Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
FORMER YUSHCHENKO ALLY CALLS PRESIDENT’S POISONING CLAIMS A MYTH
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has made it clear that he holds Davyd Zhvania, the sponsor of the populist People’s Self-Defense bloc (NS), responsible for his mysterious poisoning at the height of the presidential election race in 2004—Zhvania denies this. Zhvania also insists that Yushchenko’s was... MORE
RUSSIAN CORRUPTION: AN EVIL TO ERADICATE OR A NECESSARY “LUBRICANT”?
Russia’s political class is continuing to debate the issue of corruption, with some observers again expressing doubts that President Dmitry Medvedev’s anti-corruption drive will succeed where past efforts failed (see EDM, June 11 and 25). A veteran crime fighter has even suggested that corruption has... MORE
DROUGHT FORCES CYPRUS TO CONSIDER TURKISH AND GREEK AID
The issue of Cyprus and its reunification has bedeviled Turkish-Greek relations since 1974 and cast a persistent pall over Turkish efforts to join the European Union, especially since the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU on May 1, 2004. Now the Mediterranean’s third-largest island—after this... MORE
ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS ARE WORRISOME FOR THE MEDVEDEV-PUTIN “TANDEMOCRACY”
The experimental power-sharing construct in Russia with authoritative Vladimir Putin as prime minister and very active Dmitri Medvedev as president has been working remarkably smooth so far, as the two leaders have been extra careful to avoid any incoherence in their performance. The presidential administration... MORE
CZECH REPUBLIC OFFSETTING RUSSIAN OIL SUPPLY CUTS FROM ALTERNATIVE SOURCES
The Czech Republic is successfully weathering, thus far, the deep cut in Russian oil deliveries for the month of July. Despite the suddenness of the cut—Moscow announced it only after the fact—the Czech Republic was able to switch almost instantly to an alternative source of... MORE
IS UKRAINE ON THE BRINK OF AN ENERGY CRISIS?
Come January 2009 Ukraine will, in all likelihood, begin paying Russia’s Gazprom in the range of $400 per 1,000 cubic meters for natural gas or $22 billion per year. Presently the country pays $179 per 1,000 cubic meters, or $9.9 billion per year. Will it... MORE
ERGENEKON INDICTMENT DASHES HOPES OF FINAL RECKONING WITH TURKEY’S “DEEP STATE”
On July 25, the 13th Serious Crimes Court in Istanbul formally accepted the indictment in the 13-month investigation into the shadowy ultranationalist group known to the Turkish media as Ergenekon (see EDM, July 24) and set a date of October 20, 2008, for the first... MORE
MOSCOW FORCING CZECH REPUBLIC TO GUESS AS TO REASONS BEHIND OIL SUPPLY CUT
Earlier this month, Russia suddenly reduced crude oil deliveries to the Czech Republic through the Druzhba pipeline, from 500,000 tons down to 300,000 tons (see EDM, July 15). The Czech Republic is coping with the situation, at least for now, thanks to its access to... MORE
YUSHCHENKO SWITCHES SUPPORT FROM OUR UKRAINE TO UNITED CENTER
On July 12 Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s fourth party of power United Center held its inaugural congress in pompous style at the Ukrayina Palace, broadcast live on state television Channel 1. Although presidential secretariat head Viktor Baloga was touted by the Ukrainian media as the... MORE
PUTIN’S ATTACK ON MECHEL – ANOTHER SILOVIKI POWER PLAY?
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last week accused the Russian coal and steel producer Mechel of price-fixing and made a veiled threat against the company’s owner, Igor Zyuzin. Critics say Putin’s comments, which caused the value of Mechel’s shares to plummet 33 percent, show that despite... MORE