Dr Friedemann Roy highlights the growing opportunities available for mortgage lenders in central and south-eastern Europe.

Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is determined to get his country into the EU despite nay-sayers on all sides. He talks to Karina Robinson.

As Romania prepares to join the EU next year, governor of the National Bank of Romania Mugur Isarescu talks to Adina Postelnicu in Bucharest.

Russia’s futures trading went mainstream in June after the Duma passed laws to make it a bona fide business. Ben Aris reports on how banks are gearing up to play in this as yet plain vanilla market.

Ukrsotsbank is expected to pass into the hands of Italy’s Banca Intesa next year. Chairman Boris Tymonkin talks to Yuri Bender about the benefits for both sides.

Austria’s RZB/Raiffeisen Inter-national (RI) continued to expand regionally, especially in the CIS, and continued to produce strong performances.

Eastern Europe’s transformation, especially that of its financial sector, is unprecedented. Unsurprising then that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has made it the focus of its latest transition report.

Consolidation of central and eastern Europe’s small stock exchanges is unlikely to take place soon, writes Erich Obersteiner.

Sándor Csányi, chairman and chief executive of OTP Bank, tells Karina Robinson that the bank’s new acquisitions will bring a wealth of opportunities.

Romania is due to join the EU in three months’ time, and its banking sector is heating up. Old and new players are vying for a bigger slice of the action in a country that is still underbanked. Adina Postelnicu reports.