Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
GAZPROM TARGETING UKRAINIAN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR HOSTILE TAKEOVERS
Gazprom is moving rapidly to take over Ukraine’s gas transport system through its monopolist offshoots in Ukraine: RosUkrEnergo and UkrGazEnergo. The immediate target is Ukraine’s internal gas distribution network, although the transit system is being targeted as well. This month, on the threshold of winter,... MORE
COULD CORRUPTION BE GOOD FOR RUSSIA?
The new Corruption Perception Index, published by Transparency International last week, put Russia in 121st place together with nine other states, including the Philippines and Rwanda. This ranking is one group above Azerbaijan but one group below Kazakhstan and three groups below Ukraine and Georgia... MORE
RUSSIA’S LONG-TERM EXPORT STRATEGY FOR ASIA REMAINS CHINA-ORIENTED
Russian gas leaders have reiterated pledges to prioritize China in their long-term oil export programs for Asia, as Moscow seemingly plans to direct the bulk of its Asian-bound crude to the lucrative Chinese market. And even before its own pipeline to the Pacific and China... MORE
KREMLIN CONTINUES ATTEMPTS TO DIVIDE EUROPE
Trying to create a rift within the European Union, Russia wants the international community to condemn some of the bloc’s new members that allegedly discriminate against certain categories of their own population. According to analysts, big-time geopolitics, including the extremely sensitive issue of energy security,... MORE
EX-GOVERNOR BACK HOME – A HOT POTATO FOR UKRAINIAN POLITICIANS
Former Sumy region governor Volodymyr Shcherban has returned to Ukraine from self-imposed exile in the United States. In Ukraine, he is suspected of several crimes, and for those who helped Viktor Yushchenko come to power in 2004, Shcherban epitomizes the corrupt regime of former president... MORE
BUCKING THE WTO, RUSSIA BROADENS ECONOMIC MEASURES AGAINST GEORGIA AND MOLDOVA
Russia’s Inspectorate for Consumer Protection (RosPotrebNadzor) has emerged as a proxy implementer of the Russian government’s foreign policy in conflict situations, a development paralleling the Kremlin’s larger-scale moves against foreign energy companies through environmental inspectorates. On November 7, RosPotrebNadzor head Gennady Onishchenko announced that Russia... MORE
OPPOSITION CELEBRATES AS NEW CONSTITUTION ADOPTED IN KYRGYZSTAN
On November 8 the Kyrgyz opposition bloc “For Reforms” finally managed to broker a compromise between the parliament and President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to endorse a new constitution that considerably empowers the legislative branch and strips the president of key prerogatives. Despite earlier outbreaks of violence... MORE
GAZPROM’S “PURE COMMERCE” IN GEORGIA
Gazprom’s deputy chairman and head of Gazexport, Alexander Medvedev, confirmed on November 7 the price hike to $230 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas to Georgia in 2007, up from $110 in 2006. Gazprom will stop deliveries to Georgia on January 1, 2007, unless the... MORE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE STRATEGIC KARS-AKHALKALAKI RAILWAY TO START IN 2007
For almost a year, officials from Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey have been engaged in intense discussions about ways to finance the construction of the strategic Kars-Akhalkalaki railway system. This rail link will bridge the gap between the Georgian and Turkish rail networks, permitting an uninterrupted... MORE
MOSCOW HOPES CRISIS WILL DRIVE BAKIYEV BACK INTO RUSSIAN CAMP
The political and constitutional crisis in Kyrgyzstan is undermining the rule of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Prime Minister Felix Kulov, who came to power last year as the result of the “Tulip Revolution” in March 2005, which ousted former president Askar Akayev (see EDM, November... MORE