Sergei Bagapshby Giorgi KvelashviliOn July 16, 2009, Sergei Bagapsh, the leader of the separatist government in Georgia’s Abkhazia region, currently under Russian occupation, gave an interview to the Moscow radio station Ekho Moskvy. During the interview he addressed issues ranging from the possibility that Abkhazia,... MORE

By Roman KupchinskyGermany appears to be on the path to greater diversification of it natural gas suppliers. On July 15, RWE signed an agreement with Turkmenistan which outlines conditions for the development of gas deposits in a section of Turkmenistan’s part of the Caspian shelf.... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyRussian police Colonel Oleg Mansurov worked for the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) for 28 years. He was a graduate of the MVD Academy, and had been assigned to the headquarters of the ministry since 2001 where he worked at the Main Directorate... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyThe Chinese financial and trade behemoth has begun to slowly make its might felt in the states of the former Soviet Union, a territory proclaimed by the Kremlin to be its scared sphere of influence. These inroads are not only being made in... MORE

by Alexander MelikishviliOn Monday, July 27, the Director of the Department of Budgetary Assessments of the Russian Ministry of Finances Alexei Lavrov held a press briefing in which he provided at least partial empirical confirmation of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's remarks to the Wall... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyOn July 27, Irina Dudukina, a spokeswoman for the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Committee, announced that suspected organized crime boss Semyon Mogilevich, a man on the U.S. FBI’s most wanted list for fraud and racketeering had been released from prison. He and his... MORE

UNIAN Press Agencyby Roman KupchinskyUkrainian news agency UNIAN reported on July 25 that gas prices for domestic household consumers and communal energy companies will rise by 20 percent. The rate increase for communal energy will go into effect on October 1 and for household consumers... MORE

(visualrian.com)by Roman KupchinskyFor many years the largest and most popular open air market in Moscow was the Cherkizovsky. Filled with kiosks selling cheap clothing, electronics, carpets and shoes manufactured in China; imported to Russia by Chinese traders, it more then met the demand of Moscovite... MORE

by Alexander MelikishviliOn Tuesday, July 21, on the eve of the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's July 22-23 official visit to Tbilisi, the Georgian television company Imedi aired a news report in which the Secretary of Georgia's National Security Council Eka Tkeshelashvili stated that Georgia... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyCan the Ukrainian natural gas sector be reformed? For the last two decades the Ukrainian gas business has been one of the least transparent and reportedly most corrupt and mismanaged sectors of the economy. Will this begin changing in 2009-2010? Ukrainian policy makers... MORE