Briefing the press on June 16 in Moscow, Gazprom deputy chairman Aleksandr Ananenkov lifted a curtain corner on the company's investment and output prospects in the short-to-medium term (Interfax, June 17). Gazprom is set to substantially reduce capital expenditures in the next few years, starting... MORE

Kazakhstan is actively preparing to take over the OSCE's chairmanship next year. The challenges are daunting to any chairing country and the organization as such. According to multiple, though unofficial reports from the organization's Vienna headquarters, Kazakhstan has asked Finland to host an OSCE summit... MORE

On June 16 U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saw himself compelled to order the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) to cease operations immediately, after 16 years of existence (Secretary-General's office press release, June 16). That same day (late on July 15 New York time)... MORE

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev clarified that Armenia signed without conditions, but it was Uzbekistan that registered multiple objections and reservations at the Collective Security Treaty Organization's (CSTO) summit in Moscow on June 14 (EDM, June 15). The seven heads of state were scheduled to approve... MORE

Belarus refused to attend the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Moscow on June 14. The summit made decisions to enlarge the size of collective rapid deployment forces, the scope of their missions, and the legal basis of their operations.President Alyaksandr Lukashenka cancelled the... MORE

Russia is running the countdown to zero on the OSCE and U.N. observer missions in Georgia. The mandates of both are due to expire before the end of this month, their re-negotiation subject to a Russian veto. Moscow threatens to kill both missions imminently by... MORE

*Note to readers: the M:Communications company advises that Mr. Gennady Timchenko owned less than 0.1 percent of Surgut shares as of June 11 The Kremlin-connected oil company Surgut Neftegaz has launched judicial proceedings in Budapest's metropolitan court against Hungarian MOL, the most successful private oil... MORE

As anticipated (EDM, May 26) Moldovan opposition parties have forced the holding of new general elections by boycotting the election of a head of state in the newly-elected parliament on June 3 (Moldpres, June 3-7). The opposition's move has, in effect, nullified the parliamentary elections... MORE

Participants in the Caspian oil and gas forum, just held in Baku, confirmed that Turkey's AKP government has reverted to obstruction of the Nabucco project for Caspian gas to Europe (Trend Capital, Day.az, Turan, Reuters, June 3-5). The government in Ankara seemed to have adopted... MORE

With its 25,000 employees, four major production plants in as many German states, generating business for thousands of German suppliers and dealerships, and a traditional iconic status, Opel has become a highly sensitive issue in this election year in Germany. The company is loss-making and... MORE