BRUSSELS – Most European Union countries still lack criminal laws to fight all forms of bribery in the private sector or involving non-profit organizations, the EU’s executive body complained yesterday. “I am disappointed that so many member states have yet to make it a criminal offense to give or receive a bribe through an intermediary, or to extend their legislation to cover non-profit organizations,” said Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini. EU governments agreed in 2003 to fight corporate corruption. But Frattini said in a statement he could only congratulate Britain and Belgium in the 27-nation bloc for introducing the necessary laws. (Reuters)

Greece’s unemployment rate rose in March compared with February as jobless workers awaited the beginning of the summer tourism season, official figures showed yesterday. The jobless rate was 9.5 percent in March against 9 percent in February and 9.2 percent in March last year, according to unadjusted data from the National Statistics Service (NSS). Greece has started providing monthly unemployment data for the first time this year, after previously reporting jobless numbers only on a quarterly basis. NSS said there were 462,042 people officially unemployed in Greece, while an estimated 4.42 million people had jobs. Unemployment has declined from 11.2 percent in March 2004. Joblessness continued to affect women more than men. In March female unemployment was at 14.2 percent compared to 6.2 percent for men. (Reuters)

Romania’s leading oil and gas firm Petrom plans to build a 500-million-euro gas-fired electricity plant, estimated to go on stream by the end of 2010, the company said yesterday. Petrom, controlled by Austria’s OMV, said its first power plant will have an 860-megawatt capacity of which 20 percent will be used for its own consumption. “It is a project developed... under European Union environment requirements,” Werner Schinhan, deputy CEO of Petrom, was quoted as saying in a statement. Petrom has reported a 57 percent year-on-year fall in its first-quarter net profit to 381 million lei, mainly due to lower crude prices and an appreciation of domestic currency. (Reuters)

Tourism arrivals to Cyprus were down 5.1 percent in the first five months of the year, the island’s statistics department said yesterday. It said some 681,632 tourists visited Cyprus between January and May, compared to 718,161 who made the same trip over the same period in 2006. (Reuters)

Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) has announced the addition of “Bulgaria Biggest Cities Review - Winter 2007” to their offering. A quarterly review and analysis of 12 big cities in Bulgaria in terms of costs of labor and cost of living based on sociological data. This report examines differences in the cost of labor, the cost of living and “sensitivity” of labor supply to the wage level and housing prices.