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The Regions This Week
August 4, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 5
Central Europe
Lithuania and Ukraine expressed anger after the Polish home affairs ministry proposed a new pass- port design that features depictions of the Ukrain- ian city of Lviv and Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Poland wants to introduce a new design of its passports as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary
of independence, which falls in 2018. New passport pages are set to feature background pictures relat- ing to the Polish history, some of them to be decided in online voting under way until September 10.
Chinese ride sharing company Didi Chuxing an- nounced a “strategic partnership” with Estonian peer Taxify. The partnership looks likely to allow Taxify to step up an aggressive expansion push. The Estonian company has thus far managed to roll out its services to 18 countries around the globe, but without attracting the controversy that has dogged Uber.
Vladimir Antonov, the notorious Russian banker, entrepreneur and football club owner who was accused of improperly transferring hundreds of millions of euros as his Lithuanian bank was be- ing nationalised, is back in the banking business by taking control of Russian Investment Alliance, Vedomosti reported, citing several bankers and people close to Antonov.
Czech exports are likely to continue to grow at
a heady rate to the end of the year, the Czech Association of Exporters forecast in a new report. Czech exports have put in a stronger than predict- ed performance so far this year thanks to strong activity and confidence in the Eurozone, and particularly Germany. The Czech Republic plays a significant role in the latter’s supply chain.
The Czech finance ministry expects the economy to expand by 3.1% in annual terms this year, before slowing to 2.9% in 2018, according to the latest quarterly economic forecast. The report illustrates a sharp rise in expectations, with the predictions both having been raised from 2.5% as forecast in the last report in late March.
Czech unemployment maintained its march to record lows in June, as the rate of joblessness amongst those aged 15-64 dropped 1.3pp y/y and 0.1pp in monthly terms to sit at a seasonally adjusted 2.9%. The data shows Czech unemploy- ment continues to set new all-time records and remains the lowest rate of joblessness in the EU.
The Budapest Stock Exchange’s (BSE) main BUX index climbed 1.04% on August 3 on HUF9.3bn turnover (€30.6mn) to close at an all-time high of 36,041.
Business circles close to Prime Minister Viktor Orban are set to further strengthen their grip on Hungarian media with new acquisitions on the radio and local newspaper markets, local media reported.
Poland will expand measures aimed at aiding mortgage borrowers under a draft bill sent to parliament by President Andrzej Duda on August 2. The legislation is a move by the presidential office to offer help to some 500,000 Poles that hold mortgages denominated in Swiss francs. Duda promised during his 2015 election campaign that he would deal with the issue. A sharp rise
for the Swiss currency has seen borrowers' instalments grow.
Polish financial market regulator KNF gave Raif- feisen Bank International (RBI) a new deadline of May 15, 2018 to float 15% of its Polish unit. Under the terms of its purchase of the business in 2012, the Austrian banking group was supposed to list Raiffeisen Bank Polska on the Warsaw Stock Exchange by June 30. However, RBI pulled the of- fer, citing insufficient interest.
The Polish government’s efforts to reform the judiciary, and consequent standoff with Brussels, could undermine investor confidence and ham- per economic growth, Moody’s warned.