Page 11 - bne_newspaper_January_18_2019

The Regions This Week
January 18, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
Southeast Europe
A coal miners’ strike is pushing up the electricity price in Romania. State-owned coal and electricity producer CE Oltenia's coal stocks are nearly de- pleted following a strike by miners at the company, pushing spot electricity prices to new all-time re- cords. Imports might surge to 20% of consumption with a major impact on the spot market.
Turkish prosecutors issued an international arrest warrant for New York Knicks basketball player Enes Kanter. Kanter, a 26-year-old centre at the NBA club, is accused of having links with armed groups said by Ankara to have been behind the July 2016 failed coup. The athlete denies the allegations.
The name deal with Macedonia shook the Greek government. However, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won a confidence vote after his coalition partner left the cabinet over the name deal that was passed by the Macedonian parliament last week.
Moldova’s central bank confiscated major stakes in two banks, Banca de Finante si Comert (Fin- combank) and Energbank. The move comes after Moldova’s central bank previously took similar steps against the country’s three largest banks.
The European Union is to limit imports of steel into the bloc from countries including Turkey following US President Donald Trump's imposition of metals tariffs. All steel imports will be subject to an effective cap until July 2021.
Slovenia's gross external debt stood at €42.64bn at end-November last year, slightly down from €42.69bn at end-October. Slovenia’s external debt has been on a downward trend, and both for- eign debt and the country’s public debt are ex- pected to keep decreasing on the back of robust economic growth.
Albania’s most wanted drug trafficker Klement Balili surrendered to police after nearly three years on the run. 48-year old Balili, known as “Escobar of the Balkans”, allegedly led an illegal network also operating in some EU countries, mainly Greece.
Croatia scrapped a deal to buy twelve F-16 fighter jets from Israel. The agreement was complicated by the fact that the Israelis had made technical upgrades to the F-16s and the US de- manded that Israel return the jets to their original condition before transferring them to Croatia.
Kosovan teachers went on strike, demanding
a 30% pay rise. However, the Council of Kosovo Students asked teachers to stop the strike, saying it violates the right to education.
Russia cannot agree to Bosnia’s membership
in Nato, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov said. The statement comes at a time when politicians in the Balkan state have been unable to agree to move forward with activation of its Nato Membership Action Plan (MAP).
Far-right Deputy Prime Minister Krassimir Karakachanov called Bulgaria’s Roma minority “insolent” and claimed "the patience of Bulgar- ian society has ended”. The comment triggered calls for Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to sack his deputy, a member of the nationalist United Patriots.
The founders of Romanian software company Bittnet Systems sold 14% of the company’s shares in special deals on the Bucharest Stock Exchange’s alternative trading system AeRO. The deals were part of the share exchange involved in the takeover of part of peer company Crescendo International sealed at the end of last year.