Coronavirus fear spreads across Iran, Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan after Qom deaths

Iranian officials worry turnout will be decimated at parliamentary polls. Reports of sick German man taken off Tehran metro. Iraq Airways scraps flights to and from Islamic Republic.

Turkey ‘asks US for Patriot missiles to help counter Russia-backed Syrian troops’

Trump’s latest word on Syria is that he and “tough guy” Erdogan “are working together on seeing what can be done”.

Hot spring looms in Albania as president urges people to rise up against government

President Ilir Meta has called on all Albanians to join mass protests against the government in March, signalling a return to the unrest that marked the first half of last year.

Secret Iranian court hands jail sentences to eight environmentalists accused of spying for US

Case is mysterious. Judiciary has spoken of surveys of cheetahs used as pretext for espionage. Reports of military officials saying cameras were planted to pinpoint missile test areas have circulated. UN has condemned Tehran’s actions in affair.

Inflow of Russian retail investors to MOEX could be misleading

Hundreds of thousands of Russians have opened individual retail accounts with Moscow Exchange (MOEX) to buy and sell shares, but most of the accounts are empty and inactive

Hungarian government mulls raising subsidy for cheaper EVs

Hungary is planning to beef up subsidies for electric vehicles and talks are on the way to increase subsidies for cheaper cars.

University of Tehran team’s Surena IV humanoid robot can climb stairs

Robotics specialists showcase its "43 degrees of freedom".

German investor plans e-vehicle battery factory in western Romania

Draxlmaier plans to build the first battery factory for electric cars in Romania, where several other German auto-components producers are also planning investments.

AI investments in Romania forecast to double from current robust level

Significant investments in Romanian AI start-ups TypingDNA and Fintech OS in the final quarter of last year placed Romania among the leading countries in Eastern Europe.

Yandex bets on super-fast grocery delivery

The Russian tech giant Yandex is taking on Russia’s supermarket chains by offering super-fast delivery service that promises to get groceries to your door in under 15 minutes.

ING: Russian budget spending plays catch up in January

Russian state spending significantly accelerated in January, fulfilling the unusually high proportion of annual spending plan for that month as the government plays catch up with the national projects

TRACE: A closer look at corruption risk in the western Balkans

Corruption is a serious problem throughout emerging Europe, but there are questions about whether the focus on perceptions of corruption is the best way to evaluate the effectiveness of a country’s anti-corruption efforts.

ING: Poland's growth slows sharply and the outlook is poor

Annual GDP data implies that growth slowed in the final quarter of last year to a modest 3% year-on-year vs 3.9% in the third quarter. ING’s 3% y/y growth forecast for 2020 is at risk for a downgrade.

ASH: Putin moves from "Fortress Russia" to "Go for Growth"

Things are happening in Russia – with change signalled both in the political and the economic policy settings. Russia's fiscal fortress is strong enough to make it impervious to sanctions, so time to focus on growth

AFC Capital: Uzbekistan’s antiquated banking sector must wake up to invest-to-compete principle

Arrival of Georgia’s TBC Bank on local market may incentivise local banks to digitise, provide good customer service and eliminate bottlenecks.

Russian consumer demand rises in January on growing real income levels

Analysts expect incomes to continue to rise this year as President Vladimir Putin has said on many occasions recently that the top priority is to boost income levels in 2020.

Warm weather melts Russian industrial output growth in January

Russian industrial output growth in January 2020 slowed to 1.1% from 1.7% seen in December, according to the report by Rosstat statistics agency.

Belarus industrial production plunged by 5.8% y/y in January

The industry production in Belarus plunged by 5.8% year-on-year in January, according to the national statistics agency Belstat.

Vehicle production in Turkey flat at 110,000 units in January

Passenger car imports leap 102% while vehicle sales the domestic market jump 89% as aggressive monetary easing and looser fiscal policy kick in.

UPDATE: Belarus reports 1.9% y/y GDP drop in January amid snowballing energy crisis

TURKEY INSIGHT: Pure genius. With economy back on cliff-edge Erdogan’s MPs propose expanding credit guarantee fund

Same day gives lira another wobble as central bank throws on another 50bp rate cut.

Russia becomes a safe haven in an increasingly turbulent world

International investors used to worry about geopolitical Russia risk, but the fiscal fortress Putin has built now makes Russia's capital markets look like a safe haven.

Ukraine's bank sector profit triples in 2019 as the sector gets on the path to sustained recovery

Profits in Ukraine’s banking sector tripled in 2019 to hit UAH59.6bn as of December, as a full recovery of the sector is now well underway.

"Westlessness" dominates the discussion at the Munich Security Conference

The West has lost the initiative to illiberal powers like China and Russia that are now acting on their own, according to the "Westlessness" report produced ahead of the Munich Security Summit.

Russia’s utility sector set to rally in 2020 as reforms progress

After a very strong rally Russia’s stock markets have been hit by fears of a global coronavirus epidemic and collapsing oil price. The market has given up all its gains, but not so the utilities sector which is up 16% YTD.

ISTANBUL BLOG: The tragedy of Adem Yarici and the “perception operatives”

Think long and hard before you say a person who sets themselves alight in Erdogan’s Turkey may have succumbed to economic despair.

BALKAN BLOG: A diplomatic breakthrough for Trump’s favourite ambassador

The US is back in the game in the Western Balkans, as President Donald Trump’s new envoy for the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue has brokered one deal on the resumption of air traffic between the two countries, and is close to a second on rail transport.

MOSCOW BLOG: Is Putin a megalomaniac?

Is Russian President Vladimir Putin a megalomaniac? The reaction of the commentatori to the huge changes in Russia’s political DNA suggested by the president was kneejerk and entirely predictable.

MOSCOW BLOG: The life of a beekeeper

Yuri Luzhkov was mayor of Moscow for nearly two decades and presided over the total transformation of the Russian capital.

BALKAN BLOG: North Macedonia’s ex-chief special prosecutor on trial

She was appointed to head investigations into top-level crime and corruption but now Katica Janeva is now on trial herself, accused of taking part in an operation to extort €1.5mn from one of North Macedonia's richest men.