Business: Skopje hosts International Furniture Exhibition

21/03/2008

Furniture from around the world is on display in the Macedonian capital. Also in news this week: BiH's only oil refinery posted losses in 2007 and a foreign consortium will build a bridge over the Sava River in Belgrade.

Some 400 furniture companies are gathering in Skopje to exhibit their products. [Getty Images]

Skopje is hosting a six-day International Furniture Exhibition beginning on Friday (March 21st). The exhibition has attracted 400 companies, including 260 foreign furniture makers.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) only oil refinery, Bosanski Brod, announced on Monday (March 17th) that it ended last year with a 33m-euro loss. The company generated 10.7m euros in revenue, while its expenditures were 72m euros. The refinery is expected to improve its performance considerably this year due to its privatisation and the entry of its strategic partner, Russia's NefteGazInKor.

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A consortium led by the Austrian company PORR Technobau und Umwelt will build a bridge over the Sava River in Belgrade for 118.6m euros, the Belgrade construction directorate said on Tuesday (March 18th). Almost 70m euros will be secured by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, while the rest will be paid by the city of Belgrade and the European Agency for Reconstruction.

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Romania's Anti-corruption Department (DNA) has launched an investigation into a land transaction conducted by Nokia in Jucu, Cluj County. The DNA announced that the investigation aims to establish whether there were any improprieties involving the land transaction, but will not cover the contract between Nokia and the local council.

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Europe's biggest telecommunications company, Germany's Deutsche Telekom, has agreed to buy 20% of Greece's telecommunications company, OTE, for 2.5 billion euros. Deutsche Telekom will pay 26 euros for each OTE share in its initiative, which would expand its operations in Greece and Southeast Europe. The deal is subject to approval by the Greek government, which is a principal of OTE.

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The Croatian construction company, Institut gradjevinarstva Hrvatske, has signed a partnership agreement with Bulgaria's Gasstroymontaj. The company plans to become a leading civil engineering player in Bulgaria and will bid on infrastructure-building projects worth 380m euros that include highways and water supply lines.

(Various sources – 14/03/08-21/03/08)