Page 9 - bne IntelliNews Georgia country report November 2017

The Regions This Week
November 11, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Central Europe
Latvia is one of the countries to be put on the EU’s blacklist of tax havens in a bid to crack down on tax dodging that was highlighted by the Paradise Papers. Around 50 countries may be put on the list.
There are no plans for a Czexit according to Andrej Babis, who is set to become Czechia’s next prime minister. He sent a letter to foreign ambassadors in Prague saying he has no intention of taking Czechia out of the EU or
Nato, despite being a “eurocritic”. Pro EU Czech politicians are concerned that Babis will pave the way for a Czexit referendum.
The Czech presidential elections has begun with candidates accusing each other of corruption, ill health and boorishness among other things. A total of 19 candidates registered for the presidential race before the deadline on November 7 although it is thought that only half meet all the requirements to stand.
The long-running border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia is closer to arbitration now that two bills have been passed by Slovenian’s parliament committee. The adopted changes
to the land register act and changes to the maritime fisheries act were necessary for the
implementation of an arbitration ruling on the border dispute.
Economic growth in Central Europe has prompt- ed The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to significantly increase its fore- casts for all countries in the region. Higher ex- ports and rising levels of investment on the back of improving commodity prices have influenced the strong economic performance.
Czech consumer price inflation hit a five-year high in October rising by 0.5% on a m/m basis bringing the rate to 2.9%. The year-on-year infla- tion rate is now the highest since October 2012.
Estonia is to replace Latvia as the fastest growing economy in the Baltics, this year according to the European Commission’s prediction in its Autumn Economic 2017 Forecast. It predicts Estonia’s economy is likely to register 4.2% this year and Latvia’s 3.8%.
Czech Republic-based broadcaster CME could be bought by a group of Slovak and Czech oligarchs, according to local media. Talks are informal at the moment as Time Warner has not yet announced its plans to sell the TV station but it is reportedly expecting €2bn for the acquisition.
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