Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny arrested on arrival as he returns home
LONG READ: The oligarch problem
COVID-19 and Trump’s indifference helped human rights abusers in 2020
Durov rejects Western funds’ offer to buy 5%-10% of Telegram with $30bn valuation
One of Russia’s biggest wood product companies, Segezha could be Sistema’s next IPO
New Ukrainian VC firm QPDigital aims to invest up to $100 million in digital startups
EBRD investments reach record €11bn in pandemic-struck 2020
OUTLOOK 2021 Lithuania
EBRD says loan to Estonia’s controversial Porto Franco project was never disbursed
Estonian premier quits after Tallinn development scandal
Czech Pirates and Mayors approve final coalition agreement for 2021 elections
OUTLOOK 2021 Czechia
BRICKS & MORTAR: Rosier future beckons for CEE retailers after year of change and disruption
OUTLOOK 2021 Hungary
Hungarian government remains silent after Capitol riots
World Bank expects modest recovery for Europe and Central Asia in 2021
OUTLOOK 2021 Slovakia
FDI inflows to CEE down 58% in 1H20 but rebound expected
Slovakia to invest €1.2bn in digitisation
BALKAN BLOG: The controversial recipe for building up Albania
Heavy flooding causes chaos in parts of Southeast Europe
Vodafone Albania plans €100mn infrastructure investments after AbCom merger
OUTLOOK 2021 Albania
Turnover rose on Bosnia's two stock exchanges in 2020 while prices fell
Storming parliaments: New Europe's greatest hits
Kyiv accuses Bosnian President Dodik of lying about icon gifted to Russian foreign minister
Sofia-based LAUNCHub Ventures holds first close of new fund on €44mn
ING THINK: Growth in the Balkans: from zero to hero again?
OUTLOOK 2020 Bulgaria
Labour demand down 28% y/y in Croatia in 2020
Zagreb Stock Exchange's Crobex10 index at highest level since March 5
OUTLOOK 2021 Kosovo
Arrera Automobili aims to launch Albania’s first supercar
World Bank revises projection for Moldova’s 2020 GDP decline to 7.2%
Moldova’s PM resigns to prepare the ground for early elections
Socialist lawmakers in Moldova scrap settlement on $1bn bank frauds
75% of Montenegrins want EU membership
Montenegro’s new ruling coalition carves up top state jobs
OUTLOOK 2021 Montenegro
North Macedonia's manufacturing confidence indicator down by 8.5 pp y/y in December
OUTLOOK 2021 North Macedonia
Transparency International warns of high corruption risk in CEE defence sectors
OUTLOOK 2021 Romania
Romania’s central bank cuts monetary policy rate by 25bp to 1.25%
Romanian construction companies' activity slows in November after intense 2020
OUTLOOK 2021 Serbia
Slovenia’s opposition files no-confidence motion against Jansa cabinet
Slovenia’s government to release funds to news agency STA after EU pressure
UK Moneyhub picks Slovenia for post-Brexit European base
Slovenia’s dire COVID-19 situation in 4Q20 caused second economic dip
Turkcell denies any affiliation with $1.6bn loan in default extended by Ziraat Bank to Virgin Islands company
BEYOND THE BOSPORUS: Let’s tentatively pencil in a date for Turkey’s hot money outflow
OUTLOOK 2021 Armenia
Armenia’s PM cautions conflict with Azerbaijan “still not settled” after trilateral meeting with Putin
COMMENT: Record high debt levels will slow post-coronavirus recovery, threaten some countries' financial stability, says IIF
OUTLOOK 2021 Georgia
Georgia’s political kingpin Bidzina Ivanishvili quits politics
Modern-day “Robin Hood” inspires Georgians drowning in debt
Iran’s navy conducts missile drill while analyst argues Trump even capable of nuclear strike in final days
TEHRAN BLOG: Who’s more credible? Johnson backing Trump’s Nobel chances or Iran applauding arrest warrant for US president?
Central Asia vaccination plans underwhelm, but governments look unruffled
Fears of authoritarianism as Kyrgyz populist wins landslide and backing for ‘Khanstitution’
OUTLOOK 2021 Kyrgyzstan
Mongolia's winter dzud set to be one of most extreme on record says Red Cross
Mongolian coal exports to China paralysed as Beijing demands virus testing of truck drivers
Mongolia fears economic damage as country faces up to its first local transmissions of coronavirus
Mongolia in lockdown after suffering first local coronavirus transmissions
OUTLOOK 2021 Tajikistan
China business briefing: Not happy with Kyrgyzstan
OUTLOOK 2021 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan: How the Grinch stole New Year
Turkmenistan: The dammed united
COMMENT: Uzbekistan is being transformed, but where are the democratic reforms?
OUTLOOK 2021 Uzbekistan
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Germany’s Bundestag parliament has failed to pass a bill that would have helped shield the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project from recent amendments to the EU’s gas directive.
The amendments, approved in April, impose EU rules on third-party access, ownership unbundling, non-discriminatory tariffs and transparency on pipelines entering the bloc from third countries, potentially preventing Nord Stream 2 from operating at its full 55bn cubic metre per year capacity.
Germany’s CDU/CSU-led government had drafted a law that would have classified Nord Stream 2 as a completed project, exempting it from the amendments. But only 133 out of 709 Bundestag lawmakers supported the bill, according to German news agency Deutsche Welle. The defeat came a day after Ukraine threatened legal action against Germany if it sought to protect Nord Stream 2 from EU energy legislation.
“Such a decision would be in breach of that of the European Commission and German obligations and will definitely be challenged,” Ukraine's deputy minister for trade and economic development, Taras Kachka, told Ukrainian media. “The challenge may be filed by us or Poland or any other country.” Nord Stream 2 cleared its main obstacle late last month, when Denmark finally gave the go-ahead for Russia’s Gazprom to build the pipeline through its waters – the last country on the route between Russia and Germany to grant construction permits. But Gazprom no longer has enough time to finish the pipeline by year-end as planned, meaning it will have to pump more gas via Ukraine.
The project faces other challenges – not least a September ruling by the EU’s Court of Justice that imposed a 50% cap on Gazprom’s use of the 36 bcm per year OPAL pipeline in Germany, limiting future gas flows via Nord Stream 2. Gazprom is yet to say whether it will appeal against the decision.
Poland’s antitrust agency UOKiK also said last week it had issued a EUR40mn ($44mn) France’s Engie, one of five European gas firms helping finance Nord Stream 2, as part of proceedings against Gazprom. Engie refused to provide documents and information about agreements it signed with the Russian company, UOKiK said.
“The company has stubbornly and in an unjustified way refused to give us the documents and materials we demanded,” UOKiK’s deputy head Michal Holeksa said in a statement. “It caused a significant delay in our actions regarding the financing of Nord Stream 2.” The Polish agency is investigating the financing of Nord Stream 2, which carries a EUR11bn ($12bn) price tag, for breaches in competition law. Gazprom, Engie, Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall, Austria’s OMV and Shell initially intended to set up a consortium to fund and operate the project, but this plan was blocked by UOKiK. Gazprom’s European partners later agreed to provide support in the form of loans instead.
Poland has been a vocal critic of Nord Stream 2, denouncing the project as a geopolitical tool of Moscow that will undermine EU energy security.
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