VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Greek containers and oil products firm Global Ports Investments has closed the acquisition of Russian firm NCC Group to become Eastern Europe's biggest container terminal operator.

India-based integrated components manufacturer Amtek Auto agreed to acquire significant business interests in Germany-based integrated machine manufacturer Kuepper group in a deal reportedly valued at €200 million.

Nuclear consortium Fennovoima on Saturday agreed to build a 1,200-megawatt nuclear facility with Russia's state owned corporation Rosatom. Rosatom will take a 34% stake in the group to fill a funding hole left by Germany's E.ON.

BASF SE, the largest chemicals company in Germany, is working on a bid for RWE DEA AG. DEA is the oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) unit of German electric utilities company RWE AG.

Munich, Germany-based travel marketplace Excursiopedia has added Moscow, Russia-based startup Travelatus in an effort to become a leader in the international travel industry and help travelers find local activities.

Hungary-based state-owned utility MVM Zrt announced on Tuesday its plan to purchase a minority stake in natural gas supplier Fogaz Zrt in a deal valued at HUF41 billion ($187.4 million).

Russia is prepared to invest more than €5 billion in Serbia to back projects centered in the energy and production sectors including lubricant refining, and plant reconstruction projects.

At his annual speech at the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that actions to improve Russia's business climate should be done immediately after finally conceding that the state's economic problems were grown at home.

Russian state-controlled telecom firm Rostelecom could sell up to RUB46 billion (USD1.4 billion) worth of shares in a secondary stock offering next year to help cut its debt.

Facebook Inc had been tapping resources of its Russian partners to develop apps, signaling a growth in the tech industry, particularly in the app development business.

Russia's No. 2 oil producer Lukoil is looking to put up for sale its 20% stake in a Russian consortium developing a large oil project in Venezuela. Lukoil is in talks with international players after Rosneft offered a price lower than what Lukoil had asked.

Russia-based platform for publishing and viewing educational content BeSmart.net will receive USD4 million in total investment over the next three years from Hong Kong's Education Matrix.

Ireland's Ryanair on Tuesday announced that it won't participate in Italian airline Alitalia's EUR300 million emergency cash call. Other carriers including Lufthansa, Etihad Airways, Aeroflot and Alitalia shareholder Air France-KLM have also turned down the deal.

Ukraine can get cheaper natural gas if it joins an economic bloc led by Moscow, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told Bloomberg News.

Russia's state-backed private equity investment fund and Italy's strategic state investment fund have agreed a deal to invest up to 1 billion euros ($1.35 billion) in companies and projects in the two countries, officials said on Monday.