Eastern Europe

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - The export potential for sweet carbonated soft drinks from Russia is valued at $400-450 million per year, experts at the Agriculture Ministry's Agroexport said."Assuming current positive trends continue, in the future, ...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) has uncovered an illegal supply chain of frozen salmon fish of unknown origin that was imported to Russia in January 2023 under the gu...

YEKATERINBURG. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Ural Boeing Manufacturing (UBM), a joint venture between Boeing and Russian titanium manufacturer VSMPO-Avisma Corporation set up for the machining of titanium forgings for Boeing aircraft, suspended operations after Boe...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - The areas under crops in Ukraine will be reduced in 2023 by 7 million hectares (ha) to 22 million ha from 29 million ha, or by 24.1% compared to the pre-crisis figures, Ukrainian media said citing remarks that Igor Vishtak, dir...

ASTANA. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Ongoing inflationary risks require that the National Bank of Kazakhstan keep the base rate at its current level, said Berik Sholpankulov, the bank's deputy governor.Inflation continues to climb amid the reconfiguration of s...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Trust Bank continues to work on the sale of a package of preferred shares of PJSC Russneft , and it does not rule out that a part of it may be sold in 2023, Alexander Sokolov, president and chairman of the bank's executive ...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Denis Kudin, who recently resigned from the post of Ukraine's first deputy economy minister, has been appointed to head the Ukrnafta company's department for strategy, development and government relations (GR), Ukrnafta...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Russian specialists are finalizing a search-and-rescue operation in quake-stricken areas of Turkey and Syria, and a decision to withdraw the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's team from the disaster zone has been made,...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - The Ukrenergo power grid operator has not scheduled any power consumption limits in Ukraine's regions for Tuesday, February 14, Ukrainian media said, citing distribution system operators."Ukrenergo has not introduced an...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - VTB expects retail lending to increase by 11% in 2023 and plans to grow in line with the market, the Russian state bank's deputy CEO, Anatoly Pechatnikov told reporters.VTB's retail loan portfolio grew by 7% in 2022 to ...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Russia has registered 9,826 new cases of Covid-19 and 35 related deaths over the past 24 hours, the coronavirus response headquarters said in a statement on Tuesday.Russia "has recorded 9,826 new cases of Covid-19 and 1,662...

BISHKEK. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has been released from a penitentiary, Social Democrats Party Chairman Temirlan Sultanbekov said."The sentence was cancelled in the case of Batukayev's release, and former Kyr...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - European institutions support Ukraine's aspiration to launch talks on its accession to the EU as soon as this year, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said."We enjoy clear support from European institutions and Europ...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's Ilyushin Il-76 plane with humanitarian aid on board is heading to Turkey on orders from Russia's president and government, the ministry's press service said on Tuesday....

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - VTB plans to launch a service to buy back physical gold in the second quarter of 2023, the Russian state bank said.The service will be available to customers who acquired gold bars and kept them in the custody of the bank, so a...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Wind-power generation in Europe has fallen for the fourth consecutive day, with its contribution to the EU energy balance falling to 12% on Monday, which is around 50% less than this type of power generation usually provides, h...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - The board of directors of VK has approved the possibility of re-domiciling the company from the British Virgin Islands to Russia, the internet company said in a statement.As clarified, the terms and conditions of re-domiciling ...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Zarubezhgeologiya, the international division of Russian state exploration company Rosgeo, is working out the details of cooperation on projects in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Algeria and Morocco, Russia's Natural Resources Minis...

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Ukraine is increasing the size of the vessels involved in carrying out the grain export deal so as to boost the scale of exports, Ukrainian media reported, citing the Restoration Ministry.Vessels size has been increased from 20...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Resource testing of the foreign aircraft operated in Russia amid sanctions requires the state's involvement, both technologically and financially, S7 Technics said."As you know, under the restrictive sanctions our acces...

WASHINGTON. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyayev has embarked on a two-week quarantine before his flight to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the SpaceX Crew-6 mission, the United States' National Aeronautics and Sp...

MOSCOW. Feb 10 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government has approved the order of selling confiscated Russian assets and property, Ukrainian media reported citing Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal."The government will launch open and transparent auc...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Ukraine has exported 29.16 million tonnes of grains since the 2022-2023 marketing year began on July 1, the Ukrainian media reported, citing a statement from the Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry posted on its website...

YEREVAN. Feb 10 (Interfax) - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and French Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group Brice Roquefeuil discussed steps to improve regional security in a phone call on Frid...

MOSCOW. Feb 10 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia's improved 2023 Russian GDP outlook can be explained both by a revision of estimates for previous periods and the increase in budget spending compared to October estimates, Central Bank Governor E...

ASHGABAT. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Turkmenistan plans to collect 2,300 tonnes of silkworm cocoons in 2023, the same level as last year.In accordance with a presidential decree published in the Neutral Turkmenistan governmental newspaper, the Ministry of Agricu...

ASTANA. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Russia's Airports of Regions Management Company has acquired Oral International Airport LLP in Uralsk, Kazakhstan.Airports of Regions said that the deal was made "together with Kazakh partners," but did not give any...

BAKU. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Turkey's Ceyhan terminal on February 12 resumed loading into tankers Azerbaijani oil from the BTC pipeline which had been suspended following the earthquake in the south of Turkey on February 6, BP told Interfax."The load...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan has permitted another 23 Russian companies to supply livestock products to the domestic market.According to the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), Azerbaijan'...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission started work on Monday under the first review of the Program Monitoring with Board Involvement, Ukrainian media reported with reference to IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine Vahr...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Gas inventories in European underground gas storage (UGS) facilities have fallen below two thirds of their capacity after the recent cold weather spell.A period of warmer weather is expected going forward, but the timeframe and...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The estimate of Russia's 2022 gas production has once again been revised upwards to 673.8 billion cubic meters, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak reported in an article in the journal Energy Policy.Russian gas p...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Power generation in Ukraine on Monday, February 13, is sufficient to cover consumption, Energy Minister German Galushchenko said."We're continuing to increase our generation capacity and completing emergency repairs fol...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided $13 billion in direct budget support for the Ukrainian social sector, particularly its healthcare workers, educators, and first responders, Ukrainian m...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Russia's Energy Ministry signed investment agreements in 2022 on establishing new petrochemical facilities with Caspian Innovation Company LLC and PJSC Ufaorgsintez , according to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak's...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia will as planned raise required reserve ratios for banks from March 1.The decision was made in view of a higher structural liquidity surplus and to maintain the trend towards the deforexation of the ba...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax - The Nizhankovichi-Malhowice crossing point on the Ukrainian-Polish border has been opened to empty vehicles weighing over 7.5 tonnes starting February 13, Ukrainian media have reported with reference to a social media post by th...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The net outflow of people from Ukraine declined to 8,000 over the past week from 9,000 a week before, Ukrainian media reported with reference to the State Border Service's information available on social media.The number of...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Ukraine has received 43 shipments of equipment for restoring its power supply infrastructure weighing about 334 tonnes from its German partners since July 2022, Ukrainian media reported with reference to the Energy Ministry'...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The Energoatom National Nuclear Energy Generating Company of Ukraine has resumed operation of the last of nine nuclear power plant units available to Ukraine after repairs, which lasted for slightly more than one month."All...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The United States Agency for International Security (USAID) will allot $60 million to Ukraine to enhance cybersecurity of critical infrastructure and to support the digital transformation initiative, including the Diia applicat...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government has approved a $6-billion grant from the United States, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said."We will invest this money in social programs, education and healthcare," the Ukrainian media ...

YEREVAN. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The European Union mission to be deployed in Armenia for two years is civilian and does not target anyone, Artur Hovhannisyan, secretary of the ruling parliamentary faction Civil Contract, said at a press briefing on Monday.&#...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - A combination of factors, such as increased generation, reduced electricity consumption amid weekend and warmer weather, and repairs of power grids, helped avoid power outages on Sunday, yet Ukrainians should brace for power ou...

UFA. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The current evaluations of the dynamic of Russia's economy in 2023 are more optimistic that the existing forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development, Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said."The assessments we are making for ...

MINSK. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The growth of trade turnover between Belarus and Russia will amount to 6.5% this year, Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Dmitry Krutoi said."I think it [2023] will be no less fruitful than the last year. Of course, it would pr...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - PetroNeft Resources plc CEO Pavel Tetyakov is interested in buying the Ireland-based company's Russian assets, PetroNeft said in a statement.The company, which produces oil in Russia's Tomsk Region, said it has received...

ST. PETERSBURG. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Yevtukhov tabled a proposal Friday to require retailers to carry a certain share of Russian products in their stores."Our initiative is to introduce an obligation for Russia...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Russia has registered 11,006 new cases of Covid-19 and 30 related deaths in the past 24 hours, the coronavirus response headquarters said in a statement on Monday.Russia "has recorded 11,006 new cases of Covid-19 and 608 pa...

MINSK. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The number of vehicles waiting to cross the Belarusian border into the European Union has grown to nearly 900 on Monday morning after the shutdown of a checkpoint on the Polish-Belarusian border, the Belarusian State Border Comm...