Bosnia & Herzegovina
COMMENT: Southeast Europe the growth star in CEE banking, but the profit pool is elsewhere
The core message for bankers and investors active in the CEE region should be: close to old records, potential for more but watch out for late cycle phenomena.
Bosnia’s Aluminij to file for bankruptcy
Troubled aluminium smelter was forced to halt operations as power supplies were cut off due to its unpaid debts, and no strategic partner has been persuaded to take it over.
BALKAN BLOG: Balkan divisions on display at bad-tempered Sarajevo summit
The brawl at Sarajevo airport between Bosnian border guards and Turkish President Erdogan’s security was the only time things turned physical, but it came on top of a whole series of acrimonious verbal clashes between Southeast European politicians.
EU takes measures to strengthen links with Western Balkans
€180mn of funding proposed at Poznan summit, shortly after the European Council deferred its decision on the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia.
Workers protest as Bosnia’s troubled Aluminij faces closure
Socialist era industrial giant will have its power supplies cut off within days over its unpaid debts, forcing it to halt operations, and the government of the Muslim-Croat Federation has refused to step in.
Subsidies for coal power three times higher than for renewables in Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia
Three Western Balkan states paid €444mn in direct subsidies to coal-fired plants and just €147mn for the production of energy from renewable sources in 2015-2017, a report from the Energy Community showed.