A Ukrainian women's rights activist stripped to the waist and seized the Euro 2012 football trophy while it was on public display in Kiev this weekend to protest the forthcoming monthlong championship. KIEV — A Ukrainian women's rights activist stripped to the waist and seized the Euro 2012 football...

... Yulia Tymoshenko, then prime minister, told compatriots that her government had scraped together "every kopek" to make the dream possible. Her jubilant tone foresaw the country turning a confident, smiling face to the world in the monthlong Euro 2012 football tournament that it will co-host with Poland, its cheerleader in Europe. That was in December 2009. Now, with the first games to be played on June 9, Tymoshenko lies in prison on hunger strike, nursing bruises after what she said was...

Ukraine is planning to fire rockets to break up rain clouds if bad weather threatens to upset football matches during next month's Euro 2012 tournament. Ukraine is planning to fire rockets to break up rain clouds if bad weather threatens to upset football matches during next month's Euro 2012 tournament, a government official said. "Our [missile] batteries are being prepared...

... Minister Lado Vardzelashvili said Georgia had considered submitting a bid to co-host the championships with Azerbaijan, but that the neighboring country decided to concentrate its efforts on the 2020 Olympics. The minister said stadiums suitable for the Euros already exist in the capital Tbilisi and in the cities of Gori, Kutaisi and Rustavi. In addition, he said, stadiums are under way in Zugdidi, Batumi and Lanchkhuti. (AP)

... justice being done and seen to be done,” EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said. When Tymoshenko launched a hunger strike last month after saying she was beaten by prison officials, several European leaders vowed to shun Ukraine during Euro 2012 in protest, but critics have warned that boycotting the matches would mean mixing sports with politics and could do more harm than good. She said Poland, co-host of the tournament, would brief the ministers on the situation. Ukraine is not a...

... </span>requests to<span id="bxid_911674"> </span>foreign governments, including real estate in France from wanted former tycoon Boris Berezovsky. Russia has seized real estate in France worth about 13 million euros from former tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who lives in London and is wanted by Russian authorities on fraud and other charges, a Prosecutor General's Office report said. The report said more than $320 million worth of illegally obtained property and...

A psychic pig is set to take over where Paul the Octopus left off at the 2010 World Cup by predicting the results of matches at the European championships in Ukraine and Poland. KIEV — A psychic pig is set to take over where Paul the Octopus left off at the 2010 World Cup by predicting the results of matches at the European championships in Ukraine and Poland. Kiev's city government said Friday that it would wheel out the porky tipster to give daily forecasts once the tournament kicks off...

Two men who attempted to sell seats in the State Duma for 20 million euros were each sentenced to five years in prison Monday for attempted fraud. Two men who attempted to sell seats in the State Duma for 20 million euros were each sentenced to five years in prison Monday for attempted fraud. In June, Pavel Popov, 42...

HELSINKI — Finnish winter tire maker Nokian Renkaat reported a bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit thanks to strong growth in Russia. First-quarter operating profit rose 45 percent to 105 million euros ($136.5 million). Sales grew 33 percent to 384 million euros. Sales in Russia rose 67 percent to 171.5 million euros. Nokian Renkaat is building a new plant in Vsevolozhsk next to its old plant, and its annual production capacity in Russia is estimated...

... of servicing its debt. KIEV — Ukraine may never recover all of the billions of dollars it has spent to co-host next month's European football championship, and the outlay might complicate its chances of servicing its debt. The staging of the monthlong Euro 2012 tournament has consumed $13.4 billion, including $6.6 billion from state coffers. That is unlikely to make the country any more inviting for foreign investment, analysts say. And despite the hopes of tour operators and the authorities themselves...

Hines, one of the largest investors in the real estate market, today announced the creation of the Hines Russia & Poland Fund in Luxembourg last week, Vedomosti reported. The fund's equity volume totals 390 million euros ($490 million). Taking into account debt financing, it may invest more than 900 million euros in real estate in these countries. Lee Timmins and Mietek Godzisz will lead a team of Hines employees in Russia and Poland on behalf of the fund, managed...

A gang abducts a man to extort a 1.5 million euro ransom then kills him with a lethal injection of heroin. It was a plot that the three kidnappers thought would score them an easy 1.5 million euros. The woman, Yelena Milayeva, lured the victim to her apartment in a Moscow suburb and then took...

Bosch is planning to localize more auto parts assembly lines in Russia following a profitable year during which the technology supplier saw its sales in the country jump 50 percent to almost 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion). Bosch is planning to localize more auto parts assembly lines in Russia following a profitable year during which the technology supplier saw its sales in the country jump 50 percent to almost 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), the...

... capital outflow between January and April. This is equivalent to half of the $84.2 billion recorded in the whole of 2011. The Central Bank lowered the share of U.S. and Canadian dollars in its foreign exchange reserve and increased its holdings in the euro, the bank's annual report showed Wednesday. In February, bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said the dollar's share in the forex reserves was 46.5 percent, while the euro's was 40.5 percent. The Canadian dollar accounted for 2 percent. (Reuters)

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will arrange long-term financing of up to 35.5 million euros ($45.26 million), of which up to 7 million euros will be denominated in rubles, for Glemarco, Pilkington’s East and the Syzranskaya Keramika plant in Syzran, Samara region. All three are wholly owned by Polish entrepreneur Michal Solowow....

President-elect Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he opposed a boycott of the Euro 2012 football championship in Ukraine, even as more top officials announced that they would skip over concerns about the health of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. President-elect Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he...

... billionaires of its founders and early investors and millionaires of many of its employees. And miraculously, this was achieved in a market that is quickly heading south, as fears and emotions escalate against the backdrop of a possible Grexit from the Euro and who knows what else. John Hammond Senior Partner CMS, Russia Facebook has successfully completed the biggest tech IPO in history, raising $16 billion and making billionaires of its founders and early investors and millionaires of many of its...

... European Union's Stability and Growth Pact. Only a few months ago, it was France and Germany that were twisting the arms of other states, forcing them to sign the pact. If the requirements of that document are implemented, a slight strengthening of the euro would be obtained at the price of an economic downturn that could become catastrophic enough to bring down the euro. Looking at Spain and Greece, it is therefore no surprise that much of the financial world is wondering whether such measures are...

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry described threats by European powers to boycott the Euro football championship it will host in June as a return to Cold War tactics. KIEV — Ukraine's Foreign Ministry described threats by European powers to boycott the Euro football championship it will host in June as a return to...

International sanctions have failed to halt trade in Russian coal at Syrian ports, with buyers switching to the euro from the dollar in deals facilitated by the Syrian state bank and black-market players. International sanctions have failed to halt trade in Russian coal at Syrian ports, with buyers switching to the euro from the dollar in...