News archive of December 2014

By Alexis Papachelas

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Greece's parliament was dissolved on Wednesday ahead of an early election warily watched by markets and international creditors concerned that the austerity-weary country could begin to undo fiscal reforms.

Icy winds and heavy snowfall wreaked havoc across Greece on Wednesday, with motorists on the national highway linking Athens to Lamia in central Greece becoming trapped for nearly two hours in a midday blizzard.

BELGRADE - In the year that is about to end, Serbia has had the world's top-ranking male tennis player and the best men's water polo team in the world, with its athletes claiming many medals in swimming, athletics, kayaking and wrestling, but the silver medal won by the Serbian men's national basketball team at the Mundobasket in Spain is what the nation will remember 2014 for.

BELGRADE - Director of the Serbian Government Office for Reconstruction and Flood Relief Marko Blagojevic said that the government has so far allocated RSD 4.2 billion for the reconstruction of houses damaged in the May floods and secured another EUR 9 million for the coming year.

BELGRADE - A full liberalisation of the electricity market, allowing citizens to choose their suppliers in an open market, will begin from the New Year, with the liberalisation of the gas market set to start as well.

VIENNA - During its chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2015, Serbia's experience and position can be very important in resolving the Ukrainian crisis, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has said.

Russian MP Aleksandr Babakov, a special envoy of Vladimir Putin tried to bribe a Bulgarian deputy energy minister, Bojan Stoyanov, to speed up the South Stream gas pipeline project, claims The New York Times.

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SYDNEY - Radnicki Kragujevac have won an international water polo tournament in Sydney by beating Turkey's Galatasaray in a penalty shoot-out in the thrilling final after three sets of penalties.

Radnicki had a 13-11 lead as the match drew to a close, but Galatasaray scored in the dying second of the game to secure the penalty shoot-out.

BELGRADE - The Customs Administration stated on Wednesday that the customs offices will work regularly during the New Year and Christmas holidays, and branch offices in the interior that collect customs duties on goods will have an on call status.