UniCredit

Italy's biggest bank, UniCredit, announced plans on Dec. 13 to slash 14,000 jobs and raise billions of euros in fresh capital as the country gets to grips with political instability and a banking crisis.

Russia's Economy Ministry has chosen three domestic investment banks to organize the privatization of large state companies this year, it said on April 4.

It chose VTB Capital to arrange the privatization of oil company Bashneft, Sberbank CIB for the privatization of diamond miner Alrosa and Renaissance Broker for the privatization of VTB Bank, it said in a statement.

Bulgaria is selling a EUR 1.994 B dual-tranche bond, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a lead manager.

The transaction comprises a EUR 1.144 B seven-year tranche and a EUR 850 M 12-year tranche, the newswire said.

The six policeman were arrested on Wednesday evening on suspicion of involvement in the armed robbery from an armoured vehicle on September 22 last year, local media reported, quoting police department sources.

The men are reported to have ambushed the vehicle on the highway between Banja Luka and Gradiska and stolen around 300,000 euros.

An attempt by the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) to raise EUR 650 M through a tender has failed and now the state-owned will move to direct talks with interested banks, Deputy Energy Minister Nikolay Nikolov said on Thursday.

UniCredit?s central and eastern Europe arm Bank Austria has boosted its banks? liquidity to buffer impact from Greece, the head of its eastern Europe division, Carlo Vivaldi, told Austrian newspaper Kurier.

By Nikos Chrysoloras

Talks on breaking the impasse over Greece?s financial lifeline took on new urgency as the nation faces a debt repayment at the end of this week with a deal to ease its cash crisis seemingly as far away as ever.

Turkey?s Limak said on May 27 it had secured a 395-million-euro ($430.75 million) long-term project finance loan as part of a $520 million investment to modernize the Hamitabat power plant in northwest Turkey.

UniCredit, Yap? Kredi, ING, KFW IPEX and DZ Bank participated in the deal.

A seven-day strike by German train drivers could cost the German economy 500 million euros ($556.70 million), Germany?s DIHK Chambers of Commerce said on May 4.

Bulgaria has repaid in full a EUR 1.5 B bridge loan taken out last December, saving nearly four million euro in spending on interest payments.