Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
RUSSIA AND CHINA HOLD ANTI-TERRORIST EXERCISE
Russia and China held an anti-terrorist drill in Moscow region, September 4-6, designed to promote interoperability between their special services and special forces in another public display of the growing security agenda in the Sino-Russian strategic partnership. China sent its armed police to participate in... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN CONFRONTS OIL CONSORTIUM OVER SETBACKS AT KASHAGAN
Paolo Scaroni, head of Italy’s ENI-Agip, which operates Kazakhstan’s super giant Kashagan oil field, is arriving in Astana to discuss compensation for repeated failures to start production on time and within budget. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi has also announced that he would go to... MORE
EU, BUSINESS GROUPS PRESS AKP GOVERNMENT TO RESTART REFORM PROCESS
The European Commission has issued what is expected to be the first in a series of warnings to Turkey’s moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) to restart the stalled EU reform process. AKP has not implemented any substantive new reforms since formally opening accession... MORE
BRIDGEHEAD IN EUROPE: KAZAKHSTAN ACQUIRES ROMANIA’S ROMPETROL
Kazakhstan’s state oil and gas company, KazMunayGaz, has bought a 75% stake in Romania’s privately owned Rompetrol Group, an expansion-prone holding that includes oil refineries in Romania and product distribution networks in that country and beyond. Under the agreement, disclosed on August 27, KazMunayGaz will... MORE
RUSSIA STRUGGLES TO SETTLE ENVIRONMENTAL DIFFERENCES WITH CHINA
Russian Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev traveled to China August 31-September 4, but apparently failed to convince Chinese officials to conclude a treaty on the protection of trans-border rivers, which would regulate how compensation for damages should be paid. Instead, both sides signed yet another... MORE
ANKARA MOVES TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON ENERGY IMPORTS
The good news in Ankara is that Turkey has one of the most dynamic economies of the Middle East, with an extraordinary GNP growth rate estimated at 6.7% for the first quarter of 2007. The bad news is that the rapid rise in oil prices... MORE
THE END OF “TAK”?
For the first time in four years, the summer is drawing to a close without a major attack by Kurdish militants on the Turkish tourism industry. Since the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) resumed violent attacks in June 2004 it has pursued a two-front strategy: a... MORE
POLITKOVSKAYA AND LITVINENKO MURDER CASES REMAIN CONTROVERSIAL
Investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, my friend and colleague from Novaya gazeta newspaper, was shot to death in an elevator in her apartment building last October. Anna was an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin’s policy in Chechnya. Our newspaper began a serious independent investigation, as... MORE
WILL UKRAINIAN CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE BE SYNCHRONIZED WITH ELECTIONS?
Ukraine’s most popular opposition politician, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, is pushing for a referendum to change the constitution. She wants the vote to be held simultaneously with the early parliamentary election on September 30. President Viktor Yushchenko also wants a referendum, but he believes... MORE
KYRGYZSTAN FACES RAMPANT INFLATION FOR FOOD PRODUCTS
In the past few weeks Kyrgyzstan has endured steadily rising food prices. According to estimates by the Kyrgyz parliament, roughly 500,000 people, the poorest stratum of the population, are directly affected by increased prices for bread and other basic products. The Kyrgyz government blames neighboring... MORE