Σάββατο 23 Οκτωβρίου 2010

Business: Mercator to boost presence in Bulgaria


22/10/2010
Slovenia's Mercator plans to open more stores in Bulgaria. Also in business news: the EIB will invest around 500m euros in Croatia this year, and a majority of Telekom Srbija is for sale.
Slovenia's leading retail chain Mercator plans to invest 80m euros in its Bulgarian operations by 2012, local media reported on Wednesday (October 20th). The company plans to launch the development of its Roda chain in the country this year -- opening three stores at a cost of 10m euros. The chain, which joined the Bulgarian market last year, aims to achieve a 3% share of the company's retail market by the end of 2012.
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The IMF executive board approved on October 15th the second and third reviews under the 1.2 billion-euro stand-by arrangement with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and approved the disbursement of 132.8m euros in funding. The total disbursements under the programme thus reached 379.4m euros.
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The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest around 500m euros in Croatia this year, Phillipe Maystadt, president of the institution, said during a lecture in Zagreb on October 15th. In particular, the EIB is will invest in the railway sector and support small and medium-sized enterprises. Maystadt said the EIB will help Croatia prepare projects to take advantage of EU funds that will become available upon joining the bloc.
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Serbia launched a tender for the sale of 51% of Telekom Srbija on Wednesday (October 20th), in accordance with a recent decision by the government. Preliminary bids will be accepted by November 26th. Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said the sale is expected to generate at least 1.4 billion euros. The state holds 80% stake in Telekom Srbija, while Greece's OTE owns the remaining 20%.
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Albania's foreign debt was 3.3 billion euros at the end of 2009, the Bank of Albania said in a report published on Monday (October 18th). About 50% was accrued by the government, while the rest was borrowed by the private sector. The debt accounts for 38.2% of the country's GDP.
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Kosovo has the youngest population and the poorest economy in Europe, a report by the Kosovar Stability Initiative (IKS) revealed on Wednesday (October 20th). Every fourth Kosovar is between 15 and 24-years-old, while 73% of the population are unemployed, according to the think tank. Educating, empowering and employing youths remain top challenges for Kosovo in its European integration process, the report said.
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Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis announced on Wednesday (October 20th) that Qatar has dropped plans to invest 3.5 billion euros in an energy hub in Greece. Qatar Petroleum and the Qatar Investment Authority were unable to agree with their Greek partners on the viability of the project, Kouvelis said.
(Various sources -- 15/10/10-22/10/10)
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.

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