VTB Bank

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Nov. 8 offering a way for Russian investors to "swap" their frozen assets abroad with the frozen assets of foreign companies in Russia.

Since the conflict in Ukraine, Western countries have introduced a barrage of sanctions against Moscow, blocking its banks from making international payments and freezing Russian assets abroad.

The Russian embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/MrPanyGoff.

The embassy claimed in a post on Facebook that it was launching the fundraiser in response to popular demand from Bulgarians.

The European Union will launch a total economic war against Russia. This was stated by the Minister of Finance of France Bruno Le Maire in an interview with France Info radio.

"We will launch a total economic and financial war against Russia," the minister said. "The Russian people will bear the consequences."

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.

After the complex rescue of Croatia's biggest private company, Agrokor, which ended with a debt-for-equity swap, the biggest shareholder, Russia's Sherbank, told BIRN that it does not intend to own the firm long-term and wants to sell its stake.

Turkey's Limak has said it became a partner in a $570 million (34 billion rubles) worth highway construction project in the Russian city of Ufa. 

Atanas Djumaliev, the head of global commodities at VTB Capital - the investment banking arm of Russia's second-biggest bank VTB - explained in an interview his firm's cooperation with Greek industrial group Mytilineos's Aluminium of Greece.

Global Investment Holding has announced it will soon start the initial public offering process for its port investments in the London Stock Exchange for an expected IPO volume at around $250 million. 

Austria's Erste Bank on Friday announced that Croatia's biggest private company Agrokor - currently embroiled in a deep financial crisis - and its creditors had reached a deal on a "standstill agreement" whereby the company will remain financially liquid while its debts are placed on "standby".

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.