International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has stripped Belarus of the right to hold the World Championship this year
Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny arrested on arrival as he returns home
LONG READ: The oligarch problem
COVID-19 and Trump’s indifference helped human rights abusers in 2020
Russian opposition activist Navalny calls for supporters to take to the streets this weekend
One of Russia’s biggest wood product companies, Segezha could be Sistema’s next IPO
New Ukrainian VC firm QPDigital aims to invest up to $100 million in digital startups
EBRD investments reach record €11bn in pandemic-struck 2020
OUTLOOK 2021 Lithuania
EBRD says loan to Estonia’s controversial Porto Franco project was never disbursed
Estonian premier quits after Tallinn development scandal
Czech Pirates and Mayors approve final coalition agreement for 2021 elections
OUTLOOK 2021 Czechia
BRICKS & MORTAR: Rosier future beckons for CEE retailers after year of change and disruption
OUTLOOK 2021 Hungary
Hungarian government remains silent after Capitol riots
World Bank expects modest recovery for Europe and Central Asia in 2021
OUTLOOK 2021 Slovakia
FDI inflows to CEE down 58% in 1H20 but rebound expected
Slovakia to invest €1.2bn in digitisation
Corona-induced slump in global clothing sector dragged down Albania’s 2020 exports
BALKAN BLOG: The controversial recipe for building up Albania
Heavy flooding causes chaos in parts of Southeast Europe
Vodafone Albania plans €100mn infrastructure investments after AbCom merger
Turnover rose on Bosnia's two stock exchanges in 2020 while prices fell
Storming parliaments: New Europe's greatest hits
Kyiv accuses Bosnian President Dodik of lying about icon gifted to Russian foreign minister
Bulgaria’s government considers gradual easing of COVID-related restrictions
Sofia-based LAUNCHub Ventures holds first close of new fund on €44mn
ING THINK: Growth in the Balkans: from zero to hero again?
Labour demand down 28% y/y in Croatia in 2020
Zagreb Stock Exchange's Crobex10 index at highest level since March 5
OUTLOOK 2021 Kosovo
Arrera Automobili aims to launch Albania’s first supercar
World Bank revises projection for Moldova’s 2020 GDP decline to 7.2%
Moldova’s PM resigns to prepare the ground for early elections
Socialist lawmakers in Moldova scrap settlement on $1bn bank frauds
Montenegrins say state administration is most corrupt institution
75% of Montenegrins want EU membership
Montenegro’s new ruling coalition carves up top state jobs
North Macedonia's manufacturing confidence indicator down by 8.5 pp y/y in December
OUTLOOK 2021 North Macedonia
Transparency International warns of high corruption risk in CEE defence sectors
OUTLOOK 2021 Romania
Romania’s central bank cuts monetary policy rate by 25bp to 1.25%
Romanian construction companies' activity slows in November after intense 2020
OUTLOOK 2021 Serbia
Slovenia’s opposition files no-confidence motion against Jansa cabinet
Slovenia’s government to release funds to news agency STA after EU pressure
UK Moneyhub picks Slovenia for post-Brexit European base
Slovenia’s dire COVID-19 situation in 4Q20 caused second economic dip
Turkcell denies any affiliation with $1.6bn loan in default extended by Ziraat Bank to Virgin Islands company
BEYOND THE BOSPORUS: Let’s tentatively pencil in a date for Turkey’s hot money outflow
Armenia ‘to extend life of its 1970s Metsamor nuclear power plant after 2026’
OUTLOOK 2021 Armenia
COMMENT: Record high debt levels will slow post-coronavirus recovery, threaten some countries' financial stability, says IIF
Armenia’s PM cautions conflict with Azerbaijan “still not settled” after trilateral meeting with Putin
OUTLOOK 2021 Georgia
Georgia’s political kingpin Bidzina Ivanishvili quits politics
Modern-day “Robin Hood” inspires Georgians drowning in debt
Durov rejects Western funds’ offer to buy 5%-10% of Telegram with $30bn valuation
Iran’s navy conducts missile drill while analyst argues Trump even capable of nuclear strike in final days
TEHRAN BLOG: Who’s more credible? Johnson backing Trump’s Nobel chances or Iran applauding arrest warrant for US president?
Central Asia vaccination plans underwhelm, but governments look unruffled
Fears of authoritarianism as Kyrgyz populist wins landslide and backing for ‘Khanstitution’
OUTLOOK 2021 Kyrgyzstan
Mongolia's winter dzud set to be one of most extreme on record says Red Cross
Mongolian coal exports to China paralysed as Beijing demands virus testing of truck drivers
Mongolia fears economic damage as country faces up to its first local transmissions of coronavirus
Mongolia in lockdown after suffering first local coronavirus transmissions
OUTLOOK 2021 Tajikistan
China business briefing: Not happy with Kyrgyzstan
OUTLOOK 2021 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan: How the Grinch stole New Year
Turkmenistan: The dammed united
COMMENT: Uzbekistan is being transformed, but where are the democratic reforms?
OUTLOOK 2021 Uzbekistan
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Albania’s exports fell by 9.0% in 2020, with the biggest negative contribution coming from the textiles and footwear sector.
Higher borrowing by the governments of Bosnia’s two entities pushed up turnover — mainly trading in government bonds and T-bills — on the Sarajevo and Banja Luka exchanges, but the main indexes dropped.
Romania's construction work index increased by 7.8% y/y in November, a robust growth yet slower than in previous months of the year.
Support for EU accession has increase significantly compared to 2019 when about 66% of citizens were in favour shows survey commissioned by EU delegation to Montenegro.
Confidence remains low compared to 2019, but current volume of production orders and expectations for coming months are more favourable than in November.
Romania's industrial production index edged down by 0.6% m/m in November after six months of recovery.
Strongest drop in demand was in the service sector, but partly offset by higher demand for occupations related to the pandemic and post-earthquake reconstruction.
The net international reserves of Ukraine as of January 1 amounted to $18.1bn, which is 19% more than at the beginning of December 2020 ($15.2bn), Head of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Bohdan Danylyshyn said.
Epidemiological situation was among the worst in the euro area in the fourth quarter and required a tightening of restrictive measures, which led to another severe drop in economic activity, the Bank of Slovenia said.
Russia’s Watcom shopping index, which measures foot traffic in Moscow’s major shopping malls, recovered some of the ground lost after the second wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic started, but it is still down by half on last year.
Belarusian residents withdrew $1.9bn in dollars from banks during 2020, with $1.4bn being withdrawn in August alone at the start of the mass protests following the disputed August 9 presidential election, the Ministry of Finance said.
Romania’s imports have decreased at a slower rate compared to exports since the crisis emerged in early 2020, but the foreign trade gap has continued to widen.
The blue-chip BET index topped 10,000 points again, after the upward trend at the beginning of last year was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The annual fall in November was due to plunging food and motor fuels sales, but retail turnover inched up compared to October.
The World Bank revised upward its forecast for Ukraine's growth in 2021 to 3.1% from its earlier forecast of 1.5% issued in October, according to the January 2021 World Bank's Global Economic Prospects.
The steady improvement in the retail sales index shows healthy consumer confidence supported by the robust real wage growth and still moderate unemployment rates.
Ukraine’s banking sector remained impressively healthy throughout 2020 and finished the year on a high. The sector posted a sectoral profit of UAH43,365mn ($1.5bn), which was still down on the 2019 result, the best monthly result in four years
The weighted average rate of return for mandatory private pension funds rose to nearly 4.9% in November, but the private pension funds market in Romania remains underdeveloped.
Prices on the Zagreb Stock Exchange started to revive after the news of successful vaccine trials in November.
Modest recovery of 3.9% in quarterly terms in Q3 but Bosnia's economy isn't expected to fully recover from the coronacrisis until 2022.
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