Regional News

BULGARIA

REACHING ENERGY ENDEPENDENCE

Local gas extraction in the Black Sea is among the most realistic types of diversification of energy sources towards which the Bulgarian government is striving. According to Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova, this will help Bulgaria achieve energy independence. A drillship will begin deepwater exploration in the Khan Kubrat section, 120 kilometres off the Burgas coast, in a bid to reveal oil and gas deposits. Minister Petkova noted that Bulgaria has developed, together with the European Commission, a strategy for the construction of a gas distribution centre in Bulgaria and local extraction is among the possible sources of gas for the future Balkan gas hub.

ROMANIA

GERMAN STARTUP CO-FOUNDED BY ROMANIAN RAISES $33 MLN

KONUX, a Munich-based AI startup that provides smart sensor systems and AI-based analytics to railway companies, has raised a further $13 million in an extension of its Series B financing round, announced in April 2018, bringing the total amount raised in this financing round since last year to $33 million. The Series B round includes lead investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Upbeat Ventures, MIG AG and new investor Alibaba Group, the company announced. KONUX was co-founded in 2014 by Germans Andreas Kunze and Dennis Humhal, and Romanian Vlad Lata, who is also the chief technical officer (CTO). The company combines smart sensors and AI-based analytics to enable higher train punctuality and network capacity through predictive maintenance planning and optimized utilization of railroads. The company has engineering centers in Munich and Cluj-Napoca (Romania). The Romanian engineering team takes care of backend, DevOps and QA, according to a presentation on the company’s website.

HUNGARY

BOSCH TO INVEST €44 MLN AT HUNGARY BASE

German engineering giant Robert Bosch will invest 14.1 billion forints (€43.8mlm) at its automotive unit in the northeast Hungarian city of Miskolc. Hungary’s government is supporting the investment with €8.3mln, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told the press conference. Robert Bosch Energy and Body Systems makes vehicle parts, relays and electric drives. Among the parts it makes are next-generation products such as brake servomotors and ESP systems used in hybrid and electric cars. The current investment will add production lines for next-generation products as well as testing systems by 2021.

MLEKOPRODUKT

INTERNATIONAL CHEESE GUILD NAMES SERBIAN MEMBERS FOR THE FIRST TIME

Nine individuals from public, business and political life have been awarded with the medal of the “Brotherhood of St. Uguzon” in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to the promotion of cheese and cheese production. The first assembly of the International Cheese Guild in Serbia, and the 559th assembly generally, has been organised at the Embassy of France in Belgrade, according to the initiative of company Mlekoprodukt, a member of the Savencia Fromage & Dairy group. This occasion saw Belgrade visited by famous cheese expert and president of the guild Roland Barthelemy.

The brotherhood, which is part of the International Cheese Guild, accepted into its ranks French Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Frederic Mondolini, Serbian Economy Minister Goran Knežević, Guillaume Iskandar, head chef of Belgrade’s Langouste restaurant, Quentin Royer, president of company Delhaize, Goran Kovačević, general director of supermarket chain Gomex, Sreten Radović, director of publishing at Ringier Axel Springer, Igor Luković, editor of magazine Vino & Fino and member of the board of the Serbian Association of Sommeliers, and Thierry Leforestier, commercial director of the Savencia group. Mlekoprodukt CEO Andrej Beslać was awarded earlier that same day. The newly named members are tasked with continuing to spread the tradition of cheese production and consumption in the community, thereby ensuring greater visibility for domestic products from this industry. According to Mlekoprodukt’s CEO Beslać, “Mlekoprodukt produces 7,000 tonnes of dairy products annually, a considerable portion of which is cheese, and this amount is rising constantly. It is for this reason that the presence of this renowned Guild in Serbia, through its members from the local community, is very important.” He also emphasised that the establishing of an official Serbian chapter of the guild is planned, with the aim of developing the full potential of cheese production in Serbia. The International Guild of Cheese has existed for more than half a century and has 7,000 members in 45 countries. During the event declaring new guild members from Serbia, guests had the opportunity to enjoy selected French and Serbian wines alongside Mlekoprodkt’s cheeses, including Biser Selekta, Ile de France, Caprice des Dieux and Le Rustique.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

SARAJEVO CANTON JOINS EBRD GREEN CITIES

With the launch of a dedicated action plan Sarajevo Canton has joined EBRD Green Cities, a framework helping cities to articulate a sustainable development vision and their strategic objectives as well as defining actions and investments necessary to address priority environmental issues. As a first step the plan will identify the Sarajevo Canton’s environmental priorities using indicators developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an economic organisation, and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), a global network of cities. The aim is to develop long-term visions (10 years), mid-term targets (5-10 years) and short-term actions (1-5 years) together with local stakeholders, including civil society organisations. The action plan will be developed over the course of approximately 14 months before being considered for adoption by the Sarajevo Canton.

ALBANIA

YURA TO OPEN PLANT

South Korean cable manufacturer Yura has been offered state-owned land to build a factory in return for investment of around €13 million and creating an initial 600 jobs, in the first Albania investment of a company that is already present in the region. Yura Corporation has been offered a 4.9 hectare area just outside Fier, the country’s third largest city, to build its first Albania plant, in an initial €6.5 million investment which the company plans to double to €13 million in order to increase jobs to 1,100, says the Albanian finance ministry. “After also studying other regional countries, we picked Albania to invest because of its qualified labor force, competitive costs, geographical position, incentives and support by the Albanian Investment Development Agency,” said Yura representative Lukas Nam. The Albanian government says Yura plans to open two new plants in Albania and create a total of 4,000 jobs. Albania offers one of the region’s lowest labor costs with minimum wage at €210.

MONTENEGRO

INVESTMENT OF €4 MLN IN FIORTRESS OF MAMULA

All the preparatory work on the territory of the ancient fortress of Mamula, which is located on Lastavica Island at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor, will be completed by the end of March, and also a showroom will be created on the island for the presentation of all the possibilities and the 3D model of the future hotel-museum Mamula.

According to the information provided by the investor, the company Orascom Hotels Management Mamula Montenegro, this year €4 million will be invested in the reconstruction of the Mamula fortress and the construction of the five-star hotelmuseum Mamula. This year, it is planned to invest €160,000 for the reconstruction and expansion of the pier in the village of Miriste, as well as to ensure constant power supply, an electric network will be built to the Mamula fortress from the neighboring Cape Arza, for which another €500,000 will be allocated. The tenant paid the state an annual rent of €47,772 and invested €869,932. In total, at the moment, €2,103mln were spent on the project of the five-star hotel-museum of Mamula.

NORTH MACEDONIA

MEMORANDUM ON COOPERATION IN ENERGY SECTOR WITH KOSOVO

Skopje and Pristina will realize joint energy projects. This was said in a meeting held between North Macedonia’s economy minister, Kreshnik

Bekteshi and Kosovo’s economy minister, Valdrin Lluka, who signed a memorandum of cooperation in the energy sector. The first project to be implemented is the upgrade of the 220 kV transmission line between North Macedonia and Kosovo. Invitation of bids to build solar power plants backed by feed-in premiums will be issued very soon. In December last year, the Steering Committee of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) has decided to grant a €1 million for the feasibility study and the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) study for HPP Čebren.