On Sept. 30 the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a special license extending authorization for Serbia’s oil company through Oct. 30, permitting the company and the country’s only active refinery, Pancevo, to continue operating.

The Netherlands will introduce a capital gains tax from 2028 as part of a major wealth-tax overhaul, the cabinet said in a letter to the House of Representatives. The measure will tax realized investment gains rather than imputed or unrealized returns and the government says it has chosen a fast-track option to bring as much wealth as possible into scope. The tax will initially cover most financial assets — including equities, bonds and options — and is expected to apply to about 90% of relevant assets; remaining assets will be phased in two years later. To help fund the reform the government will set an annual tax-free allowance for savings and investment income of €1,000 (about $1,135) from 2028 and implement related adjustments. The cabinet said the change will end long-standing legal uncertainty over the country’s wealth taxation regime.

China implemented 41,400 water projects and completed 795 bln yuan of water infrastructure construction investment in January–September, the Ministry of Water Resources said at a State Council briefing. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period the government will accelerate basin flood-control and disaster-mitigation systems, aiming to add 15 bln cubic meters of reservoir capacity and lift key dike compliance to 91% by the end of the plan.