Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria, and their chambers of commerce, announced full support for the construction of the South Stream Gas Pipeline project at a conference on the natural gas market and opportunities for the Danube region held in Budapest. ...

The former Croatian Sisak-Moslavina County head, Marina M., suspected of embezzling HRK 10.5 mln saw her request to be reactivated as a Croatian Parliament member unanimously approved by the Parliament’s Privileges and Credentials Commission (MIP). ...

Gazprom anticipates that Bulgaria’s new government will green light the construction of the Bulgarian section of the South Stream Gas Pipeline project. ...

Ukrainian Parliament voted on a bill to grant special status to some of the Eastern Ukraine regions, which was presented by the President Petro Poroshenko on Sept. 16. ...

Controversial Czech lobbyist Roman Janousek received a four-and-a-half year prison sentence and will be prohibited to drive for seven years for a March 2012 hit-and-run accident from the Prague High Court. ...

Eighteen alleged members of the Ozarow gang were released from detention, despite a real risk of obstructing the ongoing investigation by pressuring those who testified against them. ...

Juraj Jariabka, a Slovak businessman involved in money laundering ring that stretched from Eastern Europe to Dubai and Hong Kong, was sentenced to four-year imprisonment by a Hong Kong court, which found him guilty thanks to Italian journalist and whistleblower Antonio Papaleo. ...

A Romanian businessman and owner of local IT and computer retailer K tech Electronics, Cristian F., who is being investigated by Romanian Organized Crime Investigation Directorate (DIICOT) prosecutors for EUR 10 mln tax evasion and money laundering, was questioned Sept. 16 in connection to bankrupting own company. ...

Majority owner of Bulgaria’s troubled Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB), Tsvetan V., wanted by Bulgaria on suspicion of embezzlement, has turned himself in to police in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade. ...

Russia’s Mail.ru Group became the sole shareholder of the most popular Russian social network VKontakte, which it bought from UCP for USD 1.47 bln. ...

Russia’s Investigative Committee placed Russian billionaire and chief of Russian Sistema, Vladimir Y., under house arrest on charge with money laundering. ...

A Ukrainian company operating in the ferrous scrap market, KVV Group, will become the new owner of Latvian metallurgic company Liepajas metalurgs. ...

The largest Polish chemical company, Azoty Group, has signed an agreement with Malaysian Petronas Chemical Group Berhad for cooperation in manufacturing urea. ...

The Czech police special unit, Kobra, discovered a CZK 25 mln VAT carousel scam in business involving sale of toilet paper, which resulted in seizure of 3.7 mln toilet paper rolls. ...

The Sofia City Court denied hearing the case of repeal of the arrest warrant issued on the Corporate Commercial Bank’s (KTB) majority owner, Tsvetan V. ...

Russia attempted to thwart the gas reverse to Ukraine, which the country receives through Poland, claimed the chairman of the board of the national operator of the Ukrainian gas transport system Ukrtransgaz, Igor Prokopiv. ...

Despite economic sanctions in Russia, Polish entrepreneurs expect increased exports in the upcoming six months. ...

Polish experts and officials assure that any potential reductions in gas supplies from Russia would not put Poland to its knees, thanks to record gas reserves and alternative sources of energy. ...

UK subsidiary of the French trains and turbines producer, Alstom, is suspected of paying USD 8.5 mln bribes for getting contracts in Poland, India and Tunisia. ...

Former president and the man behind the bankruptcy of one of Romania’s largest state banks Bancorex, Razvan Temesan, has been awarded by the Bucharest Court a EUR 4.7 mln salary compensation from Banca Comerciala Romana bank (BCR). ...

Romanian businessman Catalin Chelu, who was recently convicted to six years in prison for attempted bribing of a former state secretary, failed to turn himself into police custody. ...

The Security Service of Ukraine exposed and dismissed a criminal financial scheme that saw money tunneled through banking institutions linked to the former President Viktor Yanukovych’s son, Alexander Yanukovych. ...

Polish state gas company PGNiG announced that its Russian counterpart Gazprom reduced the volume of natural gas supplies to Poland by 20 percent. ...

Ukraine’s Central Election Commission received a proposal to hold a referendum on NATO accession. ...

The majority owner of Bulgarian troubled Corporate Commercian Bank (KTB) Tsvetan V. will submit a plan for the banks rescue to the Bulgarian National Bank within next few days. ...

Samir S., a former Specnaz soldier on trial for the murder of a three-person Polish family, is not eligible for an insanity plea, although he did undergo a psychological treatment in Russia. ...

Monaco- and Croatia-based properties of Czech controversial lobbyist Roman J. have been searched by the local police, following a request by Czech investigators. ...

Serbian Minister of Justice Nikola Selakovic said he is not satisfied with the results of the country’s strategy on fighting corruption. ...

In a first half of 2015 PKO Cargo, largest Polish railroad transport company, plan to purchase at least 50 percent of Pol-Miedz Trans owned by Polish copper mining giant KGHM. ...

he president and one of the main shareholders of Romanian software producer Siveco Romania, Irina S., was questioned by Romanian prosecutors Sept. 8, in connection with an ongoing tax evasion investigation. ...

The former head of the Croatian Sisak-Moslavina County, Marina M., who is charged with embezzlement of more than HRK 10.5 mln, was released from investigative prison Sept. 5, after more than five months,. ...

The Bucharest Court of Appeal convicted Romanian businessman Catalin Chelu, one of the most important private investors on the Romanian capital market, to six years in prison for the attempted bribing of a former state secretary. ...

An Estonian intelligence officer is awaiting trial in a Moscow jail following his arrest under unclear circumstances at the Estonian-Russian border ...

Romanian police are investigating more than 50 companies involved in a EUR 10 mln IT software tax evasion scheme. ...

The frequency of bad loans will increase in Ukraine from 40 to 50 percent in the next 24 months and banks with foreign capital will leave the country one after the other. ...

PKP Cargo, the largest Polish railroad transportation company, signed an initial agreement regarding a possible take over of a Czech company Advanced World Transport B.V. ...

Slovak police are looking into suspicious possible financing abuse during Radoslav P.’s presidential campaign. ...

The State Council of Crimea ordered to nationalize all assets owned by Igor Kolomoyskyi, a Ukrainian oligarch who owns Privat Group and is known for sponsoring Ukrainian nationalists. ...

Russian anti-Putin activist Nikolay Koblyakov, who is currently under house arrest in Bulgaria pending an extradition application from Moscow to face criminal charges of alleged property crimes, has applied for political asylum in Bulgaria. ...

Estonia was named the best performer in Central and Eastern Europe, being ranked as No. 29 out of a total of 144 countries in the Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 published by the World Economic Forum ...