Search Results for: Serbia

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is coming under pressure to act against child labour in the global cocoa sector, with proposals being debated at the European Parliament to track cocoa produced with the help of children. That could mean an EU law creating a monitoring system making it clear to consumers where cocoa products risked being tainted by child labour, maybe through the "possible introduction of ‘child-labour free’ product labelling," said a draft report from the EP’s international trade committee.…

BY MARK ROWE, IN LONDON; ZLATKO CONKAS, IN NOVI SAD, SERBIA; MIKE STEIN, IN PRAGUE; AND BLAKE BERRY, IN WARSAW

DURING the spring of 2011, the prevailing view throughout eastern Europe’s personal care and toiletries market was that while business was not exactly buoyant, the worst of the recession was over – then came the credit crises and the faltering Euro.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RETAIL – WINNERS AND LOSERS

WINNERS

MARKS & SPENCER

Times may still be tough in its home British market, but M&S showed forward-thinking foresight in 2011- on sourcing transparency and the environment: potential key issues for future consumers.…

BY ZLATKO CONKAS

Will Croatia’s ascension to the EU hamper the country’s tobacco industry?

Croatia’s strong tobacco sector stands to benefit from selling into the European Union once the country joins the EU. However it could lose trade in neighbouring states because of duty changes.…

BY MARK ROWE and ZLATKO CONKAS

THE AMBITION of Serbia to join the European Union (EU) is proving problematic on a number of fronts, with the country’s control of money laundering a major hurdle. In February 2010, 50 people were arrested, suspected of using money laundering and tax evasion involving up to USD2.7 million.…

BY MARK ROWE

WANTED: experienced, international oil majors to overhaul overlooked and possibly underplayed reserves in the Caspian. Apply to the government of Turkmenistan. An announcement to that effect emerged over the summer by the Turkmenistan government, in a move that suggested that the gas-rich country was finally looking to establish the depth of its oil reserves.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN AGREEMENT between Serbia and Kosovo involving Serb authorities recognising Kosovo customs stamps will remove a de facto bilateral trade blockade for a wide range of goods, including pharmaceuticals. The European Union has helped seal the deal – a spokesman declared: "The mutual trade embargoes will be lifted.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a major political initiative to prevent European Union (EU) member states being played off against each other in energy negotiations with major suppliers, such as Russia. It has proposed legislation that would insist national EU governments give Brussels information on any current deals and negotiations regarding energy supplies, including, but not only, oil and gas.…

BY ZLATKO CONKAS, BLAKE BERRY, MONIKA HANLEY, MARK ROWE and KEITH NUTHALL

EASTERN Europe is often regarded as developing in the slipstream of richer western Europe – and so far the model seems to be fitting with biofuels. That said, significant biodiesel manufacturing capacity is in place in the region, according to the European Biodiesel Board.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ENERGY ministers from the European Union (EU) and the Balkans will next month (October 6) vote on a new plan to create a ‘gas ring’ of pipeline links uniting the fragmented energy markets of south-eastern Europe. A meeting of the Energy Community, an organisation linking the EU’s supposedly united energy market with those in neighbouring countries to the south and east, will be asked to back an ‘Implementation Plan for Gas Infrastructure Development in the Energy Community’.…