Economy of Europe

The new planned Russian natural gas pipeline to Turkey will provide a "secure supply" for the country, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said on Jan. 9.

In early December, Russia scrapped the South Stream project, which was planned to carry gas under the western Black Sea to Bulgaria and into European markets.

By Simon Kennedy

Don?t believe the hype.

A reading of the German press suggests Chancellor Angela Merkel is at peace with the idea of Greece quitting the euro. Der Spiegel says her government views that as a manageable outcome; Bild reports that officials are preparing for the prospect. Lawmaker Michael Fuchs says Greece is no longer a threat to financial stability.

Greek bank access to European Central Bank funding assumes a successful completion of a bailout program review and a subsequent deal on a follow-up program with EU/IMF lenders, the ECB said on Thursday.

The European Commission (EC) published Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiating documents on Wednesday.

The move comes after the European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly called on the EC for greater transparency on the trade talks with the US, EurActiv reports.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has urged the country's trade envoys to closely watch potential consequences of Turkey's review of its Customs Union agreement with the European Union, which has been put under scrutiny amid EU-U.S. free trade talks.

The main index BET of the top 10 liquid issuers of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) went up 9.07 percent in 2014 and closed the last trading session of this year at 7.083 points, compared to 6,493.79 points on Dec. 30, 2013.

In 2014 the BET index reached a low of 6,135 points on March 14 and a peak of 7,278.03 points on Oct.1.

Romanian telecom provider RCS&RDS on Tuesday announced it was taking over all the radio licenses that the media group Central European Media Enterprises, CME, holds in Romania, including some of the most listened-to news and musical stations.

The sale, which is valued at around 2 million euro, requires approval by Romania's Audiovisual Council.

The first four funding contracts of the Institution for Growth in Greece (IfG) fund with small and medium-sized enterprises were signed in Athens on Monday in the presence of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and the executive vice president of German investment bank KfW, Christian Funke.

Turkey's state-run stock exchange Borsa Istanbul has started trading index futures of 10 companies from the Sarajevo Stock Exchange as part of expansion plans ahead of an initial public offering expected in the first half of 2016.

Borsa Istanbul is trying to increase links with other exchanges in the region such as those in Sarajevo and Montenegro as it prepares for the listing.

Russia does not expect South Stream's demise to trigger any financial demands from energy concern Gazprom against Bulgaria, the country's Economy Minister Alexander Novak has argued.

In his words, provisions of forfeit are not part of the intergovernmental agreements Russia struck with all countries that joined the abandoned pipeline project.