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The Regions This Week
October 13, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 7
Southeast Europe
Three ministers resigned from the Romanian
cabinet as Prime Minister Mihai Tudose tightened his grip on the government. Those who stepped down included Deputy Prime Minister Sevil Sa- hideh, a close ally of PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, who until recently has exerted informal control over the government despite not holding a cabinet position.
A Chinese-funded industrial park near the Serbian capital will provide space for over 1,000 high-tech companies. There are hopes the park, which will receive finance from three major Chi- nese banks — Export-Import, Development Bank and Construction Bank — will turn Serbia into the innovation and technology leader for Southeast Europe.
Montenegro could be heading for early elections in 2018. Local media report the ruling DPS is close to a decision on snap elections as the op- position has boycotted the parliament since the October 2016 general election.
Around 50% of Albanian and Bosnian citizens are considering emigration, the latest Balkan Opinion Barometer showed. The number of Albanians keen to leave their home country has increased since 2015, while the number has fallen in Bosnia.
Bulgarian retail sales (at constant prices) in- creased 3% y/y in August, improving from a revised 2.4% y/y growth in July. Food and non-food prices both rose while the contraction in automo- tive fuel prices eased somewhat.
Nato launched a new multinational force in Craiova, southern Romania as part of its Forward presence in the southeastern alliance states. The move is aimed at countering Russia along Nato’s eastern flank and checking a growing Russian presence in the Black Sea following the Kremlin’s 2014 seizure of Crimea.
The parliament in Zagreb approved plans for a
commission to look into alleged wrongdoings at Croatian food and retail giant Agrokor. A recently published audit at Agrokor reveals €440mn worth of previously undisclosed liabilities at the troubled group.
Long-idled Macedonian ferrosilicon producer Jugohrom is expected to resume work soon. The industrial company, which was shut in No- vember 2016, has promised to install a new air filter system which will enable it to obtain an ecological permit and resume operations.
The IMF lowered its 2017 growth forecast for Bosnia to 2.5%. This puts Bosnia at the bottom of the Fund's Emerging and Developing Europe group in terms of GDP growth along with Macedonia.
Bulgaria's industrial production increased 4.9% y/y in August, improving from a revised 4.6% y/y rise in July. The increase was supported by im- proving performance in the mining sector.
Serbia will open new EU negotiation chapters by end-2017, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said after a visit to Brussels. Serbia aims to finish its negoti- ation process for EU membership by 2020 or 2021, and has already opened ten of its 35 accession chapters, with two being provisionally closed.
Production of the EcoSport small SUV at Ford’s plant in Romania started on October 12. The deci- sion to build the new EcoSport in Europe rather than continue to import the vehicle from Ford’s plant in Chennai, India, will help Ford respond to rising customer demand.
A Swedish court attached around $100mn of as- sets of the Kazakh state in favour of Moldovan investor Anatol Stati. The latest court decision was part of Stati’s efforts to recover the money he invest- ed before 2010 in two companies holding operating licenses for two natural gas fields in Kazakhstan.