UKRAINE INITIATES MAJOR TENDER ON OIL TRANSIT ROUTE.

Kiev has launched an international tender for engineering firms to plan and design an oil transit route from Azerbaijan to Central Europe via Georgia and Ukraine. The concept involves a pipeline from Azerbaijan to Georgia’s Black Sea coast, a ferry line to a port near Odessa, an oil terminal there, and a pipeline across Ukraine to Brody. The presidents of Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Georgia agreed on this project at their recent meetings. (Infobank, March 25. For Russian reaction, see Perspective section below)

Moscow Discards Almaty’s Concern Over Cossacks.