A collection of 353 posts
Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia expressed concern in a letter to the European Commission (EC) on Friday over an “unprecedented” increase in the number of Ukrainian grains, oilseeds, eggs, poultry and sugar in their countries. Large quantities of cheaper Ukrainian grains have been redirected to countries in Central and
Hungary could realistically replace Russian gas imports, according to local analysts, who say its dependence is reliant on the will of Hungarian politicians and economic players. Gas supply already shifting away from Russia Hungary’s procurement of sources has broadened and the partial replacement of Russian gas has begun, local
The number of pay TV subscribers in Eastern Europe will decline by 8mn from its peak of 81mn in 2018, to 73 million by 2028, according to a new report by Digital TV Research. However, the figures for 2018 included 17mn analogue-cable subscribers, which will have dropped to zero by
Hungarian National Bank (MNB) Governor Gyorgy Matolcsy has once again harshly criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s economic policy, business website Portfolio reported. Speaking about the MNB’s 2021 results in Parliament on Wednesday 9 March, Matolcsy said if inflation is due to external causes, then the central bank
Estonia is named the most prosperous country in Eastern Europe, and the 21st globally, in the newly-released 2023 Legatum Prosperity Index. Legatum’s 16th annual survey praises the Baltic country’s “effective policy response” to Covid, which meant “Estonia’s pandemic-period contraction was one of the smallest in Europe”, and
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban criticized the EU for imposing new sanctions instead of providing assistance and for depriving Hungary and Poland of the recovery funds they were entitled to, in his annual “state of the nation” speech in Budapest on Sunday, 19 February. Standing in front of a sign
A new Hungarian bank is set to emerge from the merger of MKB Bank and Takarekbank as overseen by Magyar Bankholding and approved by the Hungarian National Bank, state news agency MTI reports. The megabank will be formed on April 30, creating Hungary’s second-largest financial institution, overtaking OTP Bank.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with a working group aiming to save the indebted steel company Dunaferr on Wednesday, 1 February. Dunaferr manufactures steel products for the engineering, automotive, and manufacturing sectors in Dunaujvaros, central Hungary, employing around 4,000. After Wednesday’s meeting with the working group, which
OTP Bank has been cleared by Slovenian Competition Protection Agency (AVK) to acquire Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor (NKBM), Slovenia’s second largest bank, the Hungarian bank announced on Wednesday 1 February. The acquisition of all NKBM’s equity, which has been valued by media outlets at roughly EUR 1bn, was
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded Hungary’s credit rating by one step to the lowest investment grade of BBB- on Friday, partly due to Hungary’s current struggles in accessing some EUR 30bn of EU funding. The credit ratings agency also pointed to the negative effects of
Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia have jointly requested EU funding to develop the necessary infrastructure to support increased gas supplies from Azerbaijan. The countries say they recognize the importance of energy security for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and see the potential for Azerbaijan to play a crucial role in
Geopolitics is leaving its mark on the arms race in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Countries are drifting further away from the concept of a united European armed force amid shifting geopolitical realities, mistrust and the revival of long-standing historical alliances. The rearmament of Europe lurched back onto the global
More people in Estonia use online banking services than anywhere else in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), according to a new report by the official EU statistics office Eurostat. In Estonia, 83.36% of residents used digital banking in 2022, with Latvia close behind on 82.45%. Other countries high
Hungary has finalised a deal to acquire Vodafone Europe’s Hungarian unit for HUF 660bn (EUR 1.6bn) in the largest state purchase since the change of regime in 1990. The Hungarian state made the deal through its holding company Corvinus, which has obtained a 49% stake, while government-linked company
The EU last year attempted to address the erosion of perceived democratic norms of the populist governments of Hungary and Poland, by withholding a combined EUR 138bn in funding from the two states. After this unprecedented move, 2023 will be the year when the EU decides on whether to make