The number of companies set up in Central and Eastern Europe, which received private-equity backing in 2012, increased for the third year in a row, a report by the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA) published July 24 states. ...

Investors involved in Polish Special Economic Zones are holding their breath in anticipation of the government’s decision on how they will continue to function, Polish media reported July 26. ...

Polish Inspector General for the Protection of Personal Data announced that it plans to conduct a series of audits in law firms to see if they know how to keep clients’ secrets, Polish media reported July 26. ...

An entrepreneur who reports being part of a price fixing scheme may be absolved of fines by taking advantage of a special amnesty program “leniency”, the Polish media wrote July 26. ...

Bulgarian fraudsters are no exception when it comes to abusing EU VAT rules on cross-border transactions within the EU and have created their own variant of the missing trader fraud, which is currently stripping the Bulgarian Treasury of at least an estimated EUR 200 mln every year, Bulgarian police and customs office sources told CEE Insight. ...

A group of three men from the Polish region of Śląsk allegedly counterfeited 42,000 documents, including national IDs, diplomas, certificates, passports, driving license, and even court sentences, the Polish media reported June 2013. ...

The Polish government passed a resolution this week setting out legal basis to prolong the existence of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Poland until 2026, which is believed to translate into new investments and new job positions, Polish media wrote July 23. ...

In July 2013 seven people, citizens of Moldova and Poland, were detained by the Polish National Police on charges of intent to insert counterfeited EUR 150,000 into the monetary system, Polish media reported July 2013. ...

Customs officers in Gdynia busted a container full of 1.5 mln counterfeited condoms worth USD 60,000 illegally imported from China, Polish media reported at the end of June. ...

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is close to owning majority stakes in most of Hungary’s major publications, which could seriously undermine Hungarian media freedoms, media insiders report. ...