Russian state-owned Gazprom and Hungarian energy group MVM signed a ten-year gas-supply agreement at the end of August. Under the deal, effective 1 October, Gazprom transits 4.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas to Hungary annually via two routes: 3.5bn through a new pipeline via Serbia and 1bn
After years of non-engagement, the outgoing Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis appears to have discovered a new-found enthusiasm for the “Three Seas Initiative” (TSI), and is set to plunge EUR 20 million into a controversial TSI project. The TSI was created to improve connections among 12 EU member states including
Volkswagen will decide on the location of a new battery cell plant in Central and Eastern Europe in the first half of 2022, the German carmaker announced. Each of the V4 countries – Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – are in the running to host the facility. Volkswagen has announced
Peter Marki-Zay, the 49-year-old conservative mayor of Hodmezovasarhely, south Hungary, was announced as the winner of the Hungarian opposition primaries on Sunday night. He told cheering crowds in downtown Budapest that “our task now is to convince those who are undecided and even bring over disappointed Fidesz voters, in order
Slovakia’s capital city Bratislava is having difficulty getting EU funding after the rapid rise in its GDP per capita in recent years. As with many Central and Eastern European capitals, Bratislava’s wealth has climbed well above the EU average, meaning that the city no longer qualifies for EU
For the citizens of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, the signs are ominous. As the Baltic countries look ahead to rising Covid-19 rates in plummeting temperatures, they are meanwhile facing soaring energy bills. The only hope for manageable energy bills is mild weather in the months ahead, representatives of electricity firms
House prices have more than doubled in Estonia and Hungary over the last decade, according to a Eurostat survey that puts seven CEE countries in the top ten of the European Union member states. The average cost of a home in the EU-27 rose 34% from 2010 to the second
Around 58% of Bulgarians oppose adoption of the Euro as their country’s currency, according to a poll conducted by Trend Agency. Just 21% would back their country joining the Eurozone, while the same percentage are undecided on the matter, the Bulgarian pollster found. Some 71% of respondents said Euro
President Vladimir Putin brushed off accusations that Russian-state-owned Gazprom is responsible for soaring energy prices across Europe at an energy conference in Moscow this week. European energy commissioner Kadri Simson says Gazprom has not boosted short-term supplies of natural gas that could bring down prices. Putin insists that Gazprom is
Digital bank Revolut is in talks with the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) about entering the central European country’s market, deputy CEO Andrius Biceika announced on Wednesday. The Hungarian regulator is not opposed to the move, Biceika said in a keynote speech at the Banking Technology conference in Budapest. The
US authorities were called by European airlines on Wednesday to set a date for reopening and to agree a list of mutually recognized coronavirus vaccines. Earlier in September, US president Joe Biden promised to make the reopening reality in November, primarily for EU citizens. Washington is planning to check full
While Fintech and Big Tech firms make incursions into the financial services sector, data is becoming the real commodity in a world of hyper-connections and open banking. Cryptocurrencies appear on the horizon and credit card companies are morphing into tech firms. Meanwhile banks are incorporating open banking into their services,
Czech politics is currently in a state of paralysis after President Milos Zeman was hospitalised on election weekend. The head of state officially oversees the handover of power after national elections in Czechia. However the 77-year-old fell ill after a meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Sunday. Instead of
To date, on Tuesday the European Commission issued the world’s largest green bond package worth EUR 12 billion, raising funds from the financial markets to finance the green parts of its EUR 800 billion coronavirus recovery fund. The latest bond issuance is the fifth in a row since June
Hungary has decided against a plan to expand the country’s ownership of agricultural land in some of its neighbors like Slovakia, through a EUR 400 million fund. The government said the land purchases were designed to support the agricultural activities of ethnic Hungarian minorities in Hungary’s immediate neighbors.
President Klaus Iohannis has invited Save Romania Union (USR) leader Dacian Ciolos to form a government in Romania, which is in the midst of a political crisis. The country has been without a prime minister since last week, when MPs dismissed Florin Citu of the National Liberal Party (PNL). Ciolos’
Germany’s VW is planning on building six battery factories in Europe by 2030, and one of those facilities is likely to land in one of the Visegrad 4 (“V4”) group countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland or Slovakia – but the actual decision hasn’t yet been made. Wherever the
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Biden administration have brokered a compromise on the plan to introduce a global corporate tax regime with the three low-corporate tax states that had been holding out on the agreement. With Ireland, Estonia and Hungary now onboard, the ambitious measure
Protesters chanted “No to Polexit” at pro-EU rallies in Warsaw and across Poland over the weekend after the country’s highest court ruled that domestic law takes supremacy over the European Union treaties. Led by former prime minister and one-time European Council president Donald Tusk, tens of thousands protested Thursday’
Czechs voted for a conservative shift in last weekend’s elections on Friday and Saturday. The conservative coalition SPOLU (“Together”) formed by the Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats, and TOP 09 parties, narrowly beat the ruling ANO party of current prime minister Andrej Babis. His coalition partner Social Democrats and the
Alexander Schallenberg is expected to be sworn in “within days” as Chancellor of Austria following the resignation of Sebastian Kurz over the weekend. It would be an “enormously challenging task,” said 52-year-old Schallenberg, who has been Austria’s foreign minister since 2019. Kurz, 35, stepped down on Saturday amid claims
Tamas Revesz has organised the World Press Photo (WPP) exhibition in Hungary - the homeland of Robert Capa and Joseph Pulitzer - every year since the fall of communism. “It's over 30 years - quite incredible,” the Hungarian photographer tells CET as he launches his 31st exhibition in
Due to the global shortage of microchips the Czech Republic’s biggest exporter, auto manufacturer Skoda, has announced a significant production cut – starting in October – which could last until the end of 2021. According to economists, it could exert a significant effect upon Czechia’s overall economy by cutting into
Poland’s highest court ruled Thursday that some parts of the EU treaties are incompatible with the country’s own Constitution. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki originally took the case to Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, asking whether the EU could block Poland’s judiciary reorganisation. In his verdict, judge Bartlomiej Sochanski
On Wednesday, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin offered to deliver record amounts of natural gas to Europe to address rising prices and avoid an energy crisis just before the winter heating season, which sees higher demand. Recently, Europe has seen a shortage of gas supply, driving up energy prices. Some