to how and whether some of these can manage this crisis.”
Avast, founded in 1988 by Czech researchers Eduard Kucera and Pavel Baudis, is one of the pioneers in the field of computer security. In 2016, Avast bought the competing Czech antivirus company AVG. Avast is the second largest antivirus company in the world after Symantec in terms of sales.
Albania drafts legal framework to legitimise digital currency
Albania has drafted legal framework to legitimise the use of digital currency, which should be adopted in a parliament plenary session.
After the full adoption of the legislation, Albania will become the third country in Europe to have a comprehensive law to regulate the digital currency industry, following Malta and France.
On May 18 the Albanian parliament’s committee on economy and finance approved the set of laws opening the way for the digital currency industry to be regulated.
The bill on financial markets based on the distributed ledger technology (DLT) was presented by Finance and Economy Minister Anila Denaj.
“The draft law aims to regulate the conditions for licensing, exercising the activity of operators and stock exchanges and supervising them, as well as preventing abusive practices in the market, where severe fines are stipulated for anyone who violates the provisions of the law,” said Denaj.
The regulation of the DLT-based blockchain technology related to digital tokens and virtual currencies through this bill aims to stop the unauthorized use of DLT stock exchange in Albania, the parliament said in the statement.
Finnish start-up Happeo opens office in Romania
Finnish startup Happeo, a provider of intranet services for companies, is preparing to enter Romania, with an office in Cluj-Napoca, for which it has already started recruiting, Profit.ro reported.
"Talented people, a desire to succeed and delicious food – Romania is a country full of potential," the company explained its choice.
The company has attracted $12mn in a series A financing round led by investment fund INKEF Capital. It will use the money to accelerate product development and expand its teams in the Netherlands, Finland, Romania and the US.
Before this round of financing, the company was valued at $32mn-48mn , according to Dealroom data.
Happeo spun off from Finnish cloud solutions provider Gapps in 2017. Last year, it started to test the Romanian market for expansion.
The Finnish startup provides companies with a communication platform with employees and also functions as a social network for the latter. The company has two main hubs in Helsinki and Amsterdam, as well as teams of developers working remotely in Cluj-Napoca, Chicago, and Toronto. Happeo is currently hiring software developers for the new office in Romania.
Russian retailer Magnit teams up with Yandex on Moscow delivery
Russia's second-largest retailer Magnit started testing grocery delivery in Moscow with Yandex. Lavka, the delivery service of Russian internet major Yandex, the company reported on May 20.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, the competition in foodtech, e-groceries and delivery solutions has intensified amid a coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown spike in demand.
The biggest players are internet major Yandex