Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
RUSSIA’S GIANT BUREISKAYA HYDROPOWER PLANT NEARS COMPLETION
On July 5 Russia’s Unified Energy Systems (UES) launched the fifth power-generating unit of its flagship project in the Far East, the Bureiskaya plant, in Talakan, Amur region. The plant’s first unit was launched in June 2003 and is due to be completed in 2008... MORE
RUSSIA WARNS OF MISSILE FORWARD-DEPLOYMENT IN KALININGRAD REGION
On July 4, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov warned that Russia could deploy medium-range missiles in the Kaliningrad oblast -- opposite Lithuania and Poland -- if the United States turns down Russia’s proposals on anti-missile defense in Europe. The implicit threat to these staunch... MORE
UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SLASHES EXPENSES WITH EYE TOWARD NATO
When the USSR collapsed in 1991, both Russia and Ukraine claimed the Black Sea Fleet and the historic port of Sevastopol with Ukraine. Eventually an agreement was reached to divide the hardware and allow Russia to lease the port. Ukraine opted to offload much of... MORE
ANGER AGAINST LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND FSB TERROR RISING IN INGUSHETIA
The regular reports from the North Caucasus about armed, masked men who rush into houses early in the morning to kidnap young men are old news. Kidnappings, illegal detentions, and disappearances have become daily occurrences for the whole region, especially Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan. Civilian... MORE
KULOV CONTINUES TO ADVOCATE RUSSIAN-KYRGYZ CONFEDERATION
On July 2 opposition leader and former prime minister Felix Kulov asked the Kyrgyz the Central Election Commission to organize a national referendum on the issue of a Kyrgyz- Russian confederation. This initiative comes a month after Kulov announced his proposal to create a new... MORE
NEW POLITICAL ALLIANCES EMERGE IN UKRAINE
As Ukraine prepares for the September 30 parliamentary elections, the balance of power among political forces is markedly shifting. The pre-democratic “Orange” camp is reconfiguring while the long-dominant Dnipropetrovsk camp is dwindling in influence. On Thursday, June 28, President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine party, headed... MORE
DID YUSHCHENKO BORROWS KUCHMA’S IDEAS FOR CONSTITUTION?
The Ukrainian constitution will most certainly be changed after the snap parliamentary election scheduled for September 30, no matter who wins the vote. Both President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych admit that the constitutional reform of 2004-2006, which increased the power of parliament... MORE
RUSSIA HINTS AT LIMITED RETURN OF GEORGIAN AND MOLDOVAN WINES TO ITS MARKET
Georgian Wine Producers’ Union head Levan Koberidze has announced the start of preliminary consultations with Russia on the expert level about a possible reopening of the Russian market for Georgian wines. The Georgian producers’ organization seeks to broaden the consultations by reaching out to all... MORE
ARMS CONTROL AS A “SAFE ISSUE” AT KENNEBUNKPORT
It has never been clear during the last few weeks whether there is a point to the informal July 1-2 meeting between Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin at Kennebunkport, Maine. U.S.-Russian relations have certainly deteriorated since the start of this year, and the... MORE
CHINA ASSERTS COUNTER TERRORIST CREDENTIALS IN CENTRAL ASIA
Diplomatic contacts between Bishkek and Beijing are intensifying ahead of the August summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Bishkek. Last week SCO defense minister conferred in Bishkek. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will pay an official visit to Kyrgyzstan on July 7-8, meeting... MORE