On July 18, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka dismissed the chairman of the National Bank of Belarus, Pyotr Prakapovich. Last month, Lukashenka asserted that the latter had “made mistakes” (Bloomberg, June 23). No replacement was announced, so in the meantime Yury Alymov continues as acting chairman.One... MORE

Although Ukraine has mended fences with Russia and made progress in the political association and free trade talks with the EU since Viktor Yanukovych’s election as president in February 2010, additional movement in both directions simultaneously is hardly possible. The multivector policy, which was chosen... MORE

The nuclear power plant project in Lithuania is a regional, not merely a national project (“Lithuania Chooses Hitachi-General Electric to Build Nuclear Power Plant,” EDM, July 19). The Visaginas project is intended to meet electricity demand on a region-wide basis. Its commerciality will be optimal... MORE

On June 28, an open letter to President Barack Obama was signed by nineteen prominent experts that called for “additional measures” to visa denials and economic sanctions with the aim of “bringing about the immediate release of all political prisoners in Belarus” (www.cepa.org, June 28).... MORE

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is facing the greatest crisis of his seventeen years in office. With inflation rampant, hard currency unavailable, bank reserves dwindling, power cuts caused by non-payment of electricity costs to Russia, and growing dissatisfaction with his rule among the population, media speculation... MORE

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on July 5 opened a criminal case against a former business of current opposition leader and former Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, the United Energy Systems (UES). The SBU alleged that the UES tried to embezzle $405 million, adding that... MORE

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is “caught in a vice, which will only continue to tighten,” between democratically motivated Western pressures and Russia’s “interest in acquiring attractive Belarusian assets from a vulnerable Lukashenka,” according to David Kramer and Wess Mitchell (www.charter97.org, July 9). If so, Western sanctions... MORE

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych hinted on July 8 at an imminent vote in the Verkhovna Rada to allow the sale of assets from Naftohaz Ukrainy to foreign investors. Yanukovych did not name these, but alluded to Gazprom. Indeed, exploratory discussions have taken place exclusively... MORE

Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s trial began on June 27, a day before Ukraine celebrated constitution day, an irony that has not bypassed Ukrainians. In a new Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies survey, Ukrainians pointed to President Viktor Yanukovych as the main infringer of... MORE

China’s President, Hu Jintao, signed important political and trade documents during his June 18 – 20 visit to Ukraine, winding up his CIS tour in which he also visited Kazakhstan and Russia. While Beijing is interested mainly in military-technical cooperation, Kyiv views China as primarily... MORE