Section: Emerging Europe (UK)
Georgian MP Leads OSCE Mission in Ukraine
A high-level delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly led by George Tsereteli, a Georgian MP (pictured above), has stressed the need for a UN peace-keeping mission to be deployed to Ukraine to help end the fighting in the eastern part of the country and to make full implementation of the Minsk Agreements possible. In meetings with...
Emerging European Procurement Officials Discuss Best Practices at PRIMO 2018
Public Procurement specialists from across emerging Europe and Central Asia met in Bucharest from May 8-10 to share experiences and best-practices in reforming public procurement, with a special focus on innovative procurement systems that can support national development priorities. The meeting was part of a cross-regional cooperation platform...
Crediting Ukrainian Business: Which Collateral to Choose?
The Ukrainian economy is currently growing, despite the conflict in the eastern part of the country and internal issues such as corruption. Ukrainian businesses looking to expand are increasingly looking to debt financing. However, given the extremely high interest rates offered by the Ukrainian banks, more and more Ukrainian companies are...
Emerging Europe Growth Continues as EBRD Revises Up 2018 Forecasts
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has revised up economic forecasts for 2018 as a broad-based recovery continues across its regions, bolstered by stronger investment activity and higher exports. After suffering acutely during the global financial crisis, countries where the EBRD invests initially struggled to get back on...
Emerging Europe Should Take Full Advantage of New Technology to Innovate and Improve Services
With economic growth in Europe and Central Asia having peaked, following 2.7 per cent growth in 2017 and a projection of 2.3 per cent for 2018, countries in the region should take advantage of new digital technologies to innovate and improve their services, says a new World Bank report, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain: Europe and Central Asia...
Ukraine Is Worth Fighting For
Kyiv. The new conventional wisdom is that four years after Maidan, reforms have stalled in Ukraine and corruption has consumed the leadership. But this picture is hardly true. Certainly, the economy has stabilised, but economic growth stopped at 2.1 per cent last year. Yet a broad reform agenda is still proceeding, though everything is...
Open the Borders
Emigration is the elephant in emerging Europe’s room. With the catastrophic numbers of people leaving the region (at least from some parts) speaking for themselves, the reaction of governments has been by and large conspicuously muted. Even in countries where there has been an attempt to address the issue, such as Poland, the resulting...
Ease of Tax Compliance: Bulgaria Leads the Way in Emerging Europe, Croatia Brings Up the Rear
A new report from the TMF Group, a global provider of high-value business services to clients operating and investing globally, has revealed that Bulgaria offers businesses the most simple financial reporting rules in emerging Europe. Of 94 jurisdictions ranked in order of complexity, Bulgaria comes in at 65th, two places ahead of Georgia in...
Bulgaria Could Be A Positive Example for the Region
Bulgaria became a member of the EU in 2007, a year before the start of the Great Recession. Despite this unfortunate timing, the country has benefited significantly from EU membership – its GDP per capita has reached around 50 per cent of the EU average (from 25 per cent in 2000), and its economy has weathered the global downturn relatively well....
PACE Europe Prize 2018 Goes to Ivano-Frankivsk
The Europe Prize – awarded each year by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to the town most active in promoting the European ideal – has been awarded to Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine. The capital and commercial centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk is twinned with as many as 24 European cities. It has developed...
