UniCredit

A seven-day strike by German train drivers could cost the German economy 500 million euros ($556.70 million), Germany?s DIHK Chambers of Commerce said on May 4.

Bulgaria has repaid in full a EUR 1.5 B bridge loan taken out last December, saving nearly four million euro in spending on interest payments.

China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) is to buy Pirelli, the world's fifth-largest tyre maker, in a 7.1 billion euro ($7.7 billion) deal that will place one of the symbols of Italy's manufacturing industry in Chinese hands.

Bulgaria has sold a EUR 3.1 B triple-tranche bond comprising of seven-, 12- and 20-year maturities on foreign markets, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.

The volume is the biggest amount of debt issued by a country in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) through a single syndicate of banks, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

Bulgaria is marketing euro bonds in three lots maturing respectively in seven, 12 and 20 years, Reuters reported on Thursday.

"The seven-year bond is being offered to investors at mid-swaps plus 195bp area, the 12-year tranche at mid-swaps plus 225bp area while the longest tranche is being offered to investors at mid-swaps plus 260bp area," the newswire said.

The European Central Bank, meeting in Cyprus on Thursday, is set to update its economic forecasts and reveal details of its new bond purchase programme, analysts said.

Greece will also be high on the agenda of the ECB's decision-making governing council, following the recent eurozone deal to extend aid to the debt-wracked country, the experts said.

Croatia plans to raise cash by selling an additional billion euro of state bonds.

The economy ministry has commissioned four top banks - Barclays, Erste Group, JPMorgan and UniCredit - to arrange the issue of this new edition of euro bonds.

The Minister of Economy, Boris Lalovac, first announced this new edition of euro state bonds back in December.

Protests organized by the Bulgarian opposition are expected as lawmakers are beginning their session of a government proposal to take on fresh foreign borrowing worth BGN 16 M, or EUR 8 B.

By Jeremy Gaunt & Karolina Tagaris

Greece said on Sunday it was confident of reaching agreement in negotiations with its euro zone partners but reiterated it would not accept harsh austerity strings in any debt pact.

Citigroup, HSBC, Societe Generale and Unicredit have been selected by Bulgaria's government to manage its global medium-term bond programme worth EUR 8 B, according to a new draft bill now before Parliament.