Matthew Day in Warsaw
Wed, 10th Mar -- Large parts of CEE appear to be sitting on one of the world's largest deposits of shale gas, and this has got the energy world excited. To quote one executive attending the "III CE Gas Summit 2010" in Warsaw in February: "It is a bit like discovering there's life on Mars."

Samantha Shields in Tbilisi
Tue, 9th Mar -- Tbilisi's mayor, Gigi Ugulava, is hoping a scheme to provide loans for property development will help preserve the city's elegant yet crumbling historic centre and breathe life into a local economy whose construction sector was badly hit by the global economic crisis.

Guy Norton in London
Mon, 8th Mar -- Veteran Russian fund management group Pharos Financial and Dubai-based agribusiness specialist Miro Asset Management have teamed up to launch the Pharos Miro Agriculture Fund to tap into the evolving agricultural investment theme.

Graham Stack in Kyiv
Thu, 4th Mar -- Ukraine and agriculture should be a no-brainer, given the country's large swathes of famously fertile soil and its close proximity to Europe. The problem is the institutions. The financial results published March 1 from London-listed Landkom reveal just how hostile an environment Ukraine can be for the unwary.

Mike Collier in Riga
Wed, 3rd Mar -- The image of the grizzled cowboy coming reluctantly out of retirement for one last shoot-out in Dodge City may not immediately spring to mind when one meets the smiling countenance of the IMF's top trouble-shooter in CEE, but it is surprisingly apt.

Nicholas Watson in Prague
Tue, 2nd Mar -- A deal announced in December to buy out Invitel Holdings enabled emerging Europe-focused private equity house Mid Europa Partners to notch up two transactions in 2009 - a good performance during a time characterised by a lack of funding, wide gaps in valuations between buyers and sellers, and surprisingly few distressed deals.

Clare Nuttall in Almaty
Mon, 1st Mar -- Optimism returned to Kazakhstan when commodity prices rose last year. Sustaining the recovery will require an upturn in bank lending, but a more cautious attitude to risk and tighter regulation of the sector are holding back the banks.

Guy Norton in Zagreb
Mon, 1st Mar -- Ingra typifies the fate of Croatia's property sector, which until the crisis was one of the key drivers of the economy. In recent months it has been forced to lay off workers, cut salaries and embarked on a major restructuring, which it hopes will save it from insolvency.

Guy Norton in London
Fri, 26th Feb -- Bankers hope the IPO of Turkish gold miner Koza Altin Isletmeleri presages a revival of new issues on the Turkish equity markets after a relatively lean spell since the financial crisis in 2001.

Brad Wells of Concorde Capital
Wed, 24th Feb -- Ukraine president-elect Yanukovych's actions immediately following his inauguration have the power to define his legacy as much as everything on his record to date, which includes the rigged 2004 presidential election in his favour and his chequered criminal past.

Nicholas Watson in Prague
Thu, 25th Feb -- A look at what countries will hold elections this year.

Nicholas Watson and Ben Aris
Thu, 25th Feb -- As Turkey's war between secularist and religious forces flares up again and at at least six more countries in the region go to the polls this year, political risk is back with a vengeance in 2010.