Aid

The European Commission has found that resolution aid granted for the resolution of a small retail bank Panellinia Bank (with a 0.3% market share in Greece) is in line with EU State aid rules. The Bank of Greece has decided to put the bank under resolution because Panellinia Bank did not successfully cover a capital shortfall identified in the 2013 stress test of the Greek banking sector.

BELGRADE - The poverty risk rate in Serbia in 2014 was 25.6 percent when viewed through income, the national bureau of statistics has said.

The risk rate for poverty or social exclusion in Serbia, when considering all the factors that can influence it, was 43.2 percent last year.

Greeces leftist government on Monday outlined a first batch of measures to combat poverty to be approved by parliament in coming days.

According to a government document seen by AFP, the measures include free electricity, rent support and food stamps.

BELGRADE - Representatives of the EU Delegation to Serbia have visited the Serbian Commission for State Aid Control and held the first meeting with the Commission's newly elected members.

SABAC - The poverty risk rate in Serbia amounted to 24.6 percent in 2013, which means that one in four citizens faced the risk of poverty, it has been said at the presentation of a publication on incomes and living conditions in Serbia in 2013, based on figures from the Serbian national statistical office (RZS).

Romania's centre-left government is mulling a new anti-poverty strategy aimed at lifting 400,000 of the worst-off citizens out of poverty.

About 22.6 per cent of Romanians live in poverty as a result of low income and most of those in poverty have been so for years, the draft National Poverty Reduction Strategy says.

The report, released Tuesday, estimates the cost of illicit transfers by analyzing discrepancies in balance of payments data and direction of trade statistics, as reported to the IMF, in order to detect flows of capital that are illegally earned, transferred, and/or utilized.

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Labour Aleksandar Vulin stated on Friday that representatives of the State Audit Institution (DRI) and budget inspection will look into the calls for allocation of funds to NGO projects, and in case they identify any instance of abuse, individuals responsible for it will have to answer for their actions.

Bulgaria's government will grant Ukraine humanitarian aid of EUR 50 000.

The funding will be provided from the official development aid allocation under the central budget.

The aid aims to alleviate the difficult social and economic and humanitarian situation in the country

The funding will be provided via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Living conditions for households with children deteriorated considerably from 2009 to 2013, according to the results of the Hellenic Statistical Authority’s Income and Household Living Standards Survey.