Russia

NICOSIA – Bailed-out Cyprus is likely to return to growth next year, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday, but cautioned the outlook was tempered by tensions over Ukraine and banks’ rising bad loans.

Increasing amount of illegal online material reported

BELGRADE -- The Net Patrol mechanism for reporting illegal and harmful online content has received more than 900 reports in 11 months.

140 of these have been forwarded to the INHOPE network.

Wheat prices for this year’s crop will be five to 10 percent lower compared to 2013, the Chief Executive Director of the Sofia Commodity Exchange (SCE) Vasil Simov said.

Bulgaria's outgoing Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin has suggested that new sanctions against Russia will have a negative impact on the entire EU.

In a Wednesday interview for the Bulgarian National Television, he claimed that the restrictive measures which the 28 EU Member States were currently discussing would not affect Bulgaria.

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.

The United States and Europe targeted Russia's key financial, arms and energy sectors July 29 with tough new sanctions in response to Moscow's intervention in the Ukraine crisis.

Announcing the measures, U.S. President Barack Obama denied that the West had begun a new Cold War against its former Soviet foe, but urged his counterpart Vladimir Putin to reverse course.

Human trafficking victims double this year

BELGRADE -- The number of registered victims of human trafficking has nearly doubled compared on last year, Sanja Kljajević has said.

Ukraine's state-owned utility Naftogaz has insisted that conditions of gas transit to Europe previously agreed with Russian concern Gazprom be revised.

Five people and two companies are to be added to the EU's blacklist over the Ukraine crisis, the Wall Street Journal wrote on Monday.

Sberbank and VTB Group, which are among Russia's largest banks, will reportedly be affected.

Serbia "loyal to EU - but not at expense of economy"

NIŠ -- PM Aleksandar Vučić has said that Serbia's loyalty to the EU is not in question, but called on Brussels to respect the vital national interests of the country.

He urged the organization "not to expect Serbia to cause harm to its own economy for the sake of the EU path."