bne
Fri, 3rd Feb -- Hungary's flag carrier Malev failed in its bid to overcome a chronic cash shortage and ceased operating on February 3. Analysts fret the airline's failure could have big knock-on effects for the country's economy, including a possible doubling of the projected budget deficit for the year.

bne
Fri, 3rd Feb -- To help investors gain exposure to the under-invested agricultural sector, GAIA Capital Advisors has devised a new index that offers investors exposure to global food producing companies, many in emerging markets, which will be the basis for the launch of an exchange-traded fund.

bne
Thu, 2nd Feb -- Central Europe reported lowered gas imports on February 1 after Gazprom announced it had diverted extra flows to its domestic market amidst the sudden cold snap. While Poland and others downplayed the news, the fact that Russia has cut volumes as temperatures dip will do little to improve Europe's view on it as a reliable supplier.

bne
Wed, 1st Feb -- Santander is in talks to take over an unnamed Polish bank, Chairman Emilio Botin announced to reporters on January 31, as the Spanish giant looks to take advantage of the crisis for a second time to increase its presence in one of Europe's choice growth markets.

bne
Tue, 31st Jan -- With speculation mounting Malev could fold any day, Budapest has declared the troubled flag carrier a "strategically important firm," protecting it from bankruptcy claims. The move suggests that while cash-strapped governments across CEE are looking to pull back on funding national carriers, Hungary is heading the other way.

bne
Tue, 31st Jan -- The Czech Republic stole the headlines coming out of the EU summit in Brussels on January 30, surprising with a sudden announcement it will not sign up to the Eurozone's fiscal compact. The move sees domestic politics in Central Europe impact the EU's fight against the debt crisis once more, with the decision clearly motivated by the stresses on the ruling coalition in Prague.

bne
Tue, 31st Jan -- The rush by the international firms participating in the Czech Republic's huge nuclear tender to line up local partners reached a new level January 30, when Westinghouse Electric Company announced an exclusive agreement with the country's largest construction company Metrostav.

Tim Gosling in Prague
Fri, 27th Jan -- Although registered in the US, Epam Systems has the bulk of its operations in the CIS, and Belarus in particular. That makes its forthcoming IPO - for which it provided an initial pricing guide on January 23 - an interesting test of investors' attitude to Alexander Lukashenko's troubled country.

bne
Thu, 2nd Feb -- bne's second annual investment bank survey for CEE shows that investment banks in the region managed to hold their own against the deteriorating conditions. However, it's an open question whether 2012 promises to be a further step back towards the nadir hit in 2009 or the base from which a recovery in business can be built.

bne
Wed, 25th Jan -- Both the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Monetary Fund warned January 24 that the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone will take its toll on economic growth in Emerging Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States this year.

Mike Collier in Riga
Wed, 25th Jan -- German retailer REWE formally submitted a complaint to the European Commission over Latvia's insolvency laws, which saw Palink declared insolvent in a Riga court at the initiative of an individual named Sergei Gushkin, who is involved in a €30,000 dispute with Palink over a construction project.

bne
Tue, 24th Jan -- Lithuania has taken a step towards lessening its total dependence on Russian energy, and stolen a march on its fellow Baltics, with an agreement to lease an offshore LNG platform that will receive imports from the US.