Latest Articles about The Caucasus
KOCHARIAN-PUTIN TALKS FOLLOWED BY RUSSIAN ACQUISITION OF ARMENIAN TELECOM LEADER
A leading Russian mobile phone operator is poised to buy Armenia’s national telecommunications company, ArmenTel, further boosting Moscow’s economic presence in the loyal South Caucasus state. The Armenian government will almost certainly give its mandatory consent to the nearly $490 million takeover, having just ceded... MORE
GAZPROM’S “PURE COMMERCE” IN GEORGIA
Gazprom’s deputy chairman and head of Gazexport, Alexander Medvedev, confirmed on November 7 the price hike to $230 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas to Georgia in 2007, up from $110 in 2006. Gazprom will stop deliveries to Georgia on January 1, 2007, unless the... MORE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE STRATEGIC KARS-AKHALKALAKI RAILWAY TO START IN 2007
For almost a year, officials from Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey have been engaged in intense discussions about ways to finance the construction of the strategic Kars-Akhalkalaki railway system. This rail link will bridge the gap between the Georgian and Turkish rail networks, permitting an uninterrupted... MORE
ARMENIA SELLING MORE INFRASTRUCTURE, INDUSTRY TO RUSSIA
In his November 6 news conference, Armenia’s de facto strongman and presidential aspirant Serge Sarkisian welcomed the just-consummated purchase of the Armentel telecommunications company by the Russian giant Vympelcom. Sarkisian is defense minister as well as secretary of the national security council (supervising the security... MORE
RUSSIA CEMENTS CONTROL OF ARMENIA’S ENERGY SYSTEM
President Robert Kocharian’s October 30-November 1 working visit to the Kremlin sealed arrangements to deepen Russian control of Armenia’s gas and electricity supply systems. Under these arrangements, Gazprom is de facto taking over the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, even as Tehran and Yerevan are about to... MORE
TBILISI BRACES FOR FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN SANCTIONS
On October 23 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Russia “is not planning” to restore air, land, sea, postal, and banking communications with Georgia, which were cut October 3 in connection with a spy scandal (RIA-Novosti, October 23; EDM October 2, 4). Russia also... MORE
FINALLY, PROGRESS ON KARABAKH PEACE TALKS?
Recent statements by Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian at the Armenian National Assembly have raised hopes in Azerbaijan that a peaceful resolution to the Karabakh conflict is near. Specifically, Oskanian said, “We will discuss the return of all territories after the agreement on the status... MORE
ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SIGNALS PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS
Vartan Oskanian, a former U.S. citizen who has served as Armenia’s foreign minister since 1998, is increasingly signaling his intention to contest the presidential election of 2008. There is mounting speculation in Yerevan that it is he, rather than the powerful Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian,... MORE
RUSSIAN GENERALS LOSING HOPE FOR MILITARY VICTORY IN CHECHNYA
On October 12, Russian Colonel-General Yevgeny Baryaev told a meeting of law-enforcement agency representatives in Grozny, the Chechen capital, “At the beginning of October the situation deteriorated in Chechnya, especially in the mountainous Vedeno district.” As an example, Baryaev mentioned that one week earlier a... MORE
PUTIN’S LOGIC ON GEORGIA AND THE FROZEN CONFLICTS
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks during the European Union-Russia informal summit in Lahti, Finland, on October 20 underscored some major theses -- often confusing to the West -- behind Russia’s policy toward Georgia and the frozen conflicts. The summit was held against the backdrop of... MORE