Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
Hungary Signs South Stream Project Agreement
On January 31 in Budapest, Russian and Hungarian officials signed the project agreement for the construction of Gazprom’s South Stream pipeline on Hungarian territory. Hungary’s privately-owned MOL Company, a member of the Nabucco consortium, is not a party to the South Stream agreement. Hungary participates... MORE
Russian Fifth Generation Fighter Takes to the Sky
On January 29, the prototype Russian fifth generation Prospective Aircraft Complex of Frontline Aviation (PAK FA) “T-50” finally completed a successful 45 minute test flight in Komsomolsk-na-Amurye. The stealth multirole fighter was developed by OKB Sukhoi (experimental design bureau) to replace MiG-29 and Su-27’s and... MORE
Russia Cannot Learn Any Crisis Lessons and Lapses Into Putinism
During the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, delegates are not asking questions such as “who is Mr. Medvedev?” Or, “is it really the same Mr. Putin?” In fact, they are not asking any questions about Russia. Participants in expensive debates focus on lessons learned... MORE
Gazprom Half-Acknowledges Pessimistic Outlook
Gazprom’s board of directors held its traditional start-of-year meeting on January 26 to set policies for 2010 (Interfax, January 26, 27). The decisions focus on marketing policy, rather than investment into field development. This focus increases the probability of a gas shortfall in Russia in... MORE
New Federal District Will Not Stabilize the North Caucasus
Against the backdrop of the unavailing year in 2009 for Russian soldiers in the North Caucasus, Moscow is trying to explain to the Russian people why other countries want to interfere in its internal affairs (www.infox.ru, January 16). Of course, one would think that it... MORE
Rights Activists Say Corruption in Chechnya is an “Unwritten Rule”
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presided over a meeting of the collegium of the Federal Security Service (FSB) yesterday (January 28) devoted to examining the results of the agency’s work last year and its tasks for 2010. The Russian president said that the FSB’s main tasks... MORE
Russia Backs Yanukovych in Ukraine’s 2010 Elections
Russian media coverage of the 2010 Ukrainian elections from the outset portrayed it as a two-horse race between Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko. In the first phase of the election campaign (October-November 2009), the Russian media did not express a preference, but since the first... MORE
Bakiyev Downsizes Government and Increases Presidential Powers
Kyrgyzstan is currently witnessing a rapid and further centralization of presidential powers. On January 26, the Kyrgyz parliament’s special committee on constitutional legislation approved several new presidential rights. These include the president’s right to appoint a special presidential council that would in turn have the... MORE
Russian Government Seeks to Further Limit Access to Information From the North Caucasus
On January 27, two policemen were killed and one was wounded when unidentified assailants driving in a car attacked a police car near the villages of Yandare and Gazi-Yurt in Ingushetia’s Nazran district. On the same day, another police car was attacked near the main... MORE
Belarus Accepts Drastic Reduction in Oil Subsidy From Russia
On January 27 in Moscow, Belarus accepted a drastic reduction in its traditional oil subsidy from Russia. The Russian government imposed this outcome through halting oil supplies to Belarus by pipeline almost completely since mid-January. The supply flow should now be restored, but at a... MORE