VTB

Tsvetan Vasilev, the former owner of the Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB), claimed that the bank had financed Delyan Peevski's family with approximately 500 million leva until mid-2013. Vasilev made these statements during a hearing before a temporary parliamentary committee investigating the influence of Petyo Petrov, known as Pepi "The Euro," and Martin Bojanov, nicknamed "The Notary."

The United States and the European Union are almost ready with a comprehensive package of sanctions that Russia will impose if it invades Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing US and European official sources.

The temporary council of creditors of ailing food and retail conglomerate Agrokor unanimously voted on Tuesday to agree the text of a settlement under which Croatia's biggest domestic company will be taken over by its creditors.

Russia's economy is seen growing slightly faster this year than previously and inflation is seen slowing, a Reuters monthly poll of economists showed on Thursday.

The median forecast of 20 analysts and economists polled by Reuters in late August was for Russian 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 1.7 percent, above last month's call of 1.4 percent.

N1 media on Wednesday claimed that Croatian government officials met on Tuesday with representatives of the Russian state-owned Sberbank to discuss large loans it gave to Croatia's biggest privately-owned company, Agrokor.

Turkish holding company Çukurova did not declare an intent to buy a 13.22 percent stake in Turkcell from Russia's Alfa Telecom by a Nov. 18 court deadline, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Nov. 21. 

"No declaration was made by the Friday (deadline). Now in line with the court decision, the option of buying has moved to Alfa," the source said. 

Russian bank VTB said late on Nov. 7 it had reached an agreement with Alfa Group about a joint investment in Turkey's top mobile operator Turkcell.

The announcement comes ahead of a mid-November deadline for Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman and Turkcell's founder Mehmet Emin Karamehmet to resolve a dispute over control of the Turkish company.

Simeon Djankov, who last year joined Russian VTB bank's Supervisory Council, is now stepping down, Russian media reports suggest.

The report is run by Russian daily Kommersant [RU], in an article that gives a summary of recent moves by foreign nationals to quit high-profile positions at Russian bank as the country's financial system is suffering from the impact of Russian sanctions.

EU leaders have introduced a third stage of sanctions against Russia over the country's stance on the Ukraine crisis.

Under the new agreement, trade in Russian bonds and stocks issued by state-owned companies will be banned, and Russian military entities will be prevented from receiving arms and high-tech items.

Advent International and a Bulgarian-Russian consortium headed by businessman Denis Barekov are reportedly the key bidders for nationalized Austrian bank Hypo Alpe Adria.

The bank, which Austria nationalized in 2009 to prevent its collapse, is to sell its Balkan network by mid-2015 at the behest of the EU Commission.