-?Tara Resources, a Swiss company was given 60 days by the Montenegrin government to resolve environmental concerns related to the Brskovo Zinc Mine. Concerned that the issues will not be resolved, and the mining activity will continue to pose a risk to nearby residents’ health, the government also offered the company to mutually eliminate the contract and close the zinc and led mine.
-?Allergo the largest e-commerce company on the Polish market with over 14 million active buyers has recently expanded into Slovakia. With Allergo.cz launched in 2022 Slovakia is the third country the company operates in under the Allergo brand.
-?A recent speech by President Aleksandar Vucic suggests that Serbia might come around a reverse a decades long ban on the construction of nuclear power plants. The ban was introduced shortly after the Chernobyl disaster, but recently – mostly due to the energy crisis – Serbia voiced its interest in reversing the ban and participating in nuclear power generation projects.?
- Allergo is the largest e-commerce company on the Polish market with over 14 million active buyers. The brand has recently expanded to a third country in the region – after launching Allergo.cz in 2022 recently it expanded to Slovakia (Allergo.sk). The company also operates in other regional countries under different names such as the MALL, WE|DO, Mimovrste and CZC brands. Allergo promises Slovakian shoppers to get access to 100 million listings in one place through its services. Allergo was listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2020 which was the country’s largest IPO to date.
- Tens of thousands of Polish farmers continue to protest the influx of Ukrainian agricultural products as well as the EU’s environmental policies. According to the Polish police, about 70?000 protestors participate in the blocking of 570 locations.
- After observing a 1.1 percent growth last year, the OECD forecasts Slovakian growth rates to pick up to 2.1 percent in 2024. Inflation rates are also projected to decrease from 11 percent to 3.4 percent. It is recommended that Slovakia reduces deficit by 5.5 percent of GDP within the next five years, ensuring that public debt falls below 40 percent of GDP before 2050.
- Petrol, a Slovenian energy group returned to profit after reporting losses in the last year. The group’s net profit totals to 137 million EUR, while earnings before tax (EBITDA) reached 277 million EUR. Albeit fuel sells decreasing by 8% compared to 2022 in the last year the company soled 3.8 million tons of fuels. The company’s electricity trade increased by 6%, reaching 12.8 TWh.
- At the International Atomic Energy Agency in Brussels Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that in the future Serbia will participate in project producing nuclear power – reversing a decades-old legislation that banned the building of nuclear power plants in the country. The construction of nuclear power plants was banned in Yugoslavia after the Chernobyl catastrophe, present day Serbia also retained the policy.
- A company belonging to the Chinese conglomerate, Shanghai Electric, established a subsidiary in Romania, with a share capital of 3 million lei. The subsidiary is part of a Chinese giant with total assets equalling 400 billion yuan, employing over 75?000 people. The Romanian subsidiary of Shanghai Electric submitted a tender for the construction of photovoltaic parks with a total capacity of 450 MW. The estimated value of the contract totals 374 million EUR.
- After a series of complaints, the Montenegrin government has given Tara Resources, a Swiss company, 60 days to resolve all deficiencies in its zinc and led mine North of the country’s capital, Podgorica. The Brskovo Zinc Mine (that was operational between 1975-1991) recently restarted production despite strong opposition from environmental activists. Tara took over the mine in 2018 and invested 180 million EUR into the project, hoping that it can make it one of the largest zinc mines in Europe. Environmental concerns about the project were raised as it was found difficult to safely dispose of tailings and separate mercury without endangering people’s health. In light of the difficult environmental challenges, the Montenegrin government offered the company to mutually eliminate the contract.
