Author: Hristos Xenilis

As part of the visit to Uzbekistan of the delegation of the German Development Bank KfW, senior portfolio manager Vitalis Ritter and Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov signed a number of important bilateral documents, Azernews reports, citing Kun.uz News Agency. One of the key documents was a grant agreement focused on the implementation of the project “Support for Vocational Education in the Republic of Uzbekistan”. According to this agreement, grants totaling €16 million are allocated to Uzbekistan. €14 million of these funds will be used for vocational training, construction, renovation and equipment of single-centers in employment centers…

Head of the lower house of Russia’s parliament warns that ‘far more assets belonging to unfriendly countries’ will be grabbed in response if the EU confiscates earnings of Russia’s frozen holding Moscow is preparing to confiscate the assets of “unfriendly” EU nations in retaliation if the bloc pushes ahead with a proposal to seize the profits from frozen Russian holdings, a high-level Russian official said on Sunday. The warning from Vyacheslav Volodin, head of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, came after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday said the EU executive is looking into sanctioned Russian state…

Carrefour International Partnership announced last week the strengthening of its cooperation with Retail & More, with the development of stores with the Carrefour brand and its products in the Bulgarian market. Retail & More, which has taken over the master franchise of Carrefour in Greece since 2022, is already in contact with Bulgarian companies for the development of a network of stores using the franchise method. At the same time, the 20 stores of the Parkmart network, founded in 2018 by Dobromir Andonov and located in key cities in the country, such as Sofia, Varna and Burgas, will be converted…

A delegation from the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education led by its Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Lam is paying a visit to France to study the press, publishing and foreign information work in the European country. The delegation had a working session with member of the Politburo of the French Communist Party (PCF) Taylan Coskun and Secretary General of the PCF-run l’Humanité (Humanity) newspaper Anthony Draguet. Draguet briefed the guests on the communication work of the newspaper as well as challenges that it is facing amid the current strong digital transformation. Source : Vietnamplus

EU’s pasta production increased by 20% in 2022 with Italy unsurprisingly leading the production, consumption, and exports. Italy loves pasta. Penne, linguini, ravioli, fusili, capellini – the list goes on and on. Made from unleavened dough with ground durum wheat and water, many believe the modern Italian pasta to be a descendant of ancient Asian noodles. While it is difficult to trace the exact beginnings of pasta, it is firmly established that pasta has now become synonymous with Italy. The southern European country produced more than 4 million tonnes of pasta in 2022, according to the latest numbers released by…

Egypt’s Trade and Industry Minister Ahmed Samir met with the Bulgarian Ambassador to Cairo Deyan Katratchev to discuss how to enhance the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. They also talked about other topics of mutual interest. Samir said that they reviewed the outcomes of the exploratory mission that the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry led to Bulgaria on 19 and 20 September 2023. The mission included representatives from various sectors, such as electricity, renewable energy, transport, the Suez Canal Economic Zone, investment and free zones, and industrialization. The mission aimed to attract investment opportunities and increase…

For the summer of 2024, FlixTrain plans to further increase the number of trips between cities in Germany, and will serve new destinations. Thanks to a more frequent timetable and longer trains with more seats, the company is expanding its long-distance transport offering by 25 per cent. The 2024 timetable also adds some new destinations. As of the timetable change on December 10th, FlixTrain will also transport travellers to and from Bremen, Bensheim, Elsterwerda, Mülheim (Ruhr) and Müllheim (Baden) as well as Schönefeld in the immediate vicinity of Berlin Brandenburg Airport. FlixTrain is also back in many cities that had…

Germany will send around 150 soldiers to Kosovo in April next year as a contribution to the UN’s KFOR mission there, a spokesperson for the defence ministry said in Berlin on Friday. The spokesperson stressed that the decision had nothing to do with current tensions in northern Kosovo and instead was taken to compensate for the withdrawal of Austrian troops. The additional troops will not increase the overall size of KFOR, added the spokesperson. About 3,400 soldiers in total are currently stationed in Kosovo as part of the KFOR mission. Germany’s Bundeswehr army has 71 soldiers there currently, according to…

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on Poland to clarify allegations of a visas-for-bribes scandal, airing concerns that it could be adding to his own country’s migration struggles. Just one month before a key general election in Poland, the government is grappling with allegations that operatives in consulates may have handed out thousands of Polish temporary work visas, and EU access, in return for bribes. “I don’t want people from Poland to simply be waved through, and then have a discussion about our asylum policy afterwards,” Scholz said Saturday at a rally of his Social Democratic Party. He called for…

Pope Francis on Saturday hammered home his message that European governments must do more to care for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, saying “those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they look for welcome”. Closing a meeting of bishops and young people from around the Mediterranean in the French port city of Marseille, he added that migration is “a reality of our times, a process that involves three continents around the Mediterranean and that must be governed with wise foresight, including a European response”. The pope’s remarks – given in front of President Emmanuel Macron, whose government plans tougher…