During his current visit to the United States, President Haidar Aliev of Azerbaijan has taken the unprecedented step of publicly criticizing oil companies for stalling the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (Turkey) main export pipeline project (MEP). Aliev specifically named ExxonMobil and alluded to BP Amoco as the companies... MORE

On September 18, Kazakhstan's General Prosecutor's Office, Internal Affairs Ministry and State Security Committee collectively announced a joint decision to investigate Islamic religious groups in the south of the country. The operation concentrates on the three regions of Kyzyl-Orda, South Kazakhstan and Zhambyl. The Muslim... MORE

Turkmenistan's economic performance remains extremely dependent on revenues from exports of natural gas and petroleum products. GDP grew 14 percent in the first half of 2000, driven mainly by exports of gas to Russia. Industrial production also rose 14 percent due to rapid growth in... MORE

With the clock ticking down to Russian President Vladimir Putin's October 2-5 visit to India, preparations have gone into overdrive this week to ensure that the trip is successful. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, who oversees Russian defense production and is also the Russian... MORE

Yevrotek, a company connected to the Tyumen Oil Co (TNK), has won a privatization tender for an 85 percent stake in the state's Onako oil company. The results, which were announced earlier this week, were something of a surprise, given that most Russian observers had... MORE

In 1999, the fiscal deficits of all three Baltics were higher than planned, as revenues shrank due to recession. This year, as expected, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are all in the process of recovering from last year's recession. Yet both Latvia and Lithuania will exceed... MORE

After falling substantially in 1999, Armenia's trade and current account deficits are on the rise this year, raising renewed concerns about the sustainability of the country's large external imbalances. In 1999, Armenia's current account deficit ran 15.7 percent of GDP, one of the largest deficits... MORE

Although the percentage of Armenia's current account deficit financed by FDI has likely increased this year compared to last, it is doubtful that the share exceeds 60-65 percent, leaving foreign borrowing to finance a sizeable portion of the deficit. Over the past seven years, Armenia... MORE

citizen accused by Russian authorities of espionage suffered another setback this week when a Moscow court refused his appeal for release for a release from prison on health grounds. Edmond Pope, a 54-year-old former U.S. naval intelligence officer, was arrested this past April by agents... MORE

The spy row which erupted between Japan and Russia earlier this month appears to have had its greatest immediate impact on military contacts between the two countries. Officials from Japan's Defense Agency announced on September 14 that they were postponing two major events in this... MORE