Central & Eastern Europe

Russia     Friends in high places: Deripaska (right) and Putin. French oil firm Total unexpectedly signed a deal in mid-July with Kremlin-controlled gas giant Gazprom to help develop the massive Shtokman natural gas field. The Russian government had earlier ...

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE   The EU’s newest members struggle to balance growth with stability.   Prague's stock exchange is one of many in the region that are attracting foreign investors. Despite recent political maneuverings by Russian president Vladimir Putin, ...

Russia     Russia's Vladimir Putin at the recent G-8 summit Relations between Russia and the West plunged to fresh post-Cold War lows, as the planned US missile shield in the Czech Republic, the investigation of the death of Alexander ...

Dr news     Russia’s state-controlled Vneshtorgbank (VTB) raised nearly $8 billion in its sale of a 22.5% stake in the company, making it Russia’s seventh-largest company by market capitalization. VTB selected The Bank of New York as the depositary ...

RUSSIA     Boris Yeltsin: Russias first freely elected president The death of former Russian president Boris Yeltsin in April marked the end of an era for Russia. Retrospectives in the Russian press of the country’s first freely elected president ...

TURKEY     Gul: Nomination triggered a political crisis Turmoil sparked by the nomination of a suspected Islamist candidate for president in Turkey might have been expected to derail the long-anticipated l2.5 billion Turkish Lira ($1.86 billion) privatisation of the ...