VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Greece offered some concessions on Friday on reforms demanded by international lenders in return for new funding before Athens runs out of money, but euro zone creditors said negotiations needed to speed up to get a deal by June.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for a speeding up of the process to conclude a reform-for-cash deal with euro zone creditors after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, a Greek official said.

Euro zone finance ministers will not set any deadline for Greece to come up with reforms to get more funding because such time limits lead to brinkmanship in negotiations, a senior euro zone official said on Tuesday.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Saturday he was happy over a report that Greece was poised to sign a gas deal with Russia, though he added it would not solve the cash-strapped euro zone nation's economic problems.

Russia denied on Saturday a German media report suggesting that it could sign a gas pipeline deal with Greece as early as Tuesday which could bring up to five billion euros into Athens' depleted state coffers.

Germany's finance minister said on Wednesday there was no prospect of the euro zone reaching a deal with Athens next week on economic reforms that would unlock bailout funds, potentially leaving Greece perilously short of money.

Even if it survives the next three months teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Greece may have blown its best chance of a long-term debt deal by alienating its euro zone partners when it most needed their support.

Euro zone partners set Greece a deadline of six working days to improve proposed economic reforms in time for finance ministers to consider some emergency funding to keep the country afloat after it makes a repayment to the IMF on Thursday.

Global stocks remained upbeat on Wednesday as a $70 billion mega-deal in the European oil and gas sector stoked the merger and acquisition fever that has gripped investors this week.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will meet International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde in Washington on Sunday to discuss a set of planned reforms that Athens hopes will unlock much-needed bailout funds.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras plan to discuss economic ties and the European Union's sanctions against Moscow when they meet for talks next week, a Kremlin spokesman said on Friday.

Greece sent an updated list of reforms to lenders on Wednesday to try to unlock financial aid and avoid a default but euro zone officials said more work was needed before new funds could be released.

Greece has not given up on its aim to renegotiate its debt to render it manageable, the country's deputy finance minister said on Monday as talks between Athens and its lenders on reforms to unlock aid continue.

Greece is unlikely to exit the euro, either intentionally or accidentally. But it might be forced to introduce an alternative means of payment, in parallel to the euro, to pay some domestic bills if a reform-for-cash deal with its creditors is not secured soon, several euro zone officials said.

Greece is optimistic about reaching a deal on economic reforms with its euro zone peers early next week, unblocking urgently needed funding, its economy minister said on Thursday.