A collection of 100 posts
Romania reported the highest inflation rate in May, of 5.8%, driven by significant increases in housing and utilities prices, according to the latest data from the EU’s official statistics agency Eurostat. Croatia experienced the second highest inflation in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), of 4.3%, driven primarily
Serbia has said it is looking to give global mining group Rio Tinto the go ahead to create Europe’s largest lithium mine two years after Belgrade shelved the project following huge environmental protests. President Aleksandar Vucic told UK daily the Financial Times that “new guarantees” from the British-Australian company
Despite an overall downturn, the Central and Eastern European (CEE) start-up scene showed resilience in the first quarter of 2024, when it secured USD 11.8bn in investor funding. AI continues to attract significant interest, representing about 17% of global funding. Other key industries receiving investments in CEE include enterprise
Romania’s Energy Ministry confirmed that it may partner with Serbia to build a third hydroelectric power (HEP) plant on the Iron Gates gorge stretch of the River Danube. The ministry was reacting to a report in Radio Free Europe that said the Serbian Energy Ministry had claimed that a
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Hungary underscores the geopolitical importance of the growing bilateral friendship. China’s new investments in Hungary total EUR 16bn and are expected to reach EUR 30bn by the end of the year. On his first visit to Europe since the pandemic, Chinese
As Chinese President Xi completed his trip to Europe, he held a conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, with whom he had spent three of the five days. Although Xi failed to give concrete details, Hungarian officials said 18 agreements had been signed between their country and China, but
Per capita income in Slovenia will surpass that of Italy by 2029 when adjusted for purchasing power (PPP), according to the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections, while Lithuania will draw level and Poland will not be far behind. The shift makes good on promises that the Central and Eastern
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Budapest, Hungary and Belgrade, Serbia, at the beginning of May. After a trip to France from May 5-7, Xi Jinping will then stop over in Belgrade, before concluding his Europe tour in Budapest, Radio Free Europe (RFE) wrote, citing two independent sources. Orban China’
The awarding of a turbine tender to China’s Envision Energy by EU applicant Serbia looks to have set the bloc on a new course. The deal has prompted EU plans to ban foreign wind turbines over cybersecurity issues, with protectionist measures to protect European manufacturers against Chinese rivals. The
The share of renewable sources in gross final energy consumption at the EU level reached 23% in 2022, up 1.1 percentage points (pp) year-on-year, the bloc’s statistics office Eurostat reports. The EU’s revised Renewable Energy Directive has upped the bloc’s 2030 renewable energy target from 32%
The Bulgarian Parliament, with cross-party support, swiftly abolished a special tariff on Russian transit gas this week, after Hungary threatened to veto its Schengen membership bid. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Bulgaria’s decision to impose an additional tax on natural gas transiting through its territory to North Macedonia,
In the Serbia national parliament election, the right-of-centre SNS (EPP)-led multiparty alliance, led by Aleksandar Vucic was leading with 46.3% on Sunday, 17 December, with 90.3% of the CeSID/Ipsos count completed. This seemingly marks the sixth consecutive election victory for an SNS-led list, showing a 3.
The EU has selected seven projects to co-fund 5G transport corridors connecting regions throughout Europe, improving road, rail, inland waterways, and multimodal transport. They will support 5G infrastructure deployment over cross-border sections of 5G corridors and ensure service continuity when border crossing. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is well represented
Automotive and Transport has dropped to third place amongst large companies in CEE, as business sectors of Central and Eastern European (CEE) shifted in size, partly due to soaring commodities prices, the latest Coface CEE Top 500 study found. In its 15th annual study, the French insurance company collects data
The EU will finance Western Balkans (WB) integration reforms to the tune of EUR 6bn, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Skopje, north Macedonia, on Monday. “These reforms will come with investment,” von der Leyen said during a press conference with North Macedonia Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski.