Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
FORMER ABKHAZ PRESIDENTIAL RIVALS UNITE UNDER PRESSURE FROM MOSCOW
Georgia's breakaway region Abkhazia holds a second round of its presidential elections today (January 12). Sergei Bagapsh claimed victory in the initial election on October 3, 2004. However, Russian officials soon arrived in Abkhazia to annul the result. Russia forced Bagapsh to re-run the election,... MORE
VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO DECLARED UKRAINE’S PRESIDENT
On January 10, Ukraine's Central Election Commission (CEC) officially declared opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko to be Ukraine's third president. The final vote count stood at 51.99% for Yushchenko compared to Viktor Yanukovych's 44.20%. Thirteen CEC members voted in favor of the ruling while two abstained.... MORE
RUSSIA’S PACIFIC OIL PIPELINE SEEN AS DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
Russia has long heralded its "strategic energy partnership" with China, yet Moscow has recently approved the Japan-bound East Siberia-Pacific oil pipeline. Now Russia is struggling to offer Beijing a sufficient consolation prize. In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that China' state oil company, CNPC,... MORE
TEMPORARY HALT OF TURKMEN GAS DELIVERIES VIA RUSSIA SENDS RIPPLES DOWNSTREAM
On January 10, Turkmenistan resumed deliveries of natural gas to Russia after a ten-day suspension. The Turkmennebit [Turkmenneftegaz] company had closed the valves on the Russia-bound export pipeline at midnight on December 31-January 1 ostensibly for "repair and maintenance work," following several public demands by... MORE
RIVAL GEORGIAN MINISTERS CROSS SWORDS
Last week, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was forced to mediate between two bickering members of his government. Ultimately, Saakashvili reached a temporary truce in the standoff between Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili and his predecessor, Gia Baramidze, currently State Minister for European Integration. Baramidze had replaced... MORE
DEFENSE MINISTER TARGETS CORRUPTION IN GEORGIAN MILITARY
Irakli Okruashvili, Georgia's Minister of Defense has alleged the continued existence of widespread corruption within the military. On January 4, he named senior Ministry of Defense officials, whom he said were involved in misappropriating funds, and set the target of seeing them imprisoned within one... MORE
ASTANA WORKS TO STAVE OFF UKRAINE’S ADVANCING ORANGE TIDE
Days before New Year 2005 began, leaders of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, and Ak Zhol Democratic Party paid a visit to Kyiv to congratulate Viktor Yushchenko on his victory in the Ukrainian presidential elections. This symbolic gesture of solidarity between... MORE
PHASE-OUT DILEMMAS AT LITHUANIA’S NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
On December 31, Lithuania shut down the first of two Soviet-era nuclear reactors at the Ignalina nuclear power plant and began the decommissioning process. The European Union required the closure of Unit One by December 2004 and of Unit Two by December 2009, as part... MORE
WHO WILL REPLACE YANUKOVYCH?
Viktor Yushchenko, who was elected Ukraine's president on December 26, has promised to come up with a candidate for prime minister this week. The candidate will need to be approved by parliament. This will be the first test of Yushchenko's ability to negotiate with the... MORE
RESENTMENT STILL SMOLDERS IN MOSCOW AFTER UKRAINE ELECTIONS
Just as President-elect Viktor Yushchenko predicted, Supreme Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn chose Moscow as the destination of his first visit abroad after Ukraine's presidential election. Lytvyn, who had switched allegiance from the Kuchma-Yanukovych camp to the constitution of Ukraine and supremacy of law during the... MORE