Central & Eastern Europe Archives

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Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Central Bank Independence Is Under Threat

MILESTONES: HUNGARY By Paula Green As if a weakening currency, surging public debt and three downgrades to junk bond status since November weren't enough to dissuade investors from sinking money into Hungary, they now have to deal with ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Company To Watch: Yandex / Russia

'RUSSIAN GOOGLE' BUYS SOFTWARE FIRM TO BOOST MOBILE OFFERINGS By Gordon Platt Yandex, the leading Internet search engine in Russia, with a 63% market share, purchased SPB Software last November to increase its mobile services. Yandex has ...

News

Cover Story: EUROPE 2020

AFTER THE TURMOIL: WHAT COMES NEXT? By Jonathan Gregson, Justin Keay and Vanessa Drucker How the European Union will look in 2020 is unclear. Whether it will see tighter union, a tiered eurozone, or will cease to exist ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Russia’s 18-Year Odyssey To Join The WTO Finally At An End

MILESTONES: RUSSIA By Kim Iskyan While attention in December was mostly focused on the evolving political environment in Russia, a major economic milestone was achieved on December 16, when the World Trade Organization formally accepted the country as ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Company To Watch: KGHM POLSKA MIEDŹ / Poland

POLISH COPPER, SILVER MINER ROLLS WITH THE PUNCHES By Gordon Platt After KGHM Polska Mied reported that its third-quarter 2011 profits had tripled from the same period a year earlier, the Polish government immediately announced a significant increase in ...

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Deep Freeze On IMF Lending To Ukraine

MILESTONES: UKRAINE By Kim Iskyan The IMF’s $15 billion loan program to Ukraine looks increasingly likely to be suspended at least until parliamentary elections in October 2012, following an early November visit by the IMF that ended without recommending the resumption ...

Country Report

Country Report: Greece

BALANCING ACT By Vanessa Drucker Greece’s politicians must balance growth and austerity, but it will mean walking a tightrope with no safety net in sight. Greece needs a fresh blueprint for economic and social survival. Eurozone debt restructuring packages ...

Country Report

Country Report: Turkey

EVADING A HARD LANDING By Gordon Platt Turkey’s widening trade and current account deficits are making some investors nervous, but government officials are confident they can keep the fast-growing economy from overheating if they apply the proper mix of fiscal ...

Banking

EM Regional Review: CEE

WINTER OF DISCONTENT By Justin Keay Although there are some bright spots, many CEE countries face the prospect of another economic downturn thanks to tight European ties. For most countries in the postcommunist world, 2011 ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Albania Aims To Be Green Energy Superpower

NEWSMAKERS: ALBANIA By Dan Keeler As most of Europe’s leaders tighten the screws on their battered economies, tiny Albania, one of the continent’s poorest nations, is pushing ahead with an ambitious plan intended to substantially boost foreign direct ...

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

FX Supplement: Is The Euro Crumbling?

IS THE EURO CRUMBLING? By Gordon Platt Major reform is needed, but whether the political will is there to make large scale changes remains to be seen. The alternative may be the end of the eurozone as it ...

Banking

Kudrin’s Shoes Will Be Hard To Fill

NEWSMAKERS: RUSSIA By Kim Iskyan Investors have long viewed Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin as the country’s second-most-important policymaker—and the primary reason for the dramatic turnaround in Russia’s macroeconomic position over the past decade. Alexei Kudrin refuses ...