Italy has blocked the purchase of global seed producer Verisem by a Chinese-owned group. As part of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s so-called “golden power” veto to prevent strategic assets from being sold off to foreign interests, a source told Reuters that the Italian government had prevented Swiss-based Syngenta, from
Croatia’s Supreme Court sentenced MOL chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernadi and the country’s former prime minister Ivo Sanader to prison sentences for bribery on Monday. Hernadi paid Sanader EUR 10 million in bribes in 2008-09 to secure Hungarian energy firm MOL’s management rights in its Croatian peer INA, the
The three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – are all highly competitive in terms of taxes, according to the latest International Tax Competitiveness Index (ITCI). Estonia leads the ITCI rankings for the eighth consecutive year thanks to minimal levies on non-resident businesses, low marginal tax rates on individual income and
The governments of nine EU member states, among them Germany, have signed a joint statement that they cannot back any measure – including plans for an EU electricity reform – which conflicts with the gas and energy markets. The letter came as a reaction to the French-Spanish proposal presented at last week’
Daimler AG has begun production of a purely electric model, the Mercedes-Benz EQB, at its Mercedes plant in Kecskemét, Hungary. An investment of HUF 50 billion was made into the German carmaker’s facility toward the new product line, with Daimler putting up HUF 35.5 billion and the Hungarian
After years of circling Hungary’s main airport, Prime Minister Viktor Orban finally declared the state’s intention to purchase Budapest Liszt Ferenc International this week. “This could happen at any moment”, he said. “It is only right if our sole major international airport is in Hungarian ownership (and can
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has designated his country’s interim defence minister, Nicolae Ciuca, as prime minister to form Romania’s new government after designate Dacian Ciolos failed to receive a vote of confidence in parliament, according to reporting by Euractiv. Ciuca is a well-respected retired army general who participated
A leading think-tank has upped its growth forecast for Central, East and Southeast European economies this year to 5.4%, up from 4% in the summer in 2021. The region’s smaller services sector and looser COVID restrictions have been drivers in good economic performance, the Vienna Institute for International
Hungary’s Ministry of Innovation and Technology and Hungary’s largest commercial bank OTP will collaborate to create Europe’s largest supercomputer, minister Laszlo Palkovics announced. The partnership will develop an AI-based Hungarian-language model for phone banking, he said. “We are not afraid of competing with technology companies,” OTP’s
Latvia has announced a month-long COVID lockdown after a surge in infections and hospitalisations, becoming the first EU country to reintroduce the strict conditions in place across much of Europe earlier in the year. In the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, Latvia received praise for its successful response. However
The East-West divide will be conspicuous on the agenda when EU heads of state and government gather at the bloc’s formal summit in Brussels on Thursday. While Hungary and Poland dispute the suspension of COVID recovery fund disbursements, the Western and Nordic European countries are pushing for the EU
Albania and North Macedonia are on the march towards EU accession talks, according to the latest annual European Commission (EC) progress report that assesses the membership chances of those two Western Balkan countries as well as Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are collectively known as the WB6.
Czech start-up Rossum will receive USD 100 million in venture capital from a consortium – including General Catalyst, one of the US’s biggest VC funds – to support its AI document-processing software. Rossum processes data and devises steps based on that content, reducing manual data entry work by 90%, according to
Czech President Milos Zeman – who was hospitalised on 10 October, the morning after the general election – remains incapable of performing his official duties and could now have his powers removed to enable the formation of new cabinet. Opposition politicians are now discussing triggering Article 66 of the Constitution, which transfers
Russia has announced that it will suspend its NATO mission in Brussels after the western military alliance expelled eight employees for being “undeclared Russian intelligence officers” earlier this month. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov admitted that the move is retaliatory, and his country will also withdraw accreditation of NATO staff
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