VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Russia wants 1.163 billion euros ($1.32 billion) from France in compensation for cancelling a contract to deliver two Mistral helicopter carriers, a Russian source close to the negotiations said on Friday.

The fortunes of the Russian outpost of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's candy empire have ebbed and flowed with the Russian-backed separatist conflict in the east of his country.

No decision has yet been taken on the future of France's suspended contract to deliver Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia, French President Francois Hollande said on Friday after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday paved the way for long-overdue missile system deliveries to Iran and Moscow started an oil-for-goods swap with Tehran, showing the Kremlin's determination to boost economic ties with the Islamic Republic.

Two leading Russian film directors are seeking state support to set up a domestic chain of cafes to compete with Western fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, a newspaper said on Thursday.

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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on Friday creating a regional currency union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, Russia's main partners in a union of ex-Soviet states facing growing economic challenges.

The European Union has yet to receive confirmation that Ukraine and Russia will meet on March 20 to discuss gas supplies, the bloc's Energy Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Friday.

Crude oil futures rebounded on Friday, with Brent heading for its biggest monthly gain since May 2009, as supply outages in North Sea and renewed fears of gas supply disruption in Europe supported prices.

Former Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky said on Thursday Vladimir Putin was a "naked king" presiding over an economy that will weaken further, eventually provoking a battle between rival clans in Moscow.

A surprisingly aggressive dose of monetary stimulus from Sweden's central bank on Thursday injected life back into world markets which had been numbed by the stalemate in talks between Greece and its euro zone creditors.

Russians with foreign-currency mortgages have written an open letter to President Vladimir Putin seeking help with repayments that have soared because of the ruble's plunge, saying they were misled by banks.

Russia's top oil producer Rosneft is basing its budget for this year on an average oil price of $50 per barrel, the company's Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin said on Wednesday.