On August 4, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev decreed the establishment of a state commission on import substitution. This new entity within Russia’s executive branch aims to alleviate the country’s dependence on the import of goods and services from abroad and to spearhead growth in... MORE

Russia President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with the governors of two North Caucasian republics, Chechnya and Ingushetia, went almost unnoticed among North Caucasus analysts. Most experts reiterated the official explanation for the meeting given by the presidential press service. “The officials discussed various economic development projects... MORE

The Tbilisi municipal court has sentenced the former mayor of the city and one of the leaders of the opposition party United National Movement (UNM), Gigi Ugulava, to four and a half years in prison for the misspending of public funds (Civil Georgia, September 18).... MORE

On September 16, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree introducing sanctions against 105 firms and 388 individuals, mainly from Russia, for supporting the annexation of Crimea and the war in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas (President.gov.ua, September 16). The decree came into effect... MORE

On September 4, a group of armed men linked to former Deputy Defense Minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda attacked police checkpoints in Dushanbe and Vahdat. Nazarzoda and his followers fled to the Romit gorge, some thirty miles to the northeast of the capital city. Following a counter-insurgency... MORE

On September 19, following his one-on-one meeting in Sochi with Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin issued an order to launch negotiations with Belarus about the creation of a new Russian airbase near Bobruisk (Tut.by, September 19). Vigorous discussion in Belarus, this past... MORE

On September 4, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin and the Russian presidential envoy to the North Caucasian Federal District, Sergei Melikov, visited the city of Kizlyar in northern Dagestan. Among the promises Khloponin made in Kizlyar was to set up a militarized Cossack school... MORE

On September 17, Armenia’s Energy Minister Yervand Zakharyan told journalists in Yerevan that the government’s final decision about RAO UES International’s intention to sell 100 percent of the shares of Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) should be expected within one week (Armenpress.am, September 17). By... MORE

On September 14, President Vladimir Putin arrived in Ingushetia on an unannounced visit and convened a government meeting in the capital, Magas (Kremlin.ru, September 14). Three days later, on September 17, the Russian president held another meeting in a highly unusual format—with the governor of... MORE

On September 10, four presidential candidates were registered by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Belarus. Aside from the incumbent, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, these are: Tatyana Korotkevich, from the Speak the Truth campaign; Sergei Gaidukevich, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party; and Nikolay Ulakhovich, a... MORE