Eastern Europe

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Ukraine has slashed its 2023 GDP growth forecast to 0.3% from a previous 4%, Ukrainian media reported, quoting an NBU press release."The key assumption of the forecast is that security risks will start ...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction and Minister for the Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov and Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHC...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has declared the activity of Medusa Project (designated as a foreign agent) undesirable in Russia."It has been decided to declare the activity of a foreign non-governmental organi...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Ukraine has improved its inflation forecast for 2023 to 18.7%, from the 20.8% it was predicting in October, Ukrainian media reported, quoting an NBU press release."The NBU forecasts inflation will slow ...

TASHKENT. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan is discussing gas supply issues with Gazprom within the framework of the recently signed roadmap, but there have been no talks on transferring the gas transmission system to the Russian gas giant, the Uzbek Energy ...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Ukraine forecasts its international reserves will be $27 billion at the end of 2023, Ukrainian media reported, quoting an NBU press release.The international reserves fell 7.9% in 2022 to $28.491 billion so...

VILNIUS. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Lithuania's agro-industrial group Linas Agro Group is discussing with Singapore's ETG conglomerate the possibility of implementing a project for the full-scale processing of peas totaling 100 million euros."The Lin...

YEREVAN. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Armenia's GDP could grow4% in 2023 and 4.5% in 2024, the United Nations said in its World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023.Inflation could be 4.3% in 2023, slowing to 3.9% in 2024, according to the forecast.Migratory ...

BAKU. Jan 26 (Interfax) - BP is expecting first oil from the Azeri Central East (ACE) platform at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli group of offshore fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea at the beginning of 2024, BP Vice President for the Caspian R...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian National Securities and Stock Market Commission has authorized the circulation in Ukraine of the five-year C$500 million Ukraine Sovereignty Bond (ISIN CA135087P733) issued by Canada (about $373.4 million), the pr...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Ukraine has again decided to hold its key policy rate at 25% per annum, as expected."In order to bring inflation back to the steady decline trajectory and to maintain exchange rate and macro-financial s...

BAKU. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The Baku-Supsa oil pipeline, which is currently not in use, is ready to resume pumping oil at any time, Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli, BP vice president for communications and external relations in the Caspian and Middle East region, told...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - RusAg Bank has allocated more than 58 billion rubles in 2022 to support the Russian dairy industry, the lender said in a statement, citing CEO Boris Listov.The bank supports milk producers and processors, working both with larg...

ALMATY. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) plans to invest more than $1.1 billion in Kazakhstan 2023, its CEO Nikolai Podguzov said at a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana.The bank intends to facilitate internat...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal Service for State Registration, Cadaster and Cartography (Rosreestr) has presented a bill which regulates the recognition of real estate titles in the new Russian regions."Rosreestr has submitted for dis...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission has successfully completed an inspection at the Rovno Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) conducted from January 22 to 24, 2023 in line with the IAEA's agreement with Ukraine and t...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The majority of bankers interviewed by Ukrainian journalists believe that the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) will keep its key rate at 25% at its next meeting."We expect the NBU to keep its key rate unchanged. Even though i...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Sweden's Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) in 2022 created provisions for an impairment of 1.4 billion Swedish krona, or 125.8 million euros, on assets in Russia, SEB said in a financial report posted on its website.SEB p...

CHISINAU. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The current contract for power supply to Moldova from Transdniestria has been extended through February 2023, the Moldovan Infrastructure and Regional Development Ministry said on Thursday.According to the ministry, the Moldo...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Emergency power outages occurred in the city of Kiev and in the Kiev, Odessa, and Dnepropetrovsk regions due to a risk of damage on Thursday, Ukrainian media have reported with reference to the DTEK energy holding company."...

KRASNODAR. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Ariant Group, one of Russia's largest wine producers, has set up an information technology company, the group's press service said."Ariant Digital Solutions Center (Ariant DSC, Chelyabinsk) has become the fifth c...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Russia proposes establishing a common voluntary market for carbon units among Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member countries, and Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov delivered the statement at the EAEU seminar on t...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Director of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Procurement Department Bogdan Khmelnitsky and Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov have been dismissed due a scandal over food procurement for the Ukrainian Armed Forces...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) will lower its forecast for real GDP growth in 2023 from 4% to 1%-3.3%, while inflation is expected to slow to 19%-21% by the end of the year, bankers interviewed by Ukrainian journalists said...

MINSK. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The websites of the office of Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and the Coordination Council of the Belarusian opposition have been branded as extremist in Belarus, the Belarusian Interior Ministry said in a st...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Gas offtake from underground storage facilities in Europe has again exceeded the five-year average amid normal temperatures for the time of year, while the updated forecast for milder weather this week continues to send spot op...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The number of bank branches in Ukraine able to operate even during lengthy power outages went up one-and-a-half times, or by 640 branches, over the past months and currently stands at 1,827, Ukrainian media said, citing the pre...

KAZAN. Jan 26 (Interfax) - A package of amendments to the Tatarstan constitution, which deprives the incumbent head of republic of the right to be called president, passed by a majority of votes in its final reading at the Tatarstan State Council's me...

TASHKENT. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan plans to start importing Russian gas as of March 1, the republic's Energy Ministry told Interfax."We plan to start importing natural gas from Russia to Uzbekistan as of March 1, 2023," the ministry'...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Moet Hennessy, a division of LVMH, has appointed Alina Klushina to replace Sebastien Vilmot as chief executive of its Russian subsidiary, Moet Hennessy Distribution Rus LLC, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities showed.V...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - There is currently almost no demand for Ukrainian barley due to the absence of China's interest and weak demand on Ukraine's domestic market, Ukrainian media said, citing the GrainTrade electronic grain exchange.Against...

MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) - Russia has registered 7,077 new cases of Covid-19 and 44 related deaths in the past 24 hours, the coronavirus response headquarters said in a statement on Thursday.Russia "has recorded 7,077 new cases of Covid-19 and 973 pa...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - ArcelorMittal Krivoi Rog (AMKR), Ukraine's largest mining and metallurgical enterprise, is shutting its biggest and oldest sinter plant, which used to supply the No.1 blast furnace with 8,000 tonnes of sinter per day, Ukrai...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Russian Railways (RZD) saw a significant increase in coal shipments to ports in Russia's Northwest, the company's deputy CEO, Alexei Shilo told reporters.RZD has seen "very active" coal shipments to Russian port...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - MegaFon has acquired 100% of Intellektualnye Platezhi LLC (InPlat), a developer of mobile payment tools, the Russian mobile service provider said.InPlat was acquired from entities of USM Holdings, MegaFon's owner, for cash ...

WASHINGTON. Jan 26 (Interfax) - United States President Joe Biden has announced a decision on sending 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine."Today, I am announcing that the United States will be sending 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, the equivalent of one...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Sberbank's InterSphere software for managing ATM networks and their work with cash has been included in the registry of Russian software, the bank said."Sber is the only Russian bank that has developed and registered it...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Ukrnafta has the natural gas resources available for sale under bilateral contracts in the amount of 150 million cubic meters (mcm) a month, the company's director Sergei Koretsky."Any legal entity wishing to receive a ...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - International Paper has entered into an agreement to sell its 50% interest in Ilim SA, the holding company for leading Russian pulp and paper producer Ilim, to its partners in the joint venture for $484 million, the U.S. compan...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - The Russian gold market might turn out to be more attractive in 2023 than international markets, the CEO of gold and silver miner Polymetal , Vitaly Nesis said."Actually, considering the latest changes in Russia, domestic s...

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - New U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy has arrived in Moscow, the U.S. embassy said on social media, also publishing a photo of the ambassador at a Moscow airport."Welcome back to Russia, Ambassador Tracy," the embas...

WASHINGTON. Jan 26 (Interfax) - United States President Joe Biden had a telephone conference with a number of European leaders on Wednesday to discuss assistance for Ukraine, the White House said.In particular, Biden spoke on the phone with French Preside...

MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - The Olympic Council of Asia's proposal to allow Russian athletes to compete in its tournaments was appreciated by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the IOC press service said.The Executive Bo...

MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) - The Football Union of Russia (FUR) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) will continue talks in February on the return of Russian teams to the international arena, the FUR press service said."A working meet...

BRUSSELS. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Following the European Union, Switzerland has imposed restrictions on exports to Russia of certain products, including dual-purpose goods, and banned the provision of certain services to Russia, the Swiss Federal Council said...

TBILISI. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Charge d'Affaires ad interim Andrei Kasyanov has been summoned to the Georgian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday to provide explanations about the statements he made several days ago about the possible urgent evacuat...

MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Silleno LLP, a joint venture between Russia's SIBUR Holding and Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company KazMunayGas, will soon start Front End Engineering Design for a polyethylene plant in Kazakhstan, Sergei Komyshan...

MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Nordgold exited the Pistol Bay exploration project in Canada in late December, the Russian gold miner said in a statement.According to Nordgold, BG Gold Capital, an Ontario-based company, has become the new owner of the project...

MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government is asking the National Bank of Ukraine to allow Ukrainian Railways to pay a total of $5,738,480 in fees to holders of the company's loan participation notes who consented to restructure the notes, a...

MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Uzbekneftegaz and Petronas Carigali (Turkmenistan) Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Malaysia's Petronas, have discussed the prospects for cooperation between Bukhara Oil Refinery and production facilities of the Turkmen company.Par...