Economy of the European Union

Bulgaria will decide the fate of troubled Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) only after the results of an audit become known in October, the country’s President has told Reuters.

Rosen Plevneliev said that for the moment “no politician and no government can do anything but just wait to see the numbers."

The caretaker government must tackle the reopening of KTB bank and preparing Bulgaria for Eurozone membership with utmost priority, Stefan Sofianski has said.

Iliyana Tsanova has been appointed caretaker Deputy PM for EU Funds Management.

She was born on January 19, 1976 in Sofia.

She holds an MA in Finance from the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) and has completed a postgraduate program in Financial Management at the George Washington University as a USAID fellow and the Georgetown University.

Incoming European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, on a visit to Athens on Monday, played down the prospect of eurozone countries writing off part of Greek debt to make the country's debt sustainable.

A group of Montenegrin borrowers, represented by the Center for Consumer Protection, has taken the Hypo Alpe Adra Bank to court in Podgorica after it refused to convert their increasingly expensive Swiss franc loans into euro - and change variable rates to fixed.

Candice Zachariahs & Kevin Buckland

The euro was 0.4 percent from its lowest level versus the dollar since November as investors held the largest position in two years betting on a drop in the currency before the region’s central bank meets this week.

Albania to make farming more EU compliant

Romania has notched up a positive balance of around 14 billion euro with the EU since it joined the European club in 2007, according to a report from the Finance Ministry.

It has received some 24.6 billion euro from the EU budget since 2007, and has paid back some 10.2 billion euro, the report said.

By Anchalee Worrachate

Euro-area government bonds were set for their longest monthly winning streak in nine years after weak data from retail sales to factory output signaled European Central Bank efforts to revive the economy are not yet finished.

By Rachel Evans & Andrea Wong

The international appetite for euro- zone financial assets that underpinned the local currency the past two years is beginning to erode.