News
Ukraine oligarch Zhevaho temporarily leaves post of Ferrexpo's CEO
CEO and majority owner of Ukraine’s largest iron ore pellet exporter Ferrexpo Kostiantyn Zhevaho has stepped aside from his position of Ferrexpo's CEO amid a snowballing crisis over Bank Finance and Credit (F&C Bank).
Serbia to invest €1bn to meet EU’s environmental protection standards
Serbia's ultimate goal is to make all its energy facilities compliant with EU environmental standards, as it aims to join the bloc by 2025.
Ukraine sends mixed signals over Donbas peace plan
The second president of Ukraine and the representative of the country in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Leonid Kuchma has said that the acceptance of the so-called "Steinmeier formula" by Ukraine is not a surrender in the peace process, but he em
Shares of Russian oil dinosaur Surgut soar in mystery rally
The shares of Russian fourth largest oil producer Surgutneftegaz (Surgut) leaped by a third (31%) in value between October 23 and October 25 and setting a new all time high price record of RUB48 ($0.75), with no apparent catalysts or news flow.
Baltic Pipe clears last major hurdle as Denmark grants offshore construction permits
The Baltic Pipe is a major element in Poland’s plan to wean itself off Russian gas, which currently covers around two-thirds of the country’s demand.
Ukraine climbes seven places in World Bank's rating Doing Business
Ukraine climbed seven places in the last year to the 64th place on the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking, published on October 24, its best score ever that made it one of the fastest reformers in the survey.
Turkish asset manager ‘to launch first-of-kind fund with foreign partner to invest in corporate NPLs’
Fund to ‘make equity investments and receive stakes from companies’. Construction, energy and other firms in Turkey unable to service tens of billions of dollars of FX debt in wake of currency crisis.
Russia's CBR follows EM peers with bold 50bp key interest rate cut
The board of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) decided to cut the key interest rate by whopping 50bp (basis points) to 6.5% at its regular monetary policy meeting on October 25, the biggest cut of the year and marking the start of a bolder than expect
Russian gold miner Polymetal to raise "green" project financing for four projects
Polymetal is hoping to raise green financing for four projects including the construction of a solar power plant and the reduction of water consumption at its deposits which need total investment of $60mn-$70mn within the next three years.
Protests in Sofia as Bulgaria appoints new chief prosecutor in highly controversial procedure
Many Bulgarians fear Ivan Geshev, the sole candidate for chief prosecutor, will use his position to go after critics of the establishment.
Bulgaria’s competition watchdog bans sale of CEZ’ assets to Eurohold
Czech utility's second attempt to offload its Bulgarian assets is blocked by regulator, which warns deal would cause a "significant deterioration" of market competition.
Russia stops short of top 20 Doing Business goal
Russia is ranked 28th in the latest 2019 edition of the World Bank’s Doing Business report, falling just short of the goal set by the President Vladimir Putin to enter the top 20 of the business environment rating.
Sugar smuggling forces Germany's Sudzucker to suspend production at Moldova factory
Sales in Moldova dropped due to the smuggling of tens of thousands of tonnes of sugar, while sales to the EU plunged as well because of the oversupply on the European market, says multinational sugar producer.
Slovak tourism posted the highest number of overnight stays since 2006
Tourism in Slovakia broke a record in August, when hotels and guesthouses reported 2.5mn overnight stays, the most since 2006 when the Slovak Statistical Office started reporting monthly data
Albanian police ‘foiled planned attacks by Iranian agents on exiled opposition group MeK’
Mujahideen-e-Khalq enjoys support of Trump administration figures including US president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Iranians typically see it as a Marxist-Islamic cult.
Slovenia adopts law on bank bail-in repayments amid central bank protest
Ahead of the vote, the Bank of Slovenia urged lawmakers not to adopt the legislation, saying that making the central bank liable for any damages arising from court cases related to the bank rescue breaches EU financial regulations.
Turkish government angling ‘to access more funds from central bank’
Budget deficit grew 51% y/y to 86bn lira in January-September. Even 80bn lira of transfers from national lender to Treasury in year to date has not stopped it widening.
Zelenskiy's election promises run aground amid lack of progress on Normandy Four and IMF deals
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is struggling to deliver on two of his leading election promises.
Turkey’s Halkbank now seen as “fugitive” by New York prosecutors
State bank fails to send lawyer to initial court hearing on conspiracy to evade Iran sanctions.