News archive of June 2014

Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) proposes amendments to the Penal Code envisaging imprisonment for those disseminating misleading information about banks.

The institution has tabled its proposal containing suggested legal changes to Parliament's Budget and Finance Committee headed by liberal lawmaker Yordan Tsonev (DPS), the bank said in a message to the media.

Greek retail sales by volume rose 7.3 percent in April compared to the same month last year, marking the strongest rise in more than two years after a downwardly revised 1.2 percent drop in March, statistics service ELSTAT said on Monday.

Turkey has again extended by two months the deadline for bids for a multi-billion dollar anti-missile defense system tender, despite having provisionally awarded the deal to China, a Turkish official has told the Hürriyet Daily News.

By Karolos Grohmann

Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis announced his retirement from an international football career spanning 139 caps over 15 years following his team's World Cup round of 16 exit to Costa Rica on penalties on Sunday.

"This was my last game for Greece,» the 37-year-old told reporters.

Officials from the Croatian and Serbian governments joined a commemoration for people killed by the WWII fascist Ustasha regime at the Jadovno concentration camp near the town of Gospic.

EU membership "won't have impact on ties with Russia"

MOSCOW -- Serbia’s accession to the European Union will have no impact on its friendly relations with Russia, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Chepurin has said.

Golden Dawn lawmaker Artemis Matthaiopoulos provided a written deposition on Monday as he appeared before the judges investigating the far right party.

According to reports, the MP refused to answer judges’ questions and insisted that Golden Dawn is not a criminal organization.

BELGRADE - The Danube Day campaign, conducted jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection - Republic Directorate for Water and the Coca Cola System, will this year be aimed at raising funds for the flood-affected regions, the organizers announced on Monday.

BELGRADE - The Serbian government appointed on Monday Marijana Radovanovic as acting director of the Privatisation Agency, Tanjug has learned from the Justice Ministry.

Radovanovic was previously an executive director within the agency, and the government decided on Saturday to have her replace Vida Uzelac as the head of that institution.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Monday he would like Sorin Oprescu (Bucharest mayor - editor's note) to candidate for President on behalf of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), but this is a decision that has to be taken at party level.