Natural gas prices skyrocketed in the second half of 2021 and 2022, as sanctions on imports from Russia, disturbances in natural gas supply and concerns regarding potential supply shortages affected the market and led to price spikes, Eurostat found in its new annual survey. Along with lower nuclear power plant
Polish President Andrzej Duda outlined five key areas for action for NATO on Tuesday, after international consultations in The Hague, The Netherlands, ahead of the upcoming summit of the alliance in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 11-12 July. To help prepare for next week’s summit, Duda met NATO Secretary General Jens
Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries may hinder the EU’s ability to meet its climate goals, according to campaigners who are concerned about their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has emphasised the European Union’s commitment to achieving a net-zero power
Romania last year recorded the EU’s lowest level of prices for consumer goods and services in households, 42% below the EU average, according to the Romanian National Institute of Statistics (INS), www.digi24.ro reported. Romanian prices are followed by Bulgaria (41% below the EU average) and Poland (38%
The ceremonial groundbreaking event took place on Friday in the Republika Srpska (RS) entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for the Dabar Hydropower Plant, which will be constructed by China Gezhouba Group. This project is a significant milestone as it marks the largest hydropower undertaking by Chinese companies in Central
An apparent attempted coup d’etat led by the head of a mercenary group in Russia over the weekend set off emergency responses across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) on Sunday, 26 June. Mercenary fighters of the Wagner private army, run by former Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, pressed on across
Greek conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s gamble paid off on Sunday, as he won a landslide victory in the country’s second election in five weeks. When Mitsotakis beat the opposition centre-left Syriza party in May, his party fell just short of a majority in the 300-seat parliament. He then
Austria (26%) and Estonia (23%) had the EU’s highest proportions of organic land within their total utilised agricultural area (UAA) in 2020, according to recent data released by Eurostat. In 2021, the area used for organic farming expanded to 15.9mn hectares (ha) – or just under 10% of the
US firm Intel plans to build a semiconductor production and testing plant at Miekinia, near Wroclaw, western Poland, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday, 16 June. The factory, to be located in the “Legnica Special Economic Zone”, is expected to cost USD 4.6bn, and employ around 2,
Russian bank Sberbank announced its complete withdrawal from the European banking market with the sale of its remaining shares in a EU member country on Friday, 16 June, state news agency TASS reported. As recently as the end of 2020, the bank’s total assets in the bloc totalled EUR
Poland’s first agrivoltaic farm, with a target 1GW capacity could be constructed in northern Poland, Gazeta Wyborcza reported Sunday, 18 June. German green energy investor Kelfield signed a letter of intent on the project with Polish photovoltaic manufacturer Corab, at the Intersolar Europe fair in Munich earlier in the
Incoming Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stressed the importance of the EU and NATO, on Thursday, 15 June, in his first speech since becoming premier. Romania’s new government has been officially confirmed by the parliament, and it includes former EU permanent representative Luminita Odobescu as foreign minister. After being
Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic will remain the world’s second-youngest state leader, it was confirmed at the Balkan country’s parliamentary elections on Sunday, 11 June. Milatovic, 36, deputy leader of the victorious Europe Now group, said during election weekend that “I am optimistic that, through direct dialogue and stronger
Romania will inaugurate its first new airport in over 50 years this week, with the goal of serving over one million customers annually by 2026, local media reported. Aeroportul International Brasov (Brasov-Ghimbav International Airport) will be the country’s third largest, after Henri Coanda near Bucharest, and Cluj-Napoca, west Romania.
Czechia is poised to start a massive construction of solar and wind power plants to secure cheap and ecological electricity supply, Environment Minister Petr Hladik (KDU-CSL) told members of the press on Thursday. “We have the resources for this: it is possible and realistic,” Hladik said, as he unveiled a
Poland outstretched all of its EU peers for growth in the first quarter of 2023, the bloc’s official statistics office Eurostat reported in its revised data. In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) – and Europe as a whole – Poland had the highest growth rate of 3.8%, ahead of Croatia
A massive mobilisation of Polish opposition voters and leaders estimated at up to half a million people took to the streets of Warsaw to protest the country’s nationalist government on Sunday, 4 June, Gazeta Wyborcza reported. Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) party is currently seven percentage
The EU’s official statistics office Eurostat details the effects of the bloc’s sanctions and trade restrictions regarding Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, in its latest report. Eurostat notes that exports and imports both remain below pre-invasion levels. In terms of
Hungarian investment holding Oriens is fast becoming a major player in Czech retail, Slovak business daily Hospodarske Noviny (HN) reports. Oriens has private equity investments in Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia. Having fully acquired Flosman in 2021, it now plans to take over the shops of peer Pramen CZ. The Pramen
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Moldova “the political heart of Europe”, when she met Moldovan President Maia Sandu in the capital city of Chisinau at the second Summit of the European Political Community on Wednesday 31st May. Von der Leyen thanked Moldova for showing “solidarity, which you
Leaders in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his re-election on Sunday, 28 May, after a tough election campaign that posed a significant challenge to his two-decade-long rule. Having sealed another five years in power, Erdogan holds a position of considerable influence in regional
Only 4.48 million EU citizens aged 15 to 29 found themselves unemployed last year, according to the latest data from the EU’s official statistics agency Eurostat. This constituted 6.3% of those in that age group, a historic low since 2009, it added. The lowest rate in Central
“Romania, and Europe, have lost the battle with China in certain segments, such as battery production, but we are trying to recover this gap,” Romanian Economy Minister Florin Spataru said on Thursday 25 May, state news agency Agerpres reported. “How do we manage to have a balanced approach in the
Having committed to becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, the EU faces a major challenge and companies will have to play a part in this, Slovak business daily Hospodarske Noviny (HN) wrote in a wide-ranging article on the implications of environmental, social, governance (ESG) goals. The bloc’s ESG
Electric and hybrid cars are gaining ground in Romania, as the segment represented over 20% of all new cars sold in the country in the first four months of 2023, digi24.ro reports, citing data from the Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Importers (APIA). Sales of electric cars have consequently