Uzbekistan is the only country in Central Asia and the Caucasus in which engineering branches make an important contribution to industrial output. Thanks to its Uz-Daewoo joint venture with Korea's Daewoo conglomerate, the Uzbekistan government has often regarded automobile production as the jewel in its... MORE

A visit to Brussels this week by Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev appeared to mark another small step forward in what has been a slow process of rebuilding relations between NATO and Moscow. Sergeev's talks with defense ministers from NATO countries under the auspices of... MORE

The Russian stock market, whose performance through the first eight months of 2000 compared favorably with most other emerging markets, has tanked since August, and underwent a particularly sharp downward correction on November 30. The 11 percent drop in the value of the equities traded... MORE

Some market players were quick to explain this decline by pointing to such external factors as the NASDAQ, Turkey and the like. "It's global flows moving [the Russian] market at the moment" Roland Nash, chief economist at Renaissance Capital in Moscow told the Wall Street... MORE

But regardless of how deplorable corporate governance in Russia may be, current stock market trends are unlikely to produce a repeat of the August 1998 financial blowout. This is apparent in Russia's voluminous foreign exchange reserves, which had risen to US$27.1 billion by November 27.... MORE

President Vladimir Putin's initiative to restore Russia's Soviet-era anthem with new words continues arouse passions on both sides. Putin's predecessor and one-time patron, Boris Yeltsin, has weighed in on the issue. In an interview with the newspaper Komsomolskaya pravda due to be published on December... MORE

Moldova's presidential election (see the Monitor, November 27) has produced a distant frontrunner but not yet a winner. Vladimir Voronin, first secretary of the Central Committee of Moldova's Party of Communists, has proven the strongest candidate by far, thanks to the familiar communist technique of... MORE

Russia's State Duma is preparing to pass a law governing Russia's state anthem, flag and coat-of-arms. On December 4, President Vladimir Putin sent the Duma draft legislation covering Russia's state symbols preserving Russia's tri-color flag and two-headed eagle coat-of-arms--which his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, revived by... MORE

In a sign that Russia's bid to play a greater role in the Middle East peace process may be stalling, Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami yesterday postponed--for the third time--a planned visit to Moscow. Russia is formally a cosponsor along with the United States... MORE

The Russian government has explained its decision to impose a visa regime on travel between Georgia and Russia, which came into effect on December 5. It says it has proof that the Georgia has turned into the main base for the transfer of mercenaries, material... MORE