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Lukashenko collapses a second time, hospitalised in Moscow

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko collapsed for a second time this month after a meeting with president Vladimir Putin and was hospitalised in Moscow on May 27.

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TURKISH ELECTION LIVE: Presidential run-off

With Recep Tayyip Erdogan the clear favourite after first-round win, is there any room for a Kemal Kilicdaroglu shock victory?

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KABANOVSKY: Where Nazis dare – missing the trees for the forest in Belgorod

Significant developments are unfolding in Russia. On May 22, an unexpected yet strategic incursion into the Belgorod Oblast was orchestrated by the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL) and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC).

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Economic bombs could wreck Turkey under a re-elected Erdogan, warn analysts

Flashing red lights on lira, sky-high inflation, dwindling FX reserves and soaring cost of insuring debt against default. A currency crisis could be around the corner.

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News

Kolomoisky, the billionaire former owner of PrivatBank, is accused of multi-billion-dollar fraud and financial misappropriation alongside business partner Hennaidy Boholiubov during their time at the bank.

Efforts to detect ballot box anomalies also hindered by block put on access to 2018 data. Situation revealed ahead of May 28 presidential run-off.

Serbian army deployed along Kosovan border after violent clashes between police and local Serbs in northern Kosovo.

Wagner and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, are already sanctioned by multiple countries around the world, mainly linked to the PMC’s operations as part of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Czech private investment group estimated to have paid some €750mn for the stake.

Tech

Electric supercar producer now developing €450mn urban mobility system with fully autonomous electric vehicles.

e-export nation platform to help SMEs export their products to more than 190 countries.

Investment to fund FlowX.ai's global expansion and product development.

International payments company believes Uzbekistan can be a hub for operations across Central Asia.

Elefant.ro is one of the largest online retailers in Romania, with over 2mn customers, but made a substantial loss in 2022.

Opinion

The Central Bank of Turkey kept its policy rate flat at the May meeting and concluded that the current rate is adequate to support the recovery from February's earthquakes. It did not offer any signals about a policy change ahead.

Last year, the ‘Knot’, the highly rated American wedding magazine, asked 12,000 newly wed couples whether they had chosen a natural or a lab-grown diamond for their engagement ring? A third went for industrial stones.

Azerbaijan can’t fully substitute for Russian gas at the pan-European level, but it can play a crucial role in promoting the energy security of individual states.

It is high time to scrutinise the sustainability of Romania’s foreign debt, which has reached over €154bn and close to 60% of the country’s GDP.

Countries outside the US/UK/Europe bloc are leaving the dollar-based trade community at a rate which has begun to alarm US geopolitical strategists, and neocons in particular.

Data

Growth lost momentum from March, but hike in foreign currency loans prompted central bank warning.

As lira trades just below 20/$ in the interbank market, rate at the Istanbul Grand Bazaar hovers in the 21s.

Seasonal pattern was most pronounced in Croatia, with 60% of tourist nights spent in July and August.

Retail sector set to enter a protracted recession, driven by inflation eating into Poles’ real incomes and the exorbitant cost of mortgage repayments due to high interest rates.

Central bank governor says remittances rebounded to €2.4bn in 2022 after a dip during the pandemic.

Features

With little expectation strongman Erdogan will be toppled in May 28 run-off vote, markets guard against economic calamity.

The Uzbek government is planning to privatise several state-owned enterprises by floating their shares on the Tashkent Stock Exchange (TSE) and has turned its attention to getting them ready, but the market remains narrow and shallow.

Lira hits latest record low and cost of insuring debt soars. New data, meanwhile, shows central bank burnt through $17bn in weeks before polls attempting to prop up economy.

The Uzbek government is going to continue to focus on economic stability, bringing inflation down, making the country more attractive to international investors and boosting trade with World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership.

Stans were eager for red carpet treatment. Notably, Russia was not invited.

Blogs

New poll shows Moldova’s pro-EU president and ruling party risk losing the next elections, despite massive show of support for EU accession.

Consumers skewered by rampant inflation thought to be running at around 60%.

Reports indicate Erdogan challenger Kilicdaroglu wants tighter operation against ballot box fraud.

Message spread by officials and state-controlled media has fuelled anti-EU sentiment in Serbia. It may be hard to rein this in.

In Turkish elections there is a thievery margin. Everybody knows it.

bneGREEN

China's solar exports grew 64% in 2022 to $52bn despite global tensions, according to analysis by consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Rising temperatures and changing patters of precipitation could affect the quality of the petals plucked by hand in a tradition going back centuries.

Heavy investment into a few mega projects means that power-hungry Uzbekistan now has about 2.6 GW of green energy capacity, ahead of Kazakhstan – the first country in Central Asia to invest into renewable power.

Azerbaijan is seeking to use existing transport infrastructure to establish itself as a supplier of green fuels to the European continent.

A nuclear fusion energy company, Helion Energy, has signed a power purchase agreement with high-tech giant Microsoft to supply electricity generated from its first fusion power plant.

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