Summary Despite near stagnation in the euro area and the negative impact of the Ukraine crisis, in most of the NMS economies and some of the Western Balkan countries growth prospects are viewed as positive. While the NMS economies will preserve their positive growth differential vis-à-vis the...

Graph of the month Europe Brent Spot Price, fob per barrel, in current USD and euro and real year 2005 euro (p. 1) Opinion corner Russia-Ukraine conflict do Western sanctions have any effect? (by Vasily Astrov, Vladimir Gligorov, Peter Havlik, Michael Landesmann and Olga Pindyuk; pp. 2-6)...

Russia and four other CIS countries - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - are important energy producers and possess substantial reserves, particularly as far as natural gas is concerned. Russia alone accommodates about one quarter of the global gas reserves and has established...

Graph of the month Dependence of selected European countries on gas imports from Russia, 2012, in % (p. 1) Some lesser known facts about Ukraine’s foreign trade (by Peter Havlik; pp. 2-5) Opinion corner Russia and Ukraine – three questions, nine answers (by Vasily Astrov, Vladimir Gligorov...

The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) expects GDP in Central, East and Southeast Europe (CESEE) to pick up speed and grow on average by 2-3% over the forecast period 2014-2016 a major driving force rooted in an upward reversal of public and private investment. The...

The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) expects GDP in Central, East and Southeast Europe (CESEE) to pick up speed and grow on average by 2-3% over the forecast period 2014-2016 a major driving force rooted in an upward reversal of public and private investment. The...

Economic consequences of the Georgian-Russian conflict (by P. Havlik and V. Astrov, pp. 1-11) Keywords Georgia, Russia, conflict, war Countries covered Georgia, Russia Topics Macroeconomic Analysis, Forecasts and Policy EU Structural funds in Central and East European Countries (by R. Römisch,...

MENA in transition any lessons from CESEE? (by Peter Havlik and Sándor Richter; pp. 1-7) Keywords MENA, transition Countries covered MENA, CESEE Topics Other The EU and Russia both important for Ukraine (by Vasily Astrov; pp. 8-9) Keywords Ukraine, trade association, Russia, EU Countries...

A functioning Belarus-Russia-Kazakhstan Customs Union (BRK-CU) would comprise the bulk of the FSU economy and represent a significant step towards an attempted re-integration of the FSU – even more so if Ukraine were also to join. There are still important structural differences in...

Summary The protracted recession in the euro area will continue to be a drag on the economic growth of most CESEE countries in 2013. By and large, those countries are small open economies held hostage to the excessive fiscal austerity pursued in the euro area and the sluggish progress on the...