ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s state-run Electricity Production Corporation (EUAS) will relaunch a coal-fired power plant tender worth $5 billion under amended terms next month, the company’s chief executive Sefer Butun told Reuters yesterday. The Electricity Production Corporation canceled the previous tender after it considered too high the price the bidders wanted for electricity produced in the Afsin Elbistan C and D units. Butun said the authorities were now working on the tender specifications before launching a new tender in October. “Some changes might be done to strengthen feasibility of this project in terms of investors. We are trying to decide on this,” said Butun. “When we are done with these (changes), we will invite bids for (Afsin-Elbistan) C and D units again,” said Butun.

ZAGREB (Reuters) – The Croatian government expects consumer price inflation to ease to around 6.5 percent year-on-year in December from its 14-year high of 8.4 percent in July, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said yesterday. “The government expects that inflation will by the end of the year fall to between 6 and 6.5 percent from 8.4 percent in July. We believe that the prices of fuel, bread and meat will fall in the coming period,” Sanader was quoted as saying by state news agency Hina. Croatian inflation fell in August to 7.4 percent. Analysts cited slowing prices of oil products as a key reason, while pressure on food prices persisted. Speaking after a meeting of a government commission monitoring price movements, Sanader said lower oil costs globally should prompt Croatia’s largest oil concern INA and other retailers to reduce their prices.

Bulgaria’s gas monopoly Bulgargaz threatened to cut supplies to four regional heating utilities over unpaid debts and the country’s energy minister yesterday promised legislation to make consumers pay their bills. Some officials warned that a tougher approach could provoke social unrest during the coming winter. Bulgargaz has already reduced gas supplies to the Sofia heating utility by 35 percent and said it would halt deliveries completely unless it received payments of about 74 million levs ($54 million) by the end of September. The company will also cut supplies to the heating utilities in Burgas, Pleven and Vratsa on Monday unless they pay total debts of 12 million ($8 million) levs by the end of Friday, its CEO Dimitar Gogov said. (Reuters)

Serbia and Italy’s Fiat have agreed to sign a deal on September 29 on starting up a joint venture and creating a new identity for the Serbian car industry, the Economy Ministry said in a statement yesterday. “Fiat will invest 700 million euros and hold a 70 percent stake in the new joint venture,” a source at the ministry told Reuters. The joint venture is expected to produce 200,000 cars in 2009 and 300,000 in 2010, mostly for export. Analysts said subsidies to Fiat to set up shop in Serbia appeared to be high, but the benefits would be clear. (Reuters)