Russia's Rosneft and finance ministry wrestle over Arctic funding

Russia's finance ministry is insisting that the moratorium on oil and gas extraction support is extended for the Arctic region, while Rosneft pushes through support for its Arctic project Vostok Oil.

Hungary and Germany mark 30th anniversary of border opening

Angela Merkel and Viktor Orban put their differences over migration aside to commemorate the opening of the Hungarian-Austrian border, a milestone event in the momentous year of 1989.

Uzbek prosecutors launch new criminal probe against late autocrat Karimov’s daughter

Prosecutors indicted Karimova for illegally buying two cement plants and selling them off to a foreign business, saying she coerced the owners to hand over their companies.

Kosovo bans import of potatoes and honey from North Macedonia

Reciprocal measure taken after North Macedonia introduced tariffs on imports of fish and roe from Kosovo in June this year.

Russia releases French Baring Vostok partner on house arrest

Moscow court released French partner of Baring Vostok Capital Partners Philippe Delpal from pre-trial detention and put him under house arrest on Thursday August 15.

Deutsche Bank invests a further €14.6mn in its Romanian technology centre

Capital increase comes after Romanian economy "confirmed and surpassed" Deutsche Bank's initial estimates about the potential of its IT industry.

Number of registered Polish e-shops reaches record high in 1H19

The number of Polish e-shops increased by 2,800 in the 1H19, to a new record high, mostly due to changes in how Poles shop, according to a study by Bisnode.

Russia's Sberbank to launch biometric payments

Russia's largest bank and digital innovation leader state-controlled Sberbank will test payments with fingerprints and face recognition without the use of payment cards or gadgets, Vedomosti daily reported citing the information of the bank.

Estonia-based EstateGuru to carve out up to €5bn of expanding alternative real estate financing market

Co-founder of P2P lending platform believes real estate financing via digital platforms will increase to €75.6bn by 2025.

Polish cosmetics companies make it to the Chinese e-market

Companies such as Ziaja, Bielenda, Bell, Paese and Verona have successfully entered the Chinese market through the international e-commerce platforms AliExpress and Tmall.

Russian sanctions fifth anniversary, but no reason to celebrate

This summer mark the fifth anniversary of Western sanctions against Russia. But taking a quick look at Russian economic and financial sector indicators and you'd wonder if the sanctions are still in place.

COMMENT: Romania's inflation above 4% again

At 4.1% y/y, Romania's July inflation will probably be the highest print for the year, ING analysts write.

ING: Czech Republic: Surprising fall in industry

Industrial output fell by 6.4% y/y in June after over 3% growth in previous months. Though subject to calendar effects and other one-off factors, the weaker result also underlines that Czech industry is not immune to the German industrial slowdown.

ING: Russian inflation slows on restrained tariff indexation

TURKEY INSIGHT: Awesome, surreal!

Top officials say it’s all starting to come together for the Turkish economy. So why are some observers sniggering at the back?

Turkey completes August domestic debt auctions, raises TRY8.4bn at lower costs

Rollover ratio registers at 95% compared to 73% target.

Romanian blue chips boast 22.7% average profit margin in H1

The BET index has gained over 22% since the beginning of this year while the BET-TR index, which also includes the dividends paid by BET companies, recorded a return of 33%.

Russian industrial output below expectations at 2.8% growth in July

Russian industrial output growth slowed down to 2.8% year-on-year from 3.3% seen in June, trending below the consensus expectations of 3.4% growth, and showing a seasonally-adjusted month-on-month decline of 0.4%. In January-July overall industry exp

Slovakia’s inflation up again to 2.9% y/y in July

Year-on-year inflation in Slovakia rose to 2.9% in July, up by 0.2 percentage points (pp) from June, with core inflation standing at 2.5% and net inflation at 1.9%, the data of the Slovak Statistics Office (SSO) showed on August 13.

Czech GDP growth of 2.7% y/y in 2Q19 positively surprised

Household consumption and external demand drove the economy in 2Q19.

Serbia the latest country to report African swine fever as global epidemic spreads in Eastern Europe

Serbia became the latest country to see its pigs fall victim to African swine fever (ASF) on August 12, when the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) announced four outbreaks in the Balkan country.

Banking on change in Lviv

Owned by an Icelandic chess grandmaster, Bank Lviv is based in one of Ukraine's most prosperous regions and is focusing on funding SMEs as the economy starts to grow again.

Which country is the biggest FDI investor into Russia? It’s Cyprus... Not.

Which country is the biggest investor into Russia? It’s Cyprus. At least that is according to the official figures from the Central Bank of Russia (CBR). But of course it isn’t really. A new study sheds light on the true origin of Russia's FDI

ATAMBAYEV SURRENDERS: Kyrgyz special forces follow up on botched first raid on ex-president’s compound

Charge over “illegal early release” of one of Kyrgyzstan’s most notorious crime bosses follows within hours. Rally of supporters broken up with tear gas and stun grenades.

The rubbish local politics in emerging Europe

After nearly three decades of transition the peoples of emerging Europe are starting to hold their governments to account. The issue driving most is not ideology or corruption but demands to deal with everyday problems like rubbish collection.

KYIV BLOG: Zelenskiy's party won control of parliament, but now he has to control his party

Servant of the People won a landslide victory in July's parliamentary elections. The question remains can Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy actually control his own party?

ISTANBUL BLOG: Erdogan pulls off coup inside the central bank

Strongman rips guts out of regulator too slow for his liking in providing cheap money. If he wasn’t entirely at monetary helm before, he is now. But do global investors particularly care?

MOSCOW BLOG: Are regular Russians ready to face the police baton to get what they want?

Has the brutal beating of protestors in Moscow last weekend and the arresting of over 1,300 people—some simply innocent passersby—radicalised Muscovites? The crowd size at the sanctioned August 3 rally will be very telling.

BALKAN BLOG: Bulgaria’s nomination for chief prosecutor shows why the anti-corruption fight is failing

Protests in Sofia after Ivan Geshev — known for failing to deliver results in the Corpbank embezzlement trial and staging an action movie-style arrest of a Sofia district mayor — is nominated for chief prosector.

ISTANBUL BLOG: Turkish central bank chops policy rate (for “central bank” read “Erdogan”)

Lira holds steady after easing decision with global factors in its favour but no-one in their right mind should believe the government’s economic logic or data anymore.