Latest Articles about Economics

Ankara Approves Nabucco Following High Level Visit to Moscow
Ankara has reportedly finally given the green light to the Nabucco project, and the intergovernmental agreement might be signed on July 13. When the news broke on the Russian deal with Azerbaijan (EDM, July 2), the Turkish media initially suggested it represented a lethal blow... MORE

Is Bakiyev a Reliable Partner?
During his four-year reign the Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has behaved unpredictably both in domestic and international policy. Domestically, the president alienated most of his former supporters by gradually stripping them of power. Internationally, Bakiyev has maneuvered around the issue of the Manas airbase, where... MORE

Azerbaijan-Russia Gas Agreement: a Wakeup Call to Brussels and Washington
Meeting in Baku on June 29, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev witnessed the signing of an agreement on Azerbaijani gas deliveries to Russia. The initial volumes are small, but the agreement as such is a powerful reminder that the Western-backed... MORE

China to Increase Gas Imports From “Economically Complementary” Turkmenistan
Chinese demand is voracious for Turkmen gas. Russia's import stoppage (see above article) can only strengthen Turkmenistan's motivation to start exports to China on schedule in early 2010. With Russia demonstrating its unreliability as a gas importer (let alone supplier to others), Beijing is using... MORE

Gazprom Stays the Course Under Putin’s “Manual Management”
Russian energy super-giant Gazprom has taken severe blows in the still-deepening recession, and the worst setbacks have happened in its most profitable market - the European Union. Various assessments show that the volume of its export to Europe shrunk by 35-40 percent in the first... MORE

Lukoil Acquires Major Stake in Netherlands Refinery and Marketing
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

Medvedev Clings to Advancing the Ruble as Reserve Currency
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

Russia Seeks Stronger Ties with the Arab World
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

The Ural Summits: BRIC and SCO
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

Tremors Shake the Three Pillars of Putin’s Regime
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