Estoniaʼs consumer prices continued to decline in July, data from Statistics Estonia (SE) showed on Friday. The consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.9% year-on-year in July, following a 1% decrease in June.

Mineral water and soft drink sales volume in Hungary fell about 8% year-on-year to 1.177 billion liters in the first half as second-quarter sales plunged because of a lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, the head of the Hungarian Mineral Water, Juice and Soft Drink Association told state news wire MTI.

Among the measures introduced due to the coronavirus epidemic, reduced working hours and the home office proved to be effective for many companies, so they may remain in the future, according to a survey conducted by K&H Bank in June, writes novekedes.hu.

Two leading European banks are promoting the electric car industry with an investment in a new plant in central Poland run by global chemicals and sustainable technologies group Johnson Matthey. 

The reported number of cases of tick-borne encephalitis in the Czech Republic has increased by 25% on the previous year, according to data released by the National Institute of Public Health, reported the Czech Radio.

The stateʼs student loan program will be extended to vocational training and adult education programs from April 2021, the Innovation and Technology Ministry said, according to a report by state news wire MTI.

The Romanian government will grant parents an aid of 75% of the salary in the new school year if classes are suspended in a certain school due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban announced last week. 

The next event of the European Cricket Series (ECS), held in Hungary on the weekend of August 22-23 will be filmed and streamed live over Facebook and Youtube, according to a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal.

The latest weekly sales of the Hungarian Government Securities Plusz bonds for retail investors dropped to HUF 57.2 billion after jumping to HUF 82.1 bln, a peak so far this year, in the previous week, state news wire MTI reports, citing data released by the Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK).

Real estate developer Skanska started the development of the first phase of its new office complex H2Offices in Budapest, according to a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal.

Croatian electricity and gas regulator Hrvatski Operator Tržišta Energije has launched a tender for 88 MW (megawatt) of renewables capacity, reported pv-magazine.

The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) purchased a total of HUF 33.9 billion corporate bonds under its Bond Funding for Growth Scheme (BGS) in July, state news wire MTI reports, citing data published on the central bankʼs website.

The management and unions of state-owned postal company Magyar Posta reached an agreement on remuneration that will raise wages by 8%, on average, and keep performance bonuses in place, according to azenpenzem.hu.

The number of active coronavirus cases in Hungary has increased to 601, up from 555 on Friday, according to data by government coronavirus information site koronavirus.gov.hu.

Croatiaʼs producer prices declined for the fifth straight month in July, figures from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (Crostat) showed last week. 

In June 2020, the surplus on external trade in goods was EUR 697 million, up EUR 201 mln year-on-year, according to data published by the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

The Czech foreign trade surplus decreased to CZK 34.09 billion (EUR 1.326 billion) in June from CZK 16.53 billion in the same month last year, preliminary data from the countryʼs statistics office show. 

Hungarian-owned haulage and excavation company Trinium Alfa has added craft brewing to its scope of activities with a HUF 273 million investment, managing director Zoltán Szabó told state news wire MTI.

Hungaryʼs wheat harvest is estimated at about 4.7 million tonnes this year, state secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Tamás Tarpataki said this week, according to a report by state news wire MTI.

There is unfounded speculation that a multi-stage downsizing could follow at Tesco, the press department of Tesco Global Warehouses Zrt. told Világgazdaság in reply to related press news.