The mountainous eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea and its hinterlands in Europe’s Balkan Peninsula have one of the world’s highest densities of countries: six, across a broad equilateral triangle of 212,000km2. All six states – Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – are historically characterised by political non-alignment, carrying over
The Hungarian government recently enacted Emergency Decree 320/2023, taxing all CO2 emissions from the country’s 40 or so largest industrial enterprises. The government used emergency powers to set up a new taxation scheme, which undercuts existing free allowances under the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). The scheme additionally penalises the trade in ETS credits. Cement producers announced that
The Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has called for a 60% cut to duties on clinker imports, to US$1.84/t from US$4.61/t. The Financial Express newspaper has reported that BCMA members are struggling with high shipping costs and supply issues due to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Bangladesh government published plans to raise the duty on
The US Department of State has imposed sanctions upon USM Holding including its subsidiaries Akkermann Cement and USM Cement in Russia, and Akhangarancement in Uzbekistan. The action is intended to target company owner Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov and his various business interests. Other USM companies in the iron, steel, copper, gold, telecommunications and real estate sectors