Russia's Lukoil has broken into Western Europe's most lucrative oil refining and retail market by taking over Dow Chemicals' 45 percent stake in Total Raffinaderij Nederland (TRN), a choice morsel. The announcement coincided with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's June 19-20 visit to the Netherlands.Seen in... MORE

The internecine squabbling between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has left investors puzzled and the U.S. dollar affected. On June 13, Kudrin said at a meeting of the G-8 Finance Ministers in Italy that the global financial system as well... MORE

The Russian government has pledged to revive its economic ties with Arab nations. However, Moscow's relations with the Arab world now hardly sound reminiscent of the Soviet-era alliance, as the Kremlin has struggled to cooperate with major Arab energy producers.The Russian first Deputy Prime Minister... MORE

On June 15-16 Russia managed to hold two major heads-of-state summit meetings in the city of Yekaterinburg. That Yekaterinburg was chosen as the site is perhaps fitting, because it marks the geographical beginning of Russian Asia. These two summits were, for the most part, about... MORE

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a revised anti-crisis program for 2009 last week, asserting that the previous plan had been accomplished and setting the first priority on the fulfillment of the state's social obligations for the population and the second - on preserving and developing... MORE

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko announced on June 10 that three banks will be bailed out. The state will take over stakes ranging from 84-98 percent in the mid-size banks Rodovid, Ukrgazbank and Kyiv. The government does not plan to keep the banks permanently. They... MORE

In his speech to the World Grain Forum in St. Petersburg on June 6, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged that the country will double its grain production by bringing back into use some 20 million hectares of farmland that "has not been ploughed since the... MORE

Belarus refused to attend the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Moscow on June 14. The summit made decisions to enlarge the size of collective rapid deployment forces, the scope of their missions, and the legal basis of their operations.President Alyaksandr Lukashenka cancelled the... MORE

Data recently released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) has raised expectations that the economy might be on its way to recovery. According to TurkStat, the capacity utilization rate within the Turkish manufacturing sector increased for the third consecutive month in May (www.tuik.gov.tr, June 10).... MORE

A mass riot induced by the developing economic crisis, served to confirm the identity of the real boss and decision maker in Russia. While Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was speaking to the World Economic Forum in St. Petersburg on June 4, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin... MORE