SETimes.comIreland removes labour restrictions for Romania, Bulgaria
25/07/2012
Romanians and Bulgarians can now freely work in Ireland. Also in business news: Greece exceeded its budget deficit target and construction on the Serbian section of the South Stream gas pipeline is expected to launch in December.
Ireland announced on Friday (July 20th) that it is removing all labour restrictions for Romanian and Bulgarian workers. The decision, which became effective immediately, was made amid the significant drop in workers from the two EU peers seeking employment in the country.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina and the IMF have reached a preliminary agreement on a new a 415m euro stand-by loan, fund mission chief Costas Christou announced on Friday (July 20th). The two-year deal, which will be used to fill budget gaps and pay off maturing debt, needs to be approved by the IMF's board in September.
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Greece has beaten its budget deficit target in the first half of the year, despite lower than expected tax revenues, the finance ministry in Athens announced on Friday (July 20th). Deficit in January-June stood at 12.5 billion euros, lower than the 14.9-billion euro target. Tax revenues fell 1.5 billion euros short of the 24.7-billion euro target.
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Belgian bus manufacturer Van Hool began construction its new plant in Macedonia on Friday (July 20th). The factory, which will be based on the technological and industrial development zone TIRZ Skopje 2, will absorb a 20m-euro investment and has the potential to create 400-500 jobs.
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Cyprus has withdrawn a request to be spared from making contributions to the European Financial Stability Facility, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble announced on Thursday (July 19th). Countries with bailout assistance from the EU like Greece, Ireland and Portugal do not need to contribute to eurozone bailout funds.
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Gazprom Neft will start building the Serbian section of the South Stream gas pipeline by December, the company, which controls a majority stake in Serbia's leading oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije, announced on Thursday (July 19th). The 411km pipeline will cost 1.9 billion euros and will have an annual transit capacity of 34 billion cubic metres.
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Turkey's Central Bank on Friday (July 20th) kept its benchmark one-week repo rate at 6.75%. The decision came amid lower-than-expected inflation, signs of an economic slowdown and lowering bond yields.
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The European Investment Bank will provide credits worth 1.4 billion euros to Greece's private sector by 2015, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras announced after talks with Bank Chairman Werner Hoyer on Saturday (July 21st). A guarantee fund for small- and medium-sized enterprises, which was created in March, will receive 600m euros by next January. This sum will increase to 1 billion euros by December 2013 and to 1.44 billion by 2015, the minister said.
(Various sources -- 18/07/12-24/07/12)