Latest Updates

Can Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe?

With the US threatening Russia with “massive consequences” if it invades Ukraine, Russia has threatened to take “military and technical” action in response. Is cutting Europe off from gas deliveries one of the Kremlin’s options?

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President's resignation ends Armenian political calm

Armen Sarkissian's surprise resignation means there are few checks and balances left on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

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War in Ukraine would send global grain prices soaring, threatening a possible repeat of the Arab Spring

Ukraine together with Russia is one of the world’s biggest grain exporters and already the main source of wheat for many developing countries. A Russian invasion of Ukraine would smash its agricultural sector and send grain prices rocketing.

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Russia’s Lavrov gives cold welcome to US Nato enlargement crisis letter, but holds door open for more talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gave a chilly reception to the formal written response from the US to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s eight-point list of demands issued in December, but held the door open for more talks.

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wiiw slashes Emerging Europe growth forecasts for 2022 and 2023

Turkish growth is expected to slow to 3.5% this year, from a forecast 9.5% in 2021, while for Russia, GDP growth is forecast to slow to 2% from 4.5%.

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US letter rejects Russia’s No Nato Enlargement demand, as Normandy Four talks resume

The US State Department has rejected Russia’s demands for a freeze on Nato’s expansion to the east in a highly anticipated written response to Russia’s December eight point list of demands delivered on January 26.

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RAGOZIN: Zelenskiy swimming in the shark infested waters of friends and foes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is swimming in waters infested with the sharks of geopolitics where everyone has a view on Ukraine, but don't always ask his opinion. And he is trying to keep his head above the surface.

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Emerging Europe M&A soars by 55% to €94bn in 2021

Dealmaking returns to pre-pandemic levels as confidence recovers and low interest rates and big cash piles push up valuations.

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Lithuania looks for quality, not quantity in fintech

The central bank is implementing tighter standards following Lithuanian fintech UAB Finolita Unio's involvement in the Wirecard scandal.

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Banks slam Slovenia’s new legislation on Swiss franc loans

Academic group that publishes alternative Turkish inflation data faces court action that could close it down

EU Launches WTO case against China over Lithuania blockade

Banks slam Slovenia’s new legislation on Swiss franc loans

Bankers warn that if adopted law will damage Slovenia's reputation as a reliable international financial market.

Academic group that publishes alternative Turkish inflation data faces court action that could close it down

Officials angered by ENAG’s 'rival' figures amid economic crisis. Group says end-2021 inflation in Turkey was 83%. Official statisticians calculated 36%.

EU Launches WTO case against China over Lithuania blockade

China started blocking Lithuanian products and some European goods that contained Lithuanian components at customs last month.

News

EU likely to wait until general elections before imposing sanctions against Hungary

Justice commissioner says there will be an extensive back-and-forth period with Budapest before ultimately submitting a proposal to the Council of the EU.

Popular former energy trader to lead Slovenia’s Movement Freedom into April general election

Based on his strong performance in the polls, Robert Golob is seen as a serious rival to incumbent Prime Minister Janez Jansa.

HRW calls for urgent independent probe into Kazakhstan unrest ‘met with bullets’

Human rights watchdog releases findings from analysis of more than 80 verified videos from week that saw at least 227 killed.

Jailed Belarusian blogger Raman Pratasevich suddenly reappears on Belarus state television

Yesterday, the jailed Belarusian blogger Raman Pratasevich appeared on Belarus' state TV and showed support for the regime.

Hungarian central bank switches gear and raises base rate above forecast

The Monetary Council of Hungary’s National Bank raised the base rate by 50bp to 2.9% at its first monthly policy meeting of the year.

EU likely to wait until general elections before imposing sanctions against Hungary

15 hours ago

1 day ago

HRW calls for urgent independent probe into Kazakhstan unrest ‘met with bullets’

1 day ago

Jailed Belarusian blogger Raman Pratasevich suddenly reappears on Belarus state television

2 days ago

Hungarian central bank switches gear and raises base rate above forecast

2 days ago

More News

Tech

Romania’s venture capital investments quadruple to €116mn in 2021

FintechOS’ €51mn Series B round accounted for a substantial share of the investments in 2021.

Serbia-founded HTEC Group raises $140mn for global expansion

Investment in fast-growing consulting, software engineering and digital product development company HTEC Group is among the largest initial funding rounds by dollar value in Europe this past year, HTEC said.

Illegal crypto farm busted as government urges Albanians to save power

Police estimated that the group had spent around €1mn to set up two crypto labs, where they seized hundreds of devices.

Georgia’s mountainous cryptocurrency problem

The legendary mountain region of Svaneti has turned into a cryptocurrency mint, resulting in chronic electricity shortages.

Russian is the social-media language of choice for Ukrainians

Data collected on Instagram shows that 50% of Ukrainian users post in Russian, 46% in Ukrainian, and 4% in English, researcher Sven Etienne Peterson reported in a Tweet on January 14.

Romania’s venture capital investments quadruple to €116mn in 2021

15 hours ago

Serbia-founded HTEC Group raises $140mn for global expansion

1 day ago

Illegal crypto farm busted as government urges Albanians to save power

5 days ago

Georgia’s mountainous cryptocurrency problem

5 days ago

Russian is the social-media language of choice for Ukrainians

9 days ago

More Tech

Opinion

NEMETHY: Is monetary tightening the cure for inflation?

The US Fed has not increased interest rates, just talked of increasing rates – not even by that much — and global stock exchanges lost $4.2 trillion in week. How can the Fed kill off the current high inflation without crashing the economy?

ASH: Russia escalation cost/benefit

Putin has moved to escalate tensions with Ukraine, putting a huge and unprecedented Russian military force on its Western border and also launching a concerted “coercive” diplomatic effort to sketch out new red lines for Nato.

HOMANS: Former President Petro Poroshenko in the dock (sort of)

Today Poroshenko managed to make a mockery of the proceedings against him, without even being arrested or being put on trial.

RIMMER: Turkey - Let nothing astonish you

Given the regularity with which they manifest, it’s astonishing the Turkish language has no phrase equivalent to ‘nightmare scenario’. They should think about coining one, sooner rather than later, though, because another one is looming.

FPRI BMB Ukraine: Ukraine’s military better at fighting

In seven years of war, the Ukrainian army has got better at fighting Russian-backed separatists despite structural problems. At the time of the Russian invasion in 2014, the Ukrainian army had only 120,900 active members. Now it has 250,000.

NEMETHY: Is monetary tightening the cure for inflation?

2 days ago

ASH: Russia escalation cost/benefit

4 days ago

HOMANS: Former President Petro Poroshenko in the dock (sort of)

10 days ago

RIMMER: Turkey - Let nothing astonish you

10 days ago

FPRI BMB Ukraine: Ukraine’s military better at fighting

11 days ago

More Opinion

Data

Analysts slightly more optimistic about Romanian economy

The latest poll of CFA Society Romania members in December revealed a slightly more optimistic sentiment than in the previous month.

Slovenia's recovery going strong despite spike in COVID-19 cases

Central bank says spread of Omicron variant has only had a small impact on the economy.

Moldovan banks close to pre-crisis profitability

The aggregate profit of the Moldovan banks increased by 54% y/y to €115mn in 2021.

Poland’s Q4 economic growth poised to be strongest in region

Capital Economics predicts 6.8% GDP growth in 2022.

Polish retail sales ease growth to 8% y/y in December

December figures may point to the high inflation beginning to subdue consumption or to households holding back spending after increased spending in November.

Analysts slightly more optimistic about Romanian economy

1 day ago

Slovenia's recovery going strong despite spike in COVID-19 cases

2 days ago

Moldovan banks close to pre-crisis profitability

2 days ago

Poland’s Q4 economic growth poised to be strongest in region

2 days ago

Polish retail sales ease growth to 8% y/y in December

3 days ago

More Data

Features

Uzbekistan: How a power outage sent a country into meltdown

The way the utilities system is designed meant that a whole series of related essentials were quick to fail.

Who needs a war?

Russia increases its military presence in Belarus as tensions rise with Ukraine. But whose interests will guide the Belarusian regime’s actions?

Outbreak of calm grips Ukraine

The mood in the Ukrainian capital remains calm, despite the build up of Russian troops on the border, bomb threats in schools in Kyiv and the US and UK embassies evacuating their staff.

Primark to launch in Romania as it pursues CEE expansion

As pandemic's impact on retail sector recedes, Primark continues CEE expansion with plans to open new stores in Poland and Slovakia as well as Romania.

All eyes fall on Nazarbayev clan’s extraordinary wealth as Kazakhstan’s Tokayev asserts authority by targeting super rich

Across three decades fabulous riches were secured at home and offshore in oil, gas, metals, banking and luxury property.

Uzbekistan: How a power outage sent a country into meltdown

21 hours ago

Who needs a war?

3 days ago

Outbreak of calm grips Ukraine

3 days ago

Primark to launch in Romania as it pursues CEE expansion

3 days ago

All eyes fall on Nazarbayev clan’s extraordinary wealth as Kazakhstan’s Tokayev asserts authority by targeting super rich

4 days ago

More Features

Blogs

China promises more investment at Central Asia summit

Xi Jinping said trade has grown 25-fold over the last two decades.

Turkmenistan: A strong and stably economy

As the president readies the public for yet another year of shortages, he has taken money from an economic stabilisation fund to breed more horses. This and more in our weekly briefing.

BALKAN BLOG: Cancelled $2.4bn Rio Tinto project linked to Djokovic deportation

The Serbian government revoked licences for Rio Tinto’s massive lithium project just days after Australia deported Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic. But the reasons for cancelling the project have more to do with domestic politics.

MOSCOW BLOG: Nato showdown – Geneva III

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have just sat down for the third meeting in Geneva for what is probably the last round of meetings in the first phase of the Ukraine crisis.

ISTANBUL BLOG: Erdogan holds rates. Don’t get excited

The devil remains in the detail. Regime is not simply weak in the economics, it is also cold to the accounting.

China promises more investment at Central Asia summit

1 day ago

Turkmenistan: A strong and stably economy

2 days ago

BALKAN BLOG: Cancelled $2.4bn Rio Tinto project linked to Djokovic deportation

3 days ago

MOSCOW BLOG: Nato showdown – Geneva III

7 days ago

ISTANBUL BLOG: Erdogan holds rates. Don’t get excited

8 days ago

More Blogs

bneGREEN

bneGREEN: Meeting 1.5 °C could cost $75 trillion by 2050

Limiting global warming to 1.5 °C could reduce global GDP by 2%, or $75 trillion, by 2050 as spending must increase to accelerate the energy transition.

BioSense and NASA team up to help Serbia's agriculture sector adapt to climate change

Project intended to help Serbian agriculture cope with climate change and use water resources and land as rationally as possible.

Major Croatian energy companies turn to renewables

Oil and gas group INA and state oil pipeline operator Janaf have announced new commitments to renewable energy generation as the green transition gets underway in the country.

bneGREEN: Usmanov pushes sustainable copper for cleantech

Future demand for copper will increase greatly as new, greener technologies make use of the metal's unique properties. In an article published by the World Economic Forum, billionaire Alisher Usmanov made the case for increased investment in copper.

#bneGREEN: Czech real estate group CPI issues CEE's first sustainability-linked bonds in real estate

The sustainability-linked bond issue worth €700mn has an annual coupon of 1.75%.

bneGREEN: Meeting 1.5 °C could cost $75 trillion by 2050

22 hours ago

BioSense and NASA team up to help Serbia's agriculture sector adapt to climate change

2 days ago

Major Croatian energy companies turn to renewables

5 days ago

bneGREEN: Usmanov pushes sustainable copper for cleantech

8 days ago

#bneGREEN: Czech real estate group CPI issues CEE's first sustainability-linked bonds in real estate

8 days ago

More bneGREEN

Latest Updates

News

Justice commissioner says there will be an extensive back-and-forth period with Budapest before ultimately submitting a proposal to the Council of the EU.

Based on his strong performance in the polls, Robert Golob is seen as a serious rival to incumbent Prime Minister Janez Jansa.

Human rights watchdog releases findings from analysis of more than 80 verified videos from week that saw at least 227 killed.

Yesterday, the jailed Belarusian blogger Raman Pratasevich appeared on Belarus' state TV and showed support for the regime.

The Monetary Council of Hungary’s National Bank raised the base rate by 50bp to 2.9% at its first monthly policy meeting of the year.

Tech

FintechOS’ €51mn Series B round accounted for a substantial share of the investments in 2021.

Investment in fast-growing consulting, software engineering and digital product development company HTEC Group is among the largest initial funding rounds by dollar value in Europe this past year, HTEC said.

Police estimated that the group had spent around €1mn to set up two crypto labs, where they seized hundreds of devices.

The legendary mountain region of Svaneti has turned into a cryptocurrency mint, resulting in chronic electricity shortages.

Data collected on Instagram shows that 50% of Ukrainian users post in Russian, 46% in Ukrainian, and 4% in English, researcher Sven Etienne Peterson reported in a Tweet on January 14.

Opinion

The US Fed has not increased interest rates, just talked of increasing rates – not even by that much — and global stock exchanges lost $4.2 trillion in week. How can the Fed kill off the current high inflation without crashing the economy?

Putin has moved to escalate tensions with Ukraine, putting a huge and unprecedented Russian military force on its Western border and also launching a concerted “coercive” diplomatic effort to sketch out new red lines for Nato.

Today Poroshenko managed to make a mockery of the proceedings against him, without even being arrested or being put on trial.

Given the regularity with which they manifest, it’s astonishing the Turkish language has no phrase equivalent to ‘nightmare scenario’. They should think about coining one, sooner rather than later, though, because another one is looming.

In seven years of war, the Ukrainian army has got better at fighting Russian-backed separatists despite structural problems. At the time of the Russian invasion in 2014, the Ukrainian army had only 120,900 active members. Now it has 250,000.

Data

The latest poll of CFA Society Romania members in December revealed a slightly more optimistic sentiment than in the previous month.

Central bank says spread of Omicron variant has only had a small impact on the economy.

The aggregate profit of the Moldovan banks increased by 54% y/y to €115mn in 2021.

Capital Economics predicts 6.8% GDP growth in 2022.

December figures may point to the high inflation beginning to subdue consumption or to households holding back spending after increased spending in November.

Features

The way the utilities system is designed meant that a whole series of related essentials were quick to fail.

Russia increases its military presence in Belarus as tensions rise with Ukraine. But whose interests will guide the Belarusian regime’s actions?

The mood in the Ukrainian capital remains calm, despite the build up of Russian troops on the border, bomb threats in schools in Kyiv and the US and UK embassies evacuating their staff.

As pandemic's impact on retail sector recedes, Primark continues CEE expansion with plans to open new stores in Poland and Slovakia as well as Romania.

Across three decades fabulous riches were secured at home and offshore in oil, gas, metals, banking and luxury property.

Blogs

Xi Jinping said trade has grown 25-fold over the last two decades.

As the president readies the public for yet another year of shortages, he has taken money from an economic stabilisation fund to breed more horses. This and more in our weekly briefing.

The Serbian government revoked licences for Rio Tinto’s massive lithium project just days after Australia deported Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic. But the reasons for cancelling the project have more to do with domestic politics.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have just sat down for the third meeting in Geneva for what is probably the last round of meetings in the first phase of the Ukraine crisis.

The devil remains in the detail. Regime is not simply weak in the economics, it is also cold to the accounting.

bneGREEN

Limiting global warming to 1.5 °C could reduce global GDP by 2%, or $75 trillion, by 2050 as spending must increase to accelerate the energy transition.

Project intended to help Serbian agriculture cope with climate change and use water resources and land as rationally as possible.

Oil and gas group INA and state oil pipeline operator Janaf have announced new commitments to renewable energy generation as the green transition gets underway in the country.

Future demand for copper will increase greatly as new, greener technologies make use of the metal's unique properties. In an article published by the World Economic Forum, billionaire Alisher Usmanov made the case for increased investment in copper.

The sustainability-linked bond issue worth €700mn has an annual coupon of 1.75%.

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Yesterday(14/01/2022) Editor in Chief, Ben Aris was on Zoom/YouTube for a discussion with Charles Robertson, the head of rese....

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