The Russian banking group VTB cannot sell two of its subsidiary banks in Ukraine: VTB and BM Bank. This was stated on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum by the head of VTB, Andrey Kostin.

"We will reduce the size of business and expenses, sell the assets little by little, take back loans, and sell all kinds of collateral. And withdraw from there. No one will allow anything to be sold there, probably," Kostin said.

VTB Group in May last year announced its intention to sell Ukrainian …

India refused Rosneft's offer to buy five additional oilfields in the Vankor cluster (Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia), reported Indian newspaper The Economic Times citing sources familiar with the negotiations.

"We do not want to put all of our eggs in one basket. Russia can continue to offer oil deposits, but we cannot accept all proposals," the source said. "We have invested enough in Russia, so, there is no need to close this deal urgently. There are other attractive opportunities for investment …

The Kremlin-appointed head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, is dissatisfied with the fuel prices and quality at gas stations on the peninsula, as indicated in a Facebook post he made on September 6th.

Aksyonov noted that the 95 RON gasoline is not carried by some gas stations in Crimea. "The cost of 95 RON gasoline on average is 43 rubles 30 kopeks ($0.76), 98 RON gasoline - 47 rubles ($0.82). In the neighboring regions of the Russian Federation, fuel prices are 10% lower," he wrote.

The …

Balkan Insight reports that Montenegro has resumed proceedings on the case of the attempted coup in 2016. Previously Russians had been accused of being involved in this attempt.

The prosecutor's office has now released evidence that the attempted removal of authorities in the country was done under the guidance of two Russian intelligence officers who coordinated the actions of the putschists (coup plotters) from neighboring Serbia. However, the newspaper did not specify what type of evidence …

The President of the United States Donald Trump keeps calling CNN “fake news”. However, the U.S. investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential elections just took a new turn!

Facebook reported on the 6th of September that the social network had revealed that the Kremlin associated Russian company had spent over $100,000 to purchase approximately 3,000 politically motivated ads on divisive social issues, such as gun control, illegal immigration, race, and gay rights. …

A contingent of 57 servicemen of the National Army of Moldova is participating in the NATO Rapid Trident 2017 military exercise, which will be held at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in Yavoriv, Lviv region, from September 7th to 23rd, as reported by the Ministry of Defense of Moldova.

According to the commander of the Moldovan contingent, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Markutsi, the goal of the exercises is to improve the level of coordination between troops, strengthen the …

The State Border Service of Ukraine (SBSU) did not receive any orders from Ukrainian  law enforcement agencies to ban the Odessa Regional State Administration ex-head Mikheil Saakashvili’s entry to Ukraine, as stated by the First Deputy Head of the SBSU, Vasily Servatyuk at the subcommittee meeting on the control over compliance with the legislation in the field of preventing and combating corruption by state authorities and local self-government hosted by the Anti-corruption Committee.

"The …

The German government believes that a possible UN peacekeeping mission should be deployed throughout the Donbas region, and not just on the contact line, as stated by Deputy Speaker of the German government Ulrike Demmer while speaking to reporters in Berlin, Deutsche Welle reported.

According to the spokesman, Berlin in general welcomes the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin to send a UN mission to the Donbas. However, Berlin is skeptical of some details of Moscow's proposal. …