Latest Articles about Europe
MOSCOW PREPARES UNFRIENDLY TAKEOVER OF LITHUANIA’S OIL COMPLEX
The Russian government is moving to seize control of Lithuania's largest economic asset, the Mazeikiai oil complex, from the majority-owner Yukos and the Lithuanian state. Moscow seeks to preempt acquisition by international oil companies that have recently shown interest in Mazeikiai. It also seeks to... MORE
CRIMINAL CHARGES REACH SENIOR LEADERS OF UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION
Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko has publicly announced that he is seeking to strip 16 parliamentary deputies of their immunity from prosecution (Interfax-Ukraine, June 28). All 16 figure in criminal cases that are not connected to the 2004 presidential election. However, Lutsenko added that parties... MORE
UKRAINIAN ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE FAILS TO CONVINCE INVESTORS
As President Viktor Yushchenko promised, Ukraine held a mini-version of the annual Davos World Economic Forum. As The Economist (June 16) wrote, "The government hoped to give investors more clarity" at the roundtable in Kyiv, "but the impression of incompetence will linger." After three days... MORE
GONGADZE’S KILLER REPORTEDLY FOUND IN ISRAEL
The investigation into the murder of crusading journalist Heorhiy Gongadze apparently suffered a severe setback last week. Secret information about the whereabouts of General Oleksiy Pukach, whom the Prosecutor-General's Office holds responsible for killing Gongadze in 2000, was leaked to the press. It has transpired... MORE
UKRAINIAN AUTHORITIES FILE CRIMINAL CHARGES OF SEPARATISM
On June 22-23 the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office finally introduced the first criminal charges of separatism against two eastern Ukrainian leaders: Viktor Tykhonov, head of the Luhansk oblast council, and Yevhen Kushnariov, the former governor of Kharkiv oblast. Both men opposed Viktor Yushchenko in the 2004... MORE
MOSCOW REFUSES TO RATIFY BORDER TREATY WITH ESTONIA
On June 20, a special session of the Estonian parliament ratified the Russia-Estonia treaty that defines the border between the two countries. Ministers of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and Urmas Paet had signed the treaty on May 18 in Moscow after nearly a decade of... MORE
PEOPLE’S UNION-OUR UKRAINE MAKES SURPRISING CHOICE TO LEAD KYIV BRANCH
On June 18, President Viktor Yushchenko's new "party of power," People's Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU), finally held its inaugural congress. Speculation had been rife that Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko would become head of the Kyiv branch of NS-NU, but that did not happen. The Kyiv branch... MORE
THIS YEAR, UKRAINE’S GAS WOES BEGIN EARLY
Ukraine's ability to pay for natural gas is already severely stressed on both the Russian and the Turkmen fronts. Ukraine's own, growing budget deficit has contributed to that stress. On June 20, Turkmenistan publicized the scolding administered that same day by President Saparmurat Niyazov to... MORE
MOLDOVA ELEGANTLY DISPOSES OF THE POROSHENKO-YUSCHENKO PLAN
With President Viktor Yushchenko's name pro forma on its cover, the flawed Ukrainian conflict-settlement plan for Moldova/Transnistria seems to have met an early demise in Moldova's parliament. In a respectful tenor toward the Ukrainian president, with whom official Chisinau seeks the best possible relations, the... MORE
UKRAINE BENDS MARKET ECONOMICS FOR ENERGY SUPPLY DIVERSIFICATION
Ukrainian officials continue what look like almost frantic attempts to diversify oil and gas supply sources in order to reduce dependence on Russian supplies (see EDM, May 18, 19, 23, June 11). Driven mainly by reasons of state, these efforts seem to overlook market economic... MORE