Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
RUSSIA CEMENTS CONTROL OF ARMENIA’S ENERGY SYSTEM
President Robert Kocharian’s October 30-November 1 working visit to the Kremlin sealed arrangements to deepen Russian control of Armenia’s gas and electricity supply systems. Under these arrangements, Gazprom is de facto taking over the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, even as Tehran and Yerevan are about to... MORE
SCRAMBLE FOR EURASIAN ENERGY RESOURCES INTENSIFIES
As their perspectives on energy security continue to diverge, the Kremlin and Western powers appear to be engaged in a fierce competition over Eurasia’s enormous hydrocarbon resources. At the heart of the great energy game lies Moscow’s intent to preserve its monopoly over fuel transit... MORE
GAZPROM TIGHTENS CONTROL OVER FAR EASTERN GAS RICHES
Gazprom has moved to expand its clout in Russia's Far East and Eastern Siberia. At a meeting with Exxon Neftegaz on October 24, Gazprom officials reportedly insisted on buying all gas from the Sakhalin-1 project instead of using it for joint exports to China. Gazprom... MORE
MOSCOW SHOWING BELARUS THE ENERGY WHIP
Gazprom’s threat to quadruple the price of gas to Belarus after December 31 to $200 per 1,000 cubic meters was meant to force Minsk into ceding 50% ownership of the state gas transport company Beltransgas to Gazprom. However, the threat seems to have the opposite... MORE
KYRGYZSTAN POISED FOR NEW POLITICAL TUMULT AS OPPOSITION PRESSES BAKIYEV
Kyrgyzstan’s For Reforms opposition bloc is convening a large-scale demonstration in the capital city, Bishkek, today, November 2, to demand fundamental changes in the work of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his government. The gathering might be as massive as those on April 29 and May... MORE
WILL UKRAINE JOIN WTO ANY TIME SOON?
Ukraine is an inch from joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), which President Viktor Yushchenko has proclaimed to be his strategic goal. This feat would be the only legacy of his first term, which expires in January 2010, at least regarding efforts to join Western... MORE
PUTIN TESTING UKRAINE’S POLITICAL SYSTEM WITH HIS BLACK SEA FLEET PROPOSAL
Official Kyiv seems divided in its initial response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to prolong the basing of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine’s Crimea. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is clearly not opposed to the idea while officials loyal to the president are firmly... MORE
PUTIN’S MILITARY NUMBERS JUST DON’T ADD UP
Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin held a well-staged national televised phone-in to answer rehearsed questions from selected citizens. Such phone-ins are performed in Russia once a year and provide an opportunity to state the Kremlin's position on different aspects of Russian political and bureaucratic... MORE
TBILISI BRACES FOR FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN SANCTIONS
On October 23 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Russia “is not planning” to restore air, land, sea, postal, and banking communications with Georgia, which were cut October 3 in connection with a spy scandal (RIA-Novosti, October 23; EDM October 2, 4). Russia also... MORE
MOSCOW PRESSES FOR CFE TREATY RATIFICATION IN RUN-UP TO NATO AND OSCE SUMMITS
On his October 25-26 official visit to Moscow, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer successfully resisted demands by Russian officials for prompt ratification of the adapted Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) by NATO countries. Russia hopes to induce some governments in the alliance... MORE