On November 13 in Sofia, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and his Bulgarian counterpart Giorgi Purvanov witnessed the signing of agreements of intent on the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria and onward to Europe. The agreements’ centerpiece concerns transportation of compressed natural gas (CNG) from... MORE

Debates to renew capital punishment are intensifying in Kyrgyzstan. The idea was first raised last month by the then Secretary of the Security Council Adakhan Madumarov and the Chairman of the National Security Service (SNB) Murat Sutalinov. Then, both officials agreed that capital punishment is... MORE

On November 11 the Austrian OMV-led Nabucco management announced that the investment decision on the project will be postponed, from early 2010 to the fourth quarter of that year. There is no clear explanation for this sudden change.Only seven days earlier, the same Vienna office... MORE

October 31 marked exactly a year since Yunus-bek Yevkurov was appointed as President of Ingushetia. Yevkurov replaced Murat Zyazikov, who was removed by Moscow (www.ingushetia.kavkaz-uzel.ru, October 31, 2008). The change of leadership in this small North Caucasus republic took place after it became impossible to... MORE

On November 3, Dagestani President Mukhu Aliev held a special meeting of the commission dedicated to the problems of ethnic Russians living in the republic. Despite the optimistic tone of the officials, it appears that ethnic Russians are still leaving Dagestan, although in fewer numbers... MORE

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry was quoted today (November 12) as saying that a blast from an “unidentified explosive device” last night had ruptured a section of the natural gas pipeline stretching between Mozdok, North Ossetia and Kazimagomed, Azerbaijan. The affected section of pipeline is... MORE

Three Scandinavian governments have allowed Gazprom’s Nord Stream pipeline, from Russia to Germany, to be built on the Baltic seabed (EDM, November 10). The Finnish, Swedish, and Danish governments had procrastinated or resisted for three years and their public opinion does not welcome the Nord... MORE

Four years after Germans and Russians signed the founding agreement (October 2005), the Nord Stream pipeline project has received the Scandinavian countries’ approval for construction on the Baltic seabed, from Russia to Germany. The Gazprom-led project, however, has not yet lined up the gas and... MORE

This week the Moscow daily Gazeta published extracts of a leaked defense ministry document describing the results of military training this year –providing a rare opportunity to know firsthand the actual battle readiness of the entire Russian armed forces. According to Russian military tradition, the... MORE

A flu epidemic which recently erupted in Ukraine may derail the presidential election campaign. As the major parties try to use the epidemic to their advantage, the situation threatens to spiral out of control because the media hype is causing panic to spread faster than... MORE