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The Regions This Week
August 4, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Southeast Europe
Power firm Elektroprivreda BiH and broadcaster BHRT signed an agreement that could save the Bosnian public broadcaster from collapse. Ele- ktroprivreda BiH will collect licence fees for the state-level BHRT and the public broadcaster
of the Muslim-Croat Federation – RTV FBiH — through electricity bills from beginning of August, which should guarantee more stable financing for BHRT.
Moldova declared Russian Deputy Prime Min- ister Dmitry Rogozin persona non grata citing his “offensive statements” about the Moldovan authorities in a recent television interview. Rogo- zin entered a war of words with the Moldovan and Romanian authorities after both closed their air- space preventing him from attending an event in the Moldovan separatist republic of Transnistria.
Turkey’s Deputy PM Mehmet Simsek sought to assure German companies that their investments are safe in Turkey and that the ongoing diplomatic row between Ankara and Berlin will not affect their businesses. Turkey remains an open, liberal and investment-friendly country, Simsek told Ger- man weekly Der Spiegel.
Croatia’s neighbours objected to new import tariffs and stricter sanitary measures. Zagreb ex- panded the list of fruit and vegetables from non- EU third countries that will have to pass through phytosanitary checks at the border as well as hik- ing tariffs in a bid to protect Croatian farmers.
Hail the size of golfballs damaged cars, homes and shops in Turkey, and local insurance com- panies are consequently expected to face a huge rise in claim costs. The Borsa Istanbul Insurance Index was down 1.62% after the storm, while
the benchmark BIST-100 was down by 0.64% to 107,700.
Macedonia and Bulgaria signed a historic friend- ship treaty that opens the way for deeper coop- eration between the two neighbours on August
1. The treaty also strengthens Macedonia’s pros- pects for entry to the EU and Nato.
Russia’s Sberbank filed a criminal complaint against the owner of Croatia’s Agrokor, Ivica Todoric. The complaint is reportedly related to a €100mn loan extended to the troubled Croatian food and retail giant in March.
Montenegro’s banking sector increase its profit by 12.8% y/y to €16.04mn in the first half of 2017. However, the IMF warns that many of the 15 com- mercial banks operating in Montenegro could turn to loss as a consequence of even a modest fund- ing shock.
Romania approved a €9.8bn defence spend-
ing package for the period 2017-2026 aimed at upgrading the country’s military. Bucharest is currently stepping up military procurement. As a Nato member, Romania is committed to spend- ing 2% of GDP (€3.6bn per year approximately) on defence.
Turkey’s foreign trade deficit jumped 80.4%
y/y to $8.8bn in July having declined 9.1% y/y to $6.01bn in June. The government is forecasting a foreign trade deficit of $60.7bn for this year with exports reaching $153bn and imports amounting to $214bn.
US Vice President Mike Pence urged Montene- gro’s opposition parties to return to parliament at an unscheduled meeting in Podgorica during his tour of Estonia, Georgia and Montenegro. The opposition has been boycotting the work of parlia- ment since the October 16 general election.
UK DIY retailer Kingfisher acquired Romanian DIY chain Praktiker Romania. The deal will help Kingfisher, the parent company of Praktiker’s rival Brico Depot Romania, increase its presence on the Romanian DIY market, which is dominated by local Dedeman.