Recent news
from central and eastern Europe

World News
home

indexed map

Headline index Topics News by country

(updated 03 September 2010)

   Czech paper exposes corruption plot involving deputy defence minister
   Slovak cabinet meets to discuss mass murder tragedy
   Hungarian government denies reports of possible agreement with IMF
   Gazprom tries for merger with Ukraine's Naftogaz
   Slovenija's main opposition party supports pension reform
   Kaliningrad Governor ousted after local unrest

   Opposition parties concerned about government influence on Hungarian media
   Belarus president falls out with Moscow
   World Bank agrees co-operation in Bulgaria

   Northern Czech regions badly hit by floods
   Smolensk memorial plaque unveiled in Warsaw
   Armenian opposition criticises 49-year lease of military base to Russia

   Montenegro submits action plans to fight corruption and organised crime
   Russia bans wine imports from Moldova
   România asks EU for help dealing with floods

 

Millions of outsiders eligible for EU passports
Immigration to the UK from central Europe fell in 2009
New EU regulation allows accents for some web domain names
Anti-federalist MEPs form new EP group
European Parliament 2009 election results
Schengen area enlargement
How the European Union has grown

 

Albania
Armenia
Belarus
Bosnia
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Georgia (Gruziya)
Hungary
Kaliningrad

Kosovo

 

Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia (FYR)
Moldova
Montenegro

Poland
România
Russia
Serbia

Slovakia
Slovenija
Ukraine

News from Russia

Other reports are grouped by country, alphabetically
  For quick links use the News Index at the top of the page or the indexed Map


Students and schools:
Link:   Encyclopaedia of Russia: 1860-1945

Heatwave triggers disastrous fires

By mid August more than 50 people had died in the fires triggered by a prolonged heatwave. Many more are thought to have been badly affected by smog which has enveloped Moscow and other areas, and in Moscow doctors have reported that the daily death rate is twice what it would be normally for that time of year. On Saturday, heavy rain came to Moscow on 14 August but dozens of wildfires were still burning around the city. According to the Emergency Situations Ministry more than 500 wildfires were continuing to burn across the country.

The government has imposed a ban on grain exports until the end of the year, after the severe drought and the many wildfires had devastated crops. It said the measures were designed to keep domestic food prices under control.
Russia has been one of the world's biggest producers of wheat, barley and rye, and a quarter of the country’s grain output was exported in 2009.
Now the Agriculture Ministry has admitted that this year's crop is unlikely even to meet domestic demand. This year's grain crop could be as low as 60 million tonnes, well below last year's 97 million, and almost 80 million tonnes are needed to cover domestic consumption

Economists have predicted that the heatwave and wildfires could cost Russian economic output around $15 billion.


articles continued at top of right-hand column


back to News index

More Russians on holiday than in 2009

According to foreign travel statistics for June, the flow of Russian tourists to popular summer destinations exceeded the low level in 2009 and was higher than the better 2008 figures. Travel agents nevertheless found business profitability dropping due to stronger competition. Working on popular destinations has never yielded more than a modest 2% profit.

The number of holiday-makers choosing traditional "beach" tours grew significantly in the first month of this summer: 578,500 people went to Turkey (up 20%), 75,100 to Spain (up 66%) and 36,800 to Cyprus (up 54%). This growth compensated for the losses made during the 2009 recession when, in June 2009, the number of Russians travelling to Turkey dropped by 9%, Spain by 12% and Cyprus by 19%.

Data for June 2010, from the 22 countries that provided statistics, show the total number of Russians who went abroad was 1.216 million, up 30% from June 2009. It was expected that figures for July and August would see even greater increments, especially at destinations visa-free for Russians, as they sought to escape the unusual heatwave and smog from widespread fires.


back to News index

LinkRussian government website (по-русски)

home