Ben Aris in Moscow
Sat, 20th Dec -- A consensus emerged from all the 2009 strategy papers issued by Russia€™s investment banks at the end of 2008: this downturn is nasty, but it is temporary. Russia could bounce back strongly in the second half of 2009

Ben Aris in Berlin
Sat, 20th Dec -- Ukraine will have a harder time of in 2009 than any other country in eastern Europe. It enters the year in recession and the prospects for growth in the second half of the year depend heavily on what happens to the global economy.

Nicholas Watson, Jan Cienski and Robert Smyth
Fri, 19th Dec -- There's little disagreement about the overall outlook for Central Europe in 2009: in a November survey by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) and Erste Group, some 66% of financial market experts questioned said they're not persuaded that the competitive advantages of the fast-growing countries in the region will be enough to stave off the effects of the economic slowdown from the Eurozone and they anticipate a widespread slowdown over the coming six months.

Nicholas Watson in Prague
Fri, 19th Dec -- The global financial crisis arrived relatively late to the region, but arrived it certainly has. The only debate now is how bad things will get. There are dire predictions for the high-flying Romania and Bulgaria, whereas the crisis-prone Turkey may be well placed enough to avoid another one.

Clare Nuttall in Almaty
Fri, 19th Dec -- The Eurasian economies are expected to see a slowing of growth in 2009, as a consequence of falling prices for oil and other commodities.