Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
CORRUPTION IN THE HYDRO-ENERGY SECTOR BECOMES CLEARER IN KYRGYZSTAN
On September 18 and 19 representatives of the Central Asian ministries of energy met in Almaty to discuss regional energy cooperation. The first round of negotiations was held on September 9 and 10 but failed to produce any agreement among the participating states, because of... MORE
MORE SPEED, LESS HASTE RESULTS IN TURKISH NUCLEAR TENDER FIASCO
Turkey’s latest attempt to acquire nuclear power resulted in humiliating failure on September 24, when only one consortium submitted a bid to build the country’s first nuclear power plant at Akkuyu, near the eastern Mediterranean port of Mersin. In the six months following the announcement... MORE
GERMAN VESTED INTERESTS RANKLED BY U.S. VIEW ON EUROPEAN ENERGY SECURITY
According to German media reports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Berlin has protested to the U.S. Embassy over an op-ed article by the U.S. Ambassador in Sweden, who criticized the Russo-German Nord Stream gas pipeline project on the Baltic seabed and other aspects... MORE
NEW REPORTS UNDERSCORE DOUBTS ABOUT MEDVEDEV’S ANTI-CORRUPTION PLAN
Transparency International has assessed corruption in Russia as being at its highest level in eight years. The Berlin-based international watchdog group ranked Russia in 147th place out of 180 countries in its annual Corruption Perception Index, which is based on polls taken among experts and... MORE
FIERCE COMPETITION OVER LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS IN KYRGYZSTAN
The Kyrgyz government has become involved in a number of intrigues ahead of local elections scheduled for October 5. Among the most scandalous is the arrest of Ishenbay Kadyrbekov, a member of the Ata Meken opposition party. Several other cases suggest that President Kurmanbek Bakiyev... MORE
TURKEY COURTS AFRICA
As American, European, and Asian governments and markets nervously contemplate the economic chaos of the past month, Turkey is quietly pressing forward with plans to increase its presence in the world's most distressed continent—Africa. On September 22 while attending the 63rd session of the UN... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF
Azerbaijan’s presidential election campaign opened officially on September 17 and will run until October 14, the day before the balloting. President Ilham Aliyev, in office since 2003, is set to win a second term of five years, on the strength of economic growth at world-record... MORE
AZERBAIJAN LEAPS FORWARD IN MAKING ITS ECONOMY ATTRACTIVE TO BUSINESS
As presidential elections approach in Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev scored a major winning point in domestic politics. It was announced by the World Bank that Azerbaijan has set a world record in reforming its economic and business regulations. In the annual “Doing Business 2009” report,... MORE
BRITISH PETROLEUM AND ITS WOES WITH THE CPC
To paraphrase Queen Elizabeth, BP has had an "annus horribilis" in Eurasia. Its joint venture in Russia, BP-TNK, has been under attack by its Russian partners; and last month an explosion in Turkey damaged the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, forcing BP to declare force majeure and... MORE
AKP PUSHES AHEAD WITH NUCLEAR POWER TENDER
Despite calls for a delay, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is pushing ahead to award the tender for building the country’s first nuclear power plant. On September 24 the state-owned Turkish Electricity Trading and Contracting, Inc., (TETAS) will open the bids for building... MORE