Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
TURKEY MOVES TO POSITION ITSELF AS A STRATEGIC TRANSIT CORRIDOR FOR CASPIAN HYDROCARBONS
On July 14 Turkey signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran related to gas and oil transit and joint energy investments. Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler and a team of officials are currently in Tehran meeting with Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, international affairs director of the state-owned... MORE
AUSTRIA’S OMV VERSUS HUNGARY’S MOL: THE LESS EFFICIENT TARGETING THE MORE EFFICIENT
Austria’s national energy champion, OMV, persists with attempts to take over its Hungarian counterpart, MOL, even as OMV itself seems to drift into closer association with Russia. The Austrian government, the single largest shareholder in OMV -- 31.5% direct control plus some small stakes under... MORE
KAZAKH INTERIOR MINISTRY HUMILIATED BY AUSTRIAN REFUSAL TO EXTRADITE RAKHAT ALIEV
The scandal around Rakhat Aliev, the runaway former son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Kazakhstan’s former ambassador to Vienna, shows no sign of subsiding. Astana asked the Austrian government to extradite Aliev as early as May 26, after the suspect was stripped of his... MORE
SCO SUMMIT FOCUSES ON ENERGY COOPERATION
On August 16, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held its annual summit in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital. This was the largest event to date for both Bishkek and the SCO, as the summit brought together official representatives of 12 countries. Energy cooperation and security issues... MORE
EXPERT REPORT ON MISSILE DROP IN GEORGIA LEAVES UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
On August 12-14 in Georgia, an international group of experts investigated the circumstances of the August 6 Russian air incursion and missile drop on that country. Following the incident, Georgia called for an independent international investigation -- independent meaning that the experts would volunteer their... MORE
MORE PROBLEMS FOR RUSSO-GERMAN GAS PIPELINE PROJECT
Gazprom’s corporate report for the second quarter of 2007, released on August 14, officially puts the cost of building the Russo-German gas pipeline on the Baltic seabed, known as Nord Stream, at €6 billion (Interfax, August 14). This means a 50% increase over the €4... MORE
RIVAL CAMPS POSITION THEMSELVES OVER GUL PRESIDENTIAL BID
The Nationalist Action Party (MHP), with 70 seats in the new Turkish parliament, has indicated that it has no serious objection to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, becoming president (Today’s Zaman, August 2). The party is expected to... MORE
UKRAINE’S 2007 ELECTIONS WILL ALSO DECIDE UKRAINE’S NEXT PRESIDENT
Ukraine’s September 30 parliamentary elections will decide the country’s next government and most likely determine the outcome of the presidential elections two years later. As seasoned Zerkalo nedeli commentator Serhiy Rakhmanin pointed out, the “pre-term parliamentary campaign gives [President Viktor] Yushchenko a great opportunity to... MORE
MOSCOW BLAMES TERRORISTS FOR TRAIN DERAILMENT
On Monday, August 13, a high-speed express passenger train traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg derailed in Novgorod region after a remote-controlled landmine exploded under the tracks. Thirteen train cars were derailed, 60 people were injured, some of them seriously, but there were no fatalities.... MORE
RUSSIAN EXPERTS DIVIDED OVER CLAIMS TO ARCTIC CONTINENTAL SHELF
As Russia staked a high-profile claim to the seabed under the Arctic Ocean, the country’s experts remain divided over the venture’s relevance. The liberal Nezavisimaya gazeta newspaper cited experts as saying that Russia’s polar venture did more harm than good. The expedition actually damaged Russia’s... MORE