bne
Fri, 3rd Feb -- The Turkish treasury has launched a study on issuing a sukuk bond, or Islamic debt certificate, to be linked to the toll revenues of a planned third bridge over the Bosphorus, claims a local media report, as the country increasingly looks east for investment capital amidst disenchantment with western investors.

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.

Guy Norton in Zagreb
Tue, 31st Jan -- With the recent privatisation of some major state companies not only stalling, but in some cases reversed, some are wondering what needs to change to make Serbia a more attractive place for investors.

bne
Mon, 30th Jan -- Turkey's monetary policy is "overburdened" according to the International Monetary Fund, which calls for the country to lower its inflation target, raise its benchmark policy rate and make monetary policy more transparent in a bid to deliver a "soft landing."

bne
Mon, 30th Jan -- Almost two months after the country's December 4 parliamentary elections, Slovenian politicians finally agreed on the composition of a new government on January 28. It is hoped it will have the strength and vision to restore the country's stumbling economic fortunes, exemplified by a two-notch downgrade from Fitch Ratings.

Andrew MacDowall in Belgrade
Mon, 30th Jan -- While Romanian demonstrators' grievances are familiar by now - swingeing public sector cuts, low salaries, tax increases, corruption, and the perception that President Traian Basescu and his administration are remote and authoritarian - potential solutions are considerably less clear.

Sandy Gill in Sofia
Fri, 27th Jan -- With shale gas a controversial topic in and beyond Europe, Bulgaria has made up its mind rather abruptly which side of the argument it's on - at least for now. So why an outright ban? Politics rather than statesmanship is the answer.

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.

David O'Byrne and Nicholas Watson
Thu, 26th Jan -- The Russians, Turks and economic reality are killing the EU's gas pipe dream.

John Casey of HSBC
Thu, 26th Jan -- While the economic picture remains gloomy in Europe, international trade is a key driver of Europe's success story in the future.

bne
Mon, 23rd Jan -- Gazprom's South Stream gas pipeline, designed to ship Russian gas directly to Southern Europe circumventing Ukraine, looks to have stolen a march on the rival EU/US-backed supported Nabucco pipeline.