Eastern Europe / Features
IRI poll paints a pretty grim picture of life and politics in Ukraine
Ukraine has failed to fulfil the promise of the “Revolution of Dignity,” it has lost the young people who won't vote and attitudes to Russia and Nato remain mixed.
Russian government gets a new programme and people
Vladimir Putin is confirmed as Russian president again and Dmitry Medvedev has been reappointed as prime minister. The government has already rolled up its sleeves and is getting down to the work of setting the next 6 year programme.
Emerging markets have gone off the boil since April
Net inflows into emerging markets have turned negative in the last month, although the sell off has not been as severe as earlier crisis-related routs.
Third time lucky for IKEA's Ukrainian launch?
Swedish furniture giant IKEA is going to try and enter the Ukrainian market for a third time. The company was interested in opening its iconic yellow and blue stores in Ukraine in 2005 and 2010, but corruption fears put the retailer off.
Hypermarkets in decline in Russia as Auchan moves upmarket
Hypermarkets have had their heyday in Russia and are facing increasing competition from local convenience stores that are offering them more and more competition.
The advertising market in Russia and Ukraine continues to boom
The advertising market in Russia and Ukraine continues to boom. In 2017, the Russian and Ukrainian advertising market reached their highest growth rate of the last three years, according to the weCAN advertising agency.
Sanctioning Russian sovereign debt
The US Treasury Department decision to sanction top Russian companies and businessmen made Russian assets “nuclear toxic waste” again, but Congress has held back from dropping the nuclear bomb: banning investors from holding Russia’s sovereign bonds.
The diary of an election observer: a day in prison
For most prisoners in Moscow’s oldest and most famous jail Butyrka, voting in Russia’s March presidential election was just a bit of fun. Like most Russians, they don't believe their vote will change anything.
Russia's Bondageddon
Russian assets are toxic nuclear waste again after the US Treasury Department released a new set of targeted sanctions aimed at some of Russia’s biggest businessmen and their companies, and unleashed chaos on the markets.
No more Eurobonds from Belarus this year
Belarus has plenty of money to meet its obligations this year and most of next, so it's not planning any more Eurobond issues but may issue debt on the Russian capital markets, the head of Belarus’s debt agency said.
BRICKS & MORTAR: Take up of office space in Moscow nearly doubles in 1Q
Russia’s real estate market is coming back to life on the back of the ongoing economic recovery, and with few new buildings coming on the market prices are being pushed up and vacancy rates driven down.
Clearstream to hook Ukraine and Kazakhstan up to international markets
When Russia hooked its capital markets into the global financial system in 2012 it caused a revolution. Billions of dollars poured into the local government bond market. Now Kazakhstan and Ukraine want to join the party.