Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
MEDVEDEV’S SOFT-SPOKEN HARD-LINE STATEMENTS
Before taking office Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was presumed to be a "liberal," who would somehow modify Vladimir Putin's anti-Western rhetoric and authoritarian ways. Medvedev's statements are indeed somewhat more polite, but Russian policy seems actually more hard-line. In Beijing last month, during his first... MORE
THE RISE OF AZERI SEAPOWER
The Caspian’s legal status has been in limbo since the 1991 collapse of the USSR. The Caspian is the world’s largest enclosed body of water, with a surface area of 143,244 square miles. A mini-fleet of tankers now prowls its water, but less known is... MORE
KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT, PARLIAMENT REFUSE TO PROLONG CONTRACT WITH CANADIAN GOLD COMPANY
The Kyrgyz government and parliament have been postponing ratification of a contract with the Canadian mining company Cameco Corporation that is due on June 1. Talk has been circulating for the past few years that the Kyrgyz government’s 2003 agreement between Kyrgyz Kumtor Gold Company... MORE
TURKEY BEGINNING TO PAY THE PRICE FOR POOR PLANNING, POPULISM IN ENERGY
On June 11 the Turkish Privatization Administration (PA), which handles sales under the country’s privatization program, announced that it had received just five bids each for the electricity distribution grids in the capital of Ankara and the northwestern city of Sakarya. In 2006, 24 companies... MORE
RUSSIA “BOOSTS” MILITARY PRESENCE IN CENTRAL ASIA
Russia’s plans to “reinforce” its airbase at Kant in the Kyrgyz Republic and further strengthen its 201st Motor Rifle Division (MRD) in Dushanbe, combined with other elements of boosting its defense cooperation with the Central Asian states, indicate evolving trends in the region’s security dynamics.... MORE
CRITICS PREDICT MEDVEDEV’S ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE WILL ALSO FALL SHORT
Last month President Dmitry Medvedev created an Anti-Corruption Committee that he will head and gave it a month to come up with a national anti-corruption program (see EDM, May 21). He devoted a June 9 meeting with Investigative Committee head Aleksandr Bastrykin to discuss this... MORE
WILL NATO BECOME POPULAR AMONG UKRAINIANS?
The Ukrainian government has launched a campaign to make NATO popular in the country in order to secure a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine. The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a plan to increase public awareness of the benefits of NATO membership, and pro-government... MORE
DOES TURKISH-RUSSIAN AGRICULTURAL DISPUTE HAVE UNDERLYING CAUSES?
From Cold War enemies on opposite sides, Turkey and Russia have developed flourishing trade ties since 1991, so much so that last year bilateral trade exceeded $20 billion. Now a dispute over Turkish agricultural exports to the Russian Federation threatens to disrupt the burgeoning trade.... MORE
AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT, OMV JOINING GAZPROM’S SOUTH STREAM PROJECT, UNDERCUT NABUCCO
The Austrian government and the OMV oil and gas company are about to join Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline project, Gazprom Vice-President Aleksandr Medvedev announced during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on June 7. Gazprom’s South Stream is a rival to the US-backed, EU top-priority... MORE
SOUTH STREAM, NORTH STREAM INCREASINGLY SEEN AS EXCEEDING GAZPROM’S SUPPLY CAPACITY
One of Gazprom’s goals with South Stream is to circumvent the Ukrainian transit system, which traditionally carries some three-quarters of Russian gas exports to Europe. The South Stream pipeline would run from the Russian Black Sea coast across the seabed to Bulgaria, there to bifurcate... MORE