Turkish central bank to fund primary dealers of gov’t domestic debt at 23%

Liquidity move will mean national lender will indirectly buy government bonds or print money to finance Treasury.

RAEX Ratings named the Russian regions with the best governance quality

Russia’s Tambov region has the best governance in Russia, according to a rating by RAEX Rating Review, the company said on June 17.

Chinese agro investment expands as COFCO eyes Russia's third largest grain terminal

The Sino-Russian ties are deepening as China ramps up its investment into Russian agriculture. Chinese COFCO trading corporation is eyeing a 25% stake in Russian KSK grain terminal in Novorossiysk

Russia's CBR head warns of spending NWF sovereign fund

The head of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) Elvira Nabiullina warned the government against spending the National Welfare Fund (NWF), urging policy-makers to preserve the sovereign cushion at above 7% of GDP to hedge against possible external shocks

Zuzana Caputova sworn in as Slovakia's first female president

“I did not come to reign, but serve people,” says the lawyer and environmental activist known as the “Erin Brockovich of Slovakia”, who came out of left field to win the recent presidential election.

Russia's internet major Mail.ru launches own voice assistant

Russian internet major Mail.ru launched its voice assistant Marusya in test mode, Vedomosti daily reported citing unnamed sources.

Hungarian startup to revolutionise parking

With drive-through payment app Rollet, motorists can seamlessly enter and exit a garage as payments are automatically handled behind the scenes.

Naspers’ PayU buys hotly tipped Turkish fintech company iyzico

Sees huge growth opportunity for online payments. e-commerce in Turkey growing stably at over 10% each year, but still in infancy.

Russia's Sberbank to acquire 25% in Muslim charity platform PayZakat

Russia's largest bank state-controlled Sberbank will acquire 25% of PayZakat platform that collects charity for Muslims in need

KAZAKHSTAN PROTESTS: 'Spetsnaz special forces' units round up election observers at arena

‘Fake presidential poll’ demonstrations continue over June 10-11 as shoo-in Tokayev officially wins office as Nazarbayev’s successor.

ING: Romania's current account looks bad

REPORTAGE: Kazakhstan protests lose steam as regime mounts ‘semi-curfew’ while Tokayev is sworn in

New president inaugurated despite claims his opponent won vote in Nur-Sultan, Almaty and numerous regions. Kazakhs see him as Nazarbayev “puppet”. Only real concessions for country’s people will change that.

ALACO DISPATCHES: US trails Russia and China in Arctic race

Washington exercised by its rivals’ rapid progress in harnessing the Arctic region’s resources and navigation potential as a new ‘Great Game’ starts to emerge.

COMMENT: Presidential elections in Kazakhstan usher in a new era in the country's development

Kazakhs are about to the go to the polls to elect a new president after Nursultan Nazarbayev stepped aside earlier this year. The Kazakh ambassador to the UK, Erlan Idrissov, believes the election ushers in a new era in Kazakhstan’s development.

NEWS ANALYSIS: Georgia’s Anaklia deep-water port investment hits potentially terminal trouble as officials back rival

‘Monster shark in the water’ takes form of permit for rival Poti project. Conspiracy theorists will have a field day when presented with the facts.

Poland’s inflation reaches 2.4% y/y in May

Inflation is expected remain at around 2.4%-2.5% y/y in June before easing to 2%-2.5% in the second half of the year, despite core inflation accelerating.

CEE monthly bond wrap: bond issues in CEE sharply down, Russia sharply up

Bond issues in Central and Eastern Europe in May were down steeply on previous years to a total of $3.1bn from six issues, but they were up in Russia and the CIS to $1.1bn from four issues, albeit from a low base.

Slovakia´s inflation up again to 2.7% y/y in May

Slovakia´s consumer prices rose again, up 2.7% year-on-year in May and by 0.4 percentage points (pp) month-on-month, ahead of the consensus forecast of 2.6%

Turkey’s current account deficit grows by less than expected in April to $1.33bn

Higher exports and tourism season set to shrink gap in months ahead. Deleveraging amid country’s economic turmoil continues.

CBR cuts key rate by 25 bp to 7.5% per annum -- the first cut since March 2018

The Central Bank of Russia cut its key rate for the first time since March 2018, as the annual inflation slowdown continues.

Western Balkans buck downward global trend in FDI

EU accession candidates Serbia and North Macedonia see largest increase in FDI inflows in Western Balkans — but investments in the region are vulnerable to political instability, says new report from wiiw.

Quant funds keeping It simple and effective

Yesterday’s quantitative investing has become today’s algorithmic trading, which has become more and more complicated. The best way to make these funds grow is to keep them simple

Tokayev declared Kazakh election winner as thoughts turn to whether new protest movement can snowball

Nazarbayev’s handpicked successor takes 71% of vote marred by hundreds of arrests. Demonstrators who claim it was a fake contest push Wake Up, Qazaqstan campaign.

Economic as well as political dismay fuelled Kazakhstan’s ‘rigged’ election protests

Kazakhs have long felt they’ve not been getting a fair deal from their oil-rich state. Officials raided the ‘rainy day’ fund ahead of the vote, but it was far from enough to quell the anger.

Radiant fatherland? Pull the other one

Kazakhstan’s choreographed presidential election will on June 9 distract from brewing discontent. Detention of activist for holding a blank banner nicely summed up the dispiriting reality.

CAUCASUS BLOG: Mkhitaryan hoo-ha a reminder that few people usually give a damn about sportswashing

Absence of Armenian midfield star hangs over tonight’s Europa League final in Azerbaijan but the outrage will quickly fizzle out.

KYIV BLOG: Zelenskiy is fashioning a cudgel of authority from the wisps of legitimacy

After only minutes on the job and with no formal party structure behind him, nor any representation in either the parliament or state organs, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's first act was to dismiss the Verkhovna Rada.

ISTANBUL BLOG: Talk of a Turkey default grows as spooked investors ask ‘What comes next?’

Ankara is running out of options in its fight to defend the lira and raise capital.

MOSCOW BLOG: Can Russia halve its poverty level?

President Putin unveiled a very ambitious reform plan during his state of the nation speech on March 1 last year. Among the ambitious goals — some say unattainable goals — the president called for a drastic reduction in poverty.

VISEGRAD BLOG: Poland shocked by film documenting Catholic clergy’s sexual abuse of children

“Just Don’t Tell Anyone” neared 6mn views just 36 hours after its premiere on YouTube, shaking up Poland's political landscape ahead of the European Parliament elections.