Features
Russian dividend season about to open
Russian companies pay the highest dividends in the world. At the moment the average dividend yield if 6.8%, which is around twice that of the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) index.
Ukraine's flourishing e-commerce sector is catching up with Russia's
Ukraine saw the second fastest e-commerce sector growth in Europe last year, up by just under a third, according to the EU-funded Better Regulation Delivery Office.
Russia is home to the world’s coldest jobs
Some Russian employees are expected to go to work in temperatures further below freezing than in any other part of the world, according to a study by Crystal Ski Holidays.
Tourism beyond the beaches in Albania
Long reliant on package tourists from Eastern Europe and neighbouring Balkan states who flock to its beaches in the brief summer season, Albania is gradually diversifying its tourist offering.
Belarus’s foreign trade flourishing
Foods was the country’s leading export product in 2018, up 5.3% y/y to $5.23bn, but exports of tanks, tractors and software are all growing. Trade figures are expected to rise again in 2019.
INTERVIEW: Vezet is Russia's second largest taxi service battling it out in a cutthroat market
Russia’s taxi business has become ultra-competitive. Already running for several years, the incumbent Yandex.Taxi subsidies its drivers and won’t go into profit until maybe this year. It has already forced Uber into a merger and may IPO in the next t
Corruption in Eurasia: Transparency International paints bleak picture of anti-democratic decay
Turkey’s decline alarming on a five-year view. Armenia only bright light across whole region.
Investors shrug off politics to boost deal value in emerging Europe
The value of M&A deals in the region soared by 20.1% in 2018, with investors largely ignoring populism and protests in Central and Southeast Europe, a CMS/EMIS report shows.
Putin's May Decrees and the 12 "national projects" take shape, but lacunae remain
The details of Putin’s 12 national programmes, laid out in the May Decrees, are still being worked out and many questions remain.
Turkey’s democratic deconstruction: Not so amusing
Bizarre stories of the 165-year-old voter and 1,000 voters living in one apartment offer but a teasing glimmer of what is politely described as a “hybrid regime”.