The leader of Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev, arrived in Georgia, on November 5, for a two-day official visit (Vestnik Kavkaza, November 5). This was Aliyev’s first trip to Tbilisi in a decade, and the talks he held there with Georgian officials were particularly tense. Cooperation... MORE

For the last several weeks, political life in Tbilisi has been largely dominated by ongoing negotiations between the governments of Russia and Georgia regarding Russian natural gas giant Gazprom’s large-scale return to the Georgian market. The news of these negotiations first broke on September 26,... MORE

On September 30, the Russian firm RAO UES International and Tashir Group—a Moscow-based group of companies controlled by a Russian billionaire of Armenian origin, Samvel Karapetyan—announced the signing of an agreement pertaining to the sale of Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), which is owned by... MORE

Only three years ago, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China’s third-largest national oil company (NOC), launched the largest-ever Chinese overseas takeover bid, offering $15.1 billion to buy Nexen Inc., Canada’s ninth-largest oil company. Together with China National Petroleum Corporation and Sinopec Group, China’s two... MORE

The Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan is considering abandoning the socio-economic system, in place since independence over 20 years ago, that the government has used to placate the population. At a meeting of the Council of Elders, on September 10, several members of this government... MORE

On September 25, Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission (EC), which has been acting as a mediator in the energy talks between Moscow and Kyiv, agreed on new terms for Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine from October 2015 until March 2016. EC Vice President Maros... MORE

On August 25, an explosion occurred on a Turkish natural gas pipeline that connects to the South Caucasus Pipeline, which transports gas from Azerbaijan, through Georgia, and into Turkey (Anadolu Agency, August 25). According to the Turkish press, the militant organization the Kurdistan Worker’s Party... 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

At Russia’s initiative, the Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline project has advanced from agreements of intent to a binding agreement; and Gazprom has formed the project consortium with several major European energy companies. Planned to connect Russia with Germany through the Baltic Sea by... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. According to the European Union’s Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, Ukraine is a “reliable transit country,” while Nord Stream Two does not help diversify supply sources, hence “it is not a... MORE