VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The ruble plunged more than 10 percent for the second day on Tuesday and recorded its worst fall since the Russian financial crisis in 1998 as confidence in the central bank evaporated after an ineffectual overnight rate hike.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande urged Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko on Sunday to press ahead with reforms to facilitate an economic recovery and access to foreign aid.

Ukraine's government has allowed state energy company Ukrinterenergo to import electricity from Russia to cover current power shortages caused by a lack of coal, the Ukrainian energy ministry said.

Ukraine expects Russia to resume supplies of gas from Monday after Kiev transferred a pre-payment of $378 million to Gazprom, its energy minister said on Sunday.

With freezing temperatures gripping Kiev, Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz said on Friday it had transferred $378 million to Russia's Gazprom to buy Russian gas for December, paving the way for the first shipments since Moscow cut supplies in June.

Russia on Monday scrapped the South Stream pipeline project to supply gas to southern Europe without crossing Ukraine, citing EU objections, and instead named Turkey as its preferred partner for an alternative pipeline, with a promise of hefty discounts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Turkey on Monday will have trade and energy issues at its heart, but is not expected to bridge deep differences over Syria and Crimea.

Leaders from the G20 group of nations agreed on Sunday to boost flagging global growth, tackle climate change and crack down on tax avoidance but ties between the West and Russia plummeted to a new low over the crisis in Ukraine.

Russia does not intend to demand early repayment of $3 billion which it lent to Ukraine last year, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with German TV channel ARD, a transcript of which was released by the Kremlin on Saturday.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued several decrees on Saturday to shut state institutions and banking services in pro-Russian eastern regions, pressing a move to cut links with the rebel-held territory.

The G20 leaders summit in Australia starting on Saturday is setting up as a showdown between Western leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin, following fresh reports of Russian troops pouring into eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's currency lost nearly 5 percent of its value on Monday after a weekend that saw the heaviest shelling in a month hit the main rebel stronghold in the east and signs that Moscow had dispatched troops and tanks to reinforce separatists.

A deepening crisis of confidence in the ruble dominated financial markets action in Europe on Friday, with another 3 percent fall meaning the Russian currency has lost more than a tenth of its value in less than a week.

Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz said on Tuesday it had transferred $1.45 billion to Russia's Gazprom, the first tranche of debt repayment required by an agreement that will see Moscow resume gas supplies to its ex-Soviet neighbor.

The euro zone will need another year to reach even a modest level of economic growth, the European Commission said on Tuesday, calling on Germany to help as Chancellor Angela Merkel again rejected a spending spree.