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Estonian premier quits after Tallinn development scandal

Opposition Reform Party leader Kaja Kallas tasked with trying to form a new government.

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BALKAN BLOG: The controversial recipe for building up Albania

The debate over PPP projects launched after unsolicited bids from interested parties has erupted again.

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EU to begin certifying Russian Sputnik V vaccine for use in Europe

Russia will begin the process of certifying its Sputnik V vaccine for use in Europe on January 19, according to Kirill Dmitriev, director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) that funded the development of the medicine.

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OUTLOOK 2021 North Macedonia

A very challenging year lies ahead of North Macedonia following the Bulgarian veto on the launch of the country’s EU accession talks.

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OUTLOOK 2021 Czechia

Support for Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s ANO party has slipped and the opposition is uniting ahead of what looks to be close elections in October.

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Lukashenko: I am no enemy of the people

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has but one friend in the world and, in his own words, that person is Vladimir Putin, he told famous Russian reporter Nailya Asker-Zade.

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COMMENT: Record high debt levels will slow post-coronavirus recovery, threaten some countries' financial stability, says IIF

The global economy starts 2021 with record amounts of debt that will slow the recovery and could destabilise some countries, the Institute of International Finance warned.

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Handfuls of protesters fight on amid Kazakh parliamentary poll that’s little more than a ritual confirming regime’s power

No surprise as ruling party Nur Otan wins landslide. All parties on ballot paper were pro-government. Despite the modest resistance, security forces take no chances.

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OUTLOOK 2021 Hungary

Prime Minister Viktor Orban faces a difficult year as his mismanagement of the pandemic and the struggling economy combine to damage Fidesz's popularity.

Latest Updates

News

The volume of the Russian National Wealth Fund in December 2020 increased by RUB89bn ($1.21bn) to reach RUB13.546 trillion ($183.93bn) as of January 1 as the share of gold in reserves overtook dollar assets for the first time ever.

The development bank's focus has been helping existing clients by providing short-term liquidity and working capital.

Ukrainian government will cap natural gas price for households in a move that may further jeopardise the country’s co-operation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

President Maia Sandu plans to ask to EU opinion on Kyiv's plans as environmental groups say existing HPPs are responsible for flooding in Moldova.

The members of Montenegro’s new ruling coalition have agreed to share out the top jobs in the state administration and major state-controlled companies after months of tense talks.

Tech

Russia’s most famous tech entrepreneur and the creator of the Telegram messaging service has rejected an offer by Western funds to buy a 5%-10% stake in the company with a valuation of $30bn.

LAUNCHub Ventures aims to raise €70mn for the fund targeted at companies from Central and Southeast Europe in a range of tech sectors.

In late 2020 Quarter Partners, an established Ukrainian investment group, launched the venture firm ‘QPDigital‘ to invest up to $100mn in digital startups

"The time is right to expand in Europe," said UK-based Moneyhub after opening a new office in Ljubljana.

Druid, one of the best-capitalised startups in Romania, has a global partnership with Romanian-born robotic processing automation leader UiPath.

Opinion

ING reviews the main macroeconomic forecasts for Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Serbia. While the resurgence of coronavirus infections has dashed hopes for a rapid V-shaped recovery, 2021 should still be a good year.

According to the Rating Group’s first public opinion poll of 2021, just over half of Ukrainians surveyed (52%) believe that the new year will be better than the one before.

Paul Manafort, one-time adviser to former President Viktor Yanukovych and soon-to-be former President Donald Trump, recently received a full presidential pardon. That means he is innocent in the eyes of the law. But not in the eyes of Ukrainians

Joe Biden seems to be getting the band back together, drawing heavily on veterans of the Obama administration for his foreign policy team. In many ways that is a good thing after four years of erratic decision-making and malign neglect.

In his two and half hour end of year address to the Uzbek parliament, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev used the word “reform” 34 times, but only mentioned democratic reforms three times. The need for political reform is the elephant in the room.

Data

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.

Features

Small nation enters new year battered and bruised by the pandemic and defeat in the autumn war with Azerbaijan. A modest economic rebound is within reach should the peace hold.

Segezha is Russia's biggest pulp and paper company. Owned by multi-industry conglomerate Sistema, the company could be the next up in the groups string of IPOs

Uzbekistan, Tajikistan are taking triumphalist stances on coronavirus.

Lithuania's economic contraction in 2020 was among the smallest in Europe, but its recovery will be slower than in the other Baltic states in 2021.

Serbia weathered the coronacrisis better than the rest of the Southeast Europe region, and no major political surprises are expected in the inter-election year of 2021.

Blogs

The world was mesmerised by scenes of bizarrely clad Trump supporters breaking into and occupying the Capitol in Washington DC last week, which was widely described as an attempted coup d'état. But it was nothing like the coup in Russia in 1993.

A gloomy start to 2021, but labour markets and purchasing power in the CEE region are in much better shape than after the 2008 financial crisis, indicating retail will bounce back from the coronacrisis, says Colliers.

All of a sudden, following the mob storming of the Capitol, it appears that the Iranians had common sense on their side all along.

Central and Southeast Europe now accounts for a third of the tiny number of states worldwide that have gender-balanced cabinets — but higher female representation in politics doesn’t necessarily equate to women holding real power.

Is Trump getting his Turkey sanctions cleared by Erdogan’s office?

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Ukraine has been on a rollercoaster ride this year. After the wild optimism following the election of Ukrainian president Volodymy....

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