Mike Collier in Riga Thu, 17th May -- Following an upgrade to investment status by S&P earlier in May, the IMF gave Latvia an "upgrade" of its own on May 16 when it more than doubled its GDP forecast for the Baltic state this year from 1.5% to 3.5%. It also prodded Latvia into stepping up its privatisation efforts.
David O'Byrne in Istanbul Thu, 17th May -- Only a few short years ago, the prospect of finding commercial reserves of oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean was, to use the inevitable pun, little short of a pipe dream. Now, if the results of the Republic of Cyprus' second licensing round is anything to go by, that has certainly changed.
Guy Norton in Zagreb Thu, 17th May -- A recent television advertising campaign bills Croatia as "The new tourism star of the European Union." But the future vision of Croatian tourism is a hotly disputed topic among the local population.
Clare Nuttall in Almaty Thu, 17th May --
In a bid to relaunch a privatisation drive knocked off track by the 2008 crisis, and reverse the consequent effects of fiscal stimulus, the Uzbek government says it is planning to sell almost 500 state owned companies and other assets within the next two years.
Tim Gosling in Prague Thu, 17th May --
PGE, Poland's largest utility and anointed leader of the government's nuclear power push, is considering resuming its role in the planned Baltic nuclear power plant Visaginas, local media reported a company official as saying. Warsaw says the move is motivated by the wider strategy to connect the Baltic "energy islands" to European networks.
Mike Collier in Riga Thu, 17th May --
Following an upgrade to investment status by S&P earlier in May, the IMF gave Latvia an "upgrade" of its own on May 16 when it more than doubled its GDP forecast for the Baltic state this year from 1.5% to 3.5%. It also prodded Latvia into stepping up its privatisation efforts.
David O'Byrne in Istanbul Thu, 17th May --
Only a few short years ago, the prospect of finding commercial reserves of oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean was, to use the inevitable pun, little short of a pipe dream. Now, if the results of the Republic of Cyprus' second licensing round is anything to go by, that has certainly changed.
Graham Stack in Moscow Wed, 16th May --
Pundits began writing off Dmitry Medvedev's future, and worrying about the fortunes of his professed liberal reform agenda for Russia, as soon as he agreed to step down as president to allow Vladimir Putin to return. However, media reports suggest the new prime minister is due to cram the cabinet full of allies, whilst conservative statist figures are to be shown the door.
Mike Collier in Riga Wed, 16th May --
Demographic trends across the CEE region suggest that like the other dominant resource of developed economies - oil - the time to worry about shortages at both ends of the supply chain is already here, and nowhere provides a better example of the looming crisis than Latvia.
Guy Norton in Zagreb Thu, 17th May --
A recent television advertising campaign bills Croatia as "The new tourism star of the European Union." But the future vision of Croatian tourism is a hotly disputed topic among the local population.
Sherelle Jacobs in Cologne Mon, 14th May --
"Economics, politics and personalities are often inseparable," an American businessman-turned-state-governor once said. Entanglements between these three forces have seemed even more pronounced than usual in the stand-off between the German and Ukrainian governments over the latter's treatment of its former PM Tymoshenko.
Julia Reed in Moscow Thu, 10th May --
Olga Romanova, the opposition journalist and civil rights campaigner, tells bne about her campaign to clean up Russia's judicial system.
Ben Aris in Moscow Wed, 9th May --
Backed with $880m of state money, RVC co-invests with privately owned funds, providing half the money, but taking only 49% of the shares for the most part. And the first crop of investments are starting to mature, Igor Agamirzyan, CEO of RVC, tells bne in an exclusive interview.
bne Wed, 16th May --
The construction industry is a murky business and no more so than in the Czech Republic, where the fate of Miloslava Posvarova, a former employee for the UK engineering firm Mott MacDonald in Prague, has become a matter of fierce debate.
Julia Reed in Moscow Wed, 16th May --
It's Moscow's answer to Wall Street's Zuccotti park: Muscovites are camping out at Chisti Prudy park in what they are calling "Occupy Abai", the latest stage in the standoff between the Kremlin and the nascent protest movement.
bne Mon, 14th May --
It is said that life rarely changes on a small island - and so it is with the divided island of Cyprus. Greek Cypriots are preparing for a six-month stint holding the EU's presidency, which is likely to put the already deadlocked negotiations with the northern Turkish half further into deep freeze.
Viktor Nossek of Renaissance Asset Managers Fri, 11th May --
With the years of out-of-control inflation finally behind Russia and oil prices at levels that are pushing up real incomes, Russians are saving more and more. Since 2007, ruble deposits have been growing at an annualized rate of 25% on average as households grew more confident in sticking with such accounts.
bne Thu, 10th May --
If you are a history buff, Latvia is paradise. This small country is obsessed with its history, and not in the castles-and-palaces heritage style of Western Europe; in Latvia, history is an omnipresent force underlying everything.
Southeast Europe daily