Business: Financial crisis hits Balkan tourism
12/03/2010
The global downturn translates into fewer holiday travellers in the Balkans. Also in business news: Turkey has the most billionaires in the region and an Italian company plans an automobile plant in Montenegro.
 Tourists enjoy the main beach along Croatia's central Adriatic resort of Dubrovnik. [Getty Images] |
More than 65% of Bulgarians, 62% of Romanians and 61% of Macedonians did not travel over the holidays last year because of a lack of money, according to the latest survey of European tourism published by Eurobarometer Wednesday (March 10th). Turkey is among the countries with the lowest share of travellers for private or business purposes last year -- only 37% versus an EU average of 69%, according to the report. Croatia, meanwhile, was listed among the countries with the biggest share of people who made their own travel arrangements.
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Forbes Magazine included 28 Turks in its 2010 list of billionaires on Wednesday (March 10th). Husnu Ozeyegin, owner of FIBA Holding, is the richest man in Turkey, worth an estimated $3 billion. John Fredriksen, a citizen of Cyprus with UK residence, is also in the list with a net worth of $7.7 billion. Two Greeks -- Sprios Latsis with $5.3 billion and Philip Niarchos with $2 billion -- also made the list. Three Romanians -- Dinu Patriciu with a net worth of $2.2 billion, Ioan Niculae with $1.1 billion and Ion Tiriac with $1 billion -- also made the elite club.
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Standard & Poor's has revised Romania's rating outlook from negative to stable, according to an official announcement Tuesday (March 9th). The recession impacted economic stability in 2009, but the IMF-backed programme, along with EU and other aid, helped alleviate the effects of the crisis, S&P said.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina approved the construction of two thermal power plants and one hydro power plant, the government announced on Tuesday (March 9th). Authorities now are seeking partners to help finance the projects.
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Latvia's national carrier airBaltic opened a direct line between Belgrade and Riga on March 5th, transportation authorities in Belgrade announced. The company will operate flights four days a week.
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Italian sports car company Lamborghini plans to open a factory for electric cars in Montenegro, company director Tonino Lamborghini told the Podgorica daily Pobjeda on Monday (March 8th). The company has not chosen the location of the plant but plans to produce an initial run of 1,000 cars a year before expanding production, Lamborghini said.
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Republika Srpska will join the South Stream gas pipeline, Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said on March 5th, after returning from Moscow where he met with officials from the Russian energy giant Gazprom. The South Stream project will transport natural gas from Russia to Central Europe, through the Black Sea and Bulgaria.
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The credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service gave a negative credit rating to the Bulgarian banking system in its March 8th report. Last year's slowdown in the real estate sector affected the banking sector, analyst Elena Panayiotou said, adding that she expects profitability and asset quality to continue to suffer over the next 12 to 18 months.
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Four international consortiums will compete for construction of the "New Kosova" power plant with capacity of 500MGW, Kosovo officials announced on March 5th. The firms were identified as Adani Power/PT Adani Global from India and Indonesia; AES Electric lid/Demir Export A.S from the United States and Turkey; the Park Holding from Turkey; and the consortium PPC/ Contour Global LLP from Greece and the United Kingdom. Construction is planned to begin in 2011 and is expected to cost about 1 billion euros. The selected firm will receive co-financing from the Kosovo government.
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The Albanian government finalised a loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on March 5th to improve regional and rural roads. The 50m-euro loan is part of a long term project that aims to improve about 1,500km of roads.
(Various sources – 05/03/10-12/03/10)
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