Page 5 - bne_newspaper_May_25_2018

The Regions This Week
May 25, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 5
Central Europe
A Czech mobile radar deal with Israel is in dan- ger after the defence ministry found ‘extremely serious’ flaws. Czech caretaker defence minister Karla Slechtova said that an inspection has uncov- ered “extremely serious findings” in a CZK3.5bn (€136mn) tender for mobile radar units with Israel.
Investment company Solar Mark opened a new solar power plant near the Hungarian-Austrian border. It marked the first such investment fi- nanced solely by private capital and bank loans instead of state or EU funds.
Maltese anti-money laundering agency FIAU re- quested Latvia’s assistance in probing a case linked to the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Valetta wants the Latvian authorities to assist in investigating suspicious money transfers to Dubai company 17 Black via the failed Latvian bank ABLV.
Lithuanian industrial production grew 3% y/y in April on a calendar-adjusted basis, according to data from Statistics Lithuania. The April read- ing comes well below output growth of 11.5% y/y recorded in March, but still marks the 20th con- secutive month of expansion.
Slovakia’s agricultural sector needs an over- haul, said President Andrej Kiska. He pointed out that the country's agricultural sector lacks
a long-term development concept and lamented that its problems are only now gaining attention in the wake of the apparent assassination of a jour- nalist investigating related EU subsidies fraud.
Polish state controlled oil and gas company PKN Orlen will buy the remaining 5.97% stake in Czech-based refiner Unipetrol and delist it
from the Prague Stock Exchange. If the offer is cleared by the Czech National Bank, Orlen will ex- ecute full control of the Czech refiner, which owns Czechia’s two refineries at Litvinov and Kralupy.
The co-founder and owner of Hungary's flagship retail chain CBA is selling his remaining share in the company. Laszlo Baldauf is seen as having close ties to the ruling Fidesz, which has made great efforts to strengthen domestic ownership in the retail sector.
The Latvian unemployment rate continued to fall, dropping 1.2pp on the year to 8.2% in the first quarter, according to data released by the Central Statistical Bureau. This points to the continuing tightening of the Latvian labour market, which in- fluences wage growth and along with it consump- tion as important drivers of economic growth.
State-controlled Polish power company PGE announced a call to buy a 100% stake in Polen- ergia, a listed energy company that focuses on renewable energy. The move is in line with PGE’s recently updated strategy to gradually move away from coal-based power generation to cleaner energy from gas or wind.
Almost 13% of the Slovak population (650,000 people) were at risk of falling below the poverty line last year, Statistics Office chairman Alexander Ballek said. Ballek also stressed the high level of regional disparity.
Estonia's producer price index (PPI) grew 2.1% y/y in April, according to data released by Statistics Estonia. The headline figure comes 0.8pp below the 2.9% annual expansion in March, still extending the current trend of PPI inflation to 19 months.
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