Reuters

U.S. vice president warns Russia could suffer "greater cost"

BUCHAREST -- U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden has warned Russia that "undermining the May 25 election in Ukraine would bring greater costs."

Coca-Cola HBC, the world’s No 2 bottler of Coca-Cola Co drinks, posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, hurt by currency losses mainly in its Ukrainian operations.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Thursday its shareholders had voted to allow Cyprus to receive investments from it for a limited period.

The EBRD, holding its annual meeting in Warsaw, voted to provide up to 700 million euros of financing to Cyprus over the next six years.

Greece's government on Thursday denied it had instituted a retroactive tax on foreign holders of Greek bonds, saying capital gains booked from early 2012 to the end of last year were subject to the tax regime covering that period.

FM: Hungary not demanding territorial integrity for minority

BRATISLAVA -- Hungary is not demanding territorial autonomy for the Hungarian minority in the west of Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi has said.

Fitch Ratings announced on Tuesday it has affirmed the long-term issuer default ratings of National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, Alpha Bank and Eurobank at B- with stable outlooks.

[Reuters]

Russia accuses EU of "faulty logic"

MOSCOW -- Russia has criticized the EU for expanding its sanctions against Moscow and urged it to respect the results of referendums held in two Ukrainian regions.

Greek industrial output fell 3.1 percent year-on-year in March, from an upwardly revised expansion of 3.1 percent in the previous month, statistics service (ELSTAT) said on Friday.

National Bank of Greece will price its 2.5 billion euros ($3.48 billion) share placement at between 2.20 and 2.30 euros a share, two sources familiar with the transaction told Reuters.

Greece's unemployment rate dipped to 26.5 percent in February from a downwardly revised 26.6 percent in the previous month, the country's statistics agency ELSTAT said on Thursday.