Countries:

* Bosnia *

EBRD Mulls 15 Mln Euro Loan for Reconstruction of Power Grid in Bosnia’s Serb Republic Jan 30, 2009, 19:24 CET | Story | SeeNews SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina) January 30 (SeeNews) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering providing a 15 million euro ($19.2 million) loan for the reconstruction of the power distribution network and the upgrade of the metering system in the Banja Luka region in Bosnia’s Serb Republic. link

* Bulgaria *

Bulgarian Blue-Chip Insurer Euroins Turns to 7.3 Mln Euro Net Loss in 2008 Jan 30, 2009, 19:48 CET | Story | SeeNews SOFIA (Bulgaria), January 30 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian blue-chip insurer Euroins on Friday said it turned to a net loss of 14.2 million levs ($9.3 million/7.3 million euro) in 2008, compared to a net profit of 5.4 million levs in the previous year, despite a 23.5% rise in premiums. link

BULGARIAN INSURER EUROINS TURNS TO 2008 NET LOSS OF 14.2 MLN LEVS (7.3 MLN EURO) FROM 5.4 MLN LEVS (2.7 MLN EURO) NET PROFIT IN 2007 Jan 30, 2009, 19:29 CET | Alert | SeeNews link

Bulgaria’s Kaolin 2008 Non-Cons Net Profit Falls 53% - Table Jan 30, 2009, 19:14 CET | Story | SeeNews SOFIA (Bulgaria), January 30 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian mineral extracting and processing company Kaolin said on Friday its non-consolidated net profit fell 53% to 8.1 million levs ($5.3 million/4.2 million euro) in 2008, as costs rose faster than revenue. link

Bulgarian Chemical Company Polimeri 2008 Net Profit Falls to 497,400 Euro– Table Jan 30, 2009, 19:09 CET | Story | SeeNews SOFIA (Bulgaria), January 30 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian chemical company Polimeri said on Friday its net profit fell to 973,000 levs ($639,200/497,400 euro) in 2008 from 1.18 million levs a year earlier. link

BULGARIAN BLUE CHIP KAOLIN SAYS ’08 NON-CONS NET PROFIT FALLS 53% TO 8.1 MLN LEVS (4.2 MLN EURO) Jan 30, 2009, 19:02 CET | Alert | SeeNews link

* Croatia *

Croatia’s Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank To Raise Capital by 1.77 Bln Kuna (238 Mln Euro) - Media Jan 30, 2009, 19:17 CET | Story | SeeNews ZAGREB (Croatia), January 30 (SeeNews) – Croatia’s Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank, wholly owned by Austria’s Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International, will raise its share capital by 1.77 billion kuna ($306 million/238 million euro) to 5.96 billion kuna after it merges with local Slavonska banka, Croatian daily Bankamagazine reported on Friday. link

Croatia’s 2009 GDP Growth To Slow to 1.4% - EIZ Think-tank Jan 30, 2009, 19:02 CET | Story | SeeNews ZAGREB (Croatia), January 30 (SeeNews) - Croatia’s economic growth will slow to 1.4% this year from 2.1% forecast for 2008 due to the global financial crisis, the Economic Institute in Zagreb (EIZ), a think-tank, said on Friday. link

* Macedonia *

Macedonian Builder Granit Says Suffers Losses in Ukrainian Project due to Currency Slump Jan 30, 2009, 20:22 CET | Story | SeeNews SKOPJE (Macedonia), January 30 (SeeNews) - Granit AD Skopje, a leading Macedonian construction company, said on Friday it has suffered significant losses from a road construction project in Ukraine, due to the sharp depreciation of that country’s currency at the end of 2008. link

* Romania *

EU Launches Infringement Procedure Against Romania over Electrica Moldova’s Privatisation – Media Jan 30, 2009, 19:36 CET | Story | SeeNews BUCHAREST (Romania), January 30 (SeeNews) – The European Commission has launched an infringement procedure against Romania over the privatisation of power distributor Electrica Moldova, privately held Romanian news agency NewsIn reported on Friday. link

Romanian Leu Loses Ground vs Euro, Nears 4.3-per-euro Notch Jan 30, 2009, 19:28 CET | Story | SeeNews BUCHAREST (Romania), January 30 (SeeNews) - The Romanian leu ended the week near the 4.3-per-euro level, weakening on risk aversion toward the currencies of emerging markets among investors, dealers said. link

French Retailer Auchan’s Romanian Operator Gets 15 Mln Euro Loan Jan 30, 2009, 19:21 CET | Story | SeeNews BUCHAREST (Romania), January 30 (SeeNews) – MGV Distri-Hiper, the operator of the Romanian hypermarkets of French retailer Auchan, took a 15 million euro ($19.2 million) loan from the Romanian unit of Italian banking group UniCredit to finance the launch of two stores, the bank said on Friday. link

Romanian Cap Market Regulator Suspends Operating Licence of SSIF Broker Brokerage for Two Weeks Jan 30, 2009, 19:16 CET | Story | SeeNews BUCHAREST (Romania), January 30 (SeeNews) - Romania’s capital market regulator CNVM suspended on Friday the operating licence of local brokerage SSIF Broker for two weeks as its operations are currently under investigation. link

Romania Gets Single Bid for 81% Stake in Aircraft Maker Avioane Craiova Jan 30, 2009, 19:12 CET | Story | SeeNews BUCHAREST (Romania), January 30 (SeeNews) - Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica has placed the single bid in a tender for a 80.9778% stake in Romanian aircraft manufacturer Avioane Craiova by the deadline that expired on Friday, the country’s privatisation agency, AVAS, said. link

* Serbia *

Italy’s Fiat To Manufacture 15,000 Punto Cars Annually in Serbia - Economy Minister Jan 30, 2009, 19:01 CET | Story | SeeNews BELGRADE (Serbia), January 30 (SeeNews) – Italy’s Fiat will manufacture at least 15,000 Punto cars annually at Serbia’s Zastava factory where production will be launched in March, Serbia’s Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said on Friday. link

Carlsberg Serbia Group to Raise Output by 20% in 2009 Jan 30, 2009, 18:58 CET | Story | SeeNews BELGRADE (Serbia), January 30 (SeeNews) - Carlsberg Serbia Group plans to raise its production output by 20% in 2009 to 1.8 million hectolitres of beer from the 1.55 million hectolitres it produced last year, the company said. link

* Slovenia *

Sava Helps Ljubljana Stock Indices End Higher Jan 30, 2009, 18:50 CET | Story | SeeNews LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), January 30 (SeeNews) - Slovenian share indices gained ground on Friday buoyed by gains in rubber-to-tourism group Sava, figures from the Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE) showed. link

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