On March 11, the government privatization agency State Property Fund (SPF) signed documents selling 92.8 percent of the fixed-line operator Ukrtelecom shares to ESU, the Ukrainian daughter of the Austrian company EPIC (European Privatization and Investment Corporation). This is the biggest privatization deal since 2005,... MORE

Though largely unnoticed by the media, China continues to expand its economic and therefore political and strategic position in Central Asia. This expansion even includes territorial revisions in China’s favor. In the energy sector Turkmenistan has agreed to sell China 20 billion cubic meters (bcm)... MORE

Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s, March 16-17 Russia visit capped a four-week period of spectacular changes to Russian energy transit projects, in the Black Sea and beyond. During these critical weeks, Russia abandoned the Trans-Balkan  (Burgas-Alexandropoulos) oil pipeline project, which it had planned for... MORE

On March 15, Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by a large delegation of businessmen and cabinet members, travelled to Moscow. Though on balance it produced mixed results, the visit constitutes yet another major step in the flourishing Turkish-Russian ties, characterized as a multi-dimensional... MORE

Contract negotiations on the French Mistral-class warship sale to Russia are moving into the endgame. The scenario envisages building two ships in France for sale to Russia, and selling licenses for two more ships to be built in Russian shipyards, “modernizing” these in the process.... MORE

Interviewed by Turkish media after concluding a visit to Ankara (Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review, March 14; CNN Turk, March 16), Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Araz Azimov, has clarified his government’s view on normalizing Azerbaijan-Turkey-Armenia relations. Baku sees this as a two-track process that... MORE

Russian officials pledged to assist neighboring Japan, hit by an unprecedented series of disasters, but in recent months, Moscow has struggled to forge stronger economic ties with Japan. On March 14, President Dmitry Medvedev held telephone talks with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and offered... MORE

Moscow has been hoping that the earthquake and tsunami disaster that hit Japan on March 11, may help overcome the acute crisis in its relations with Tokyo over the South Kurile Islands. President Dmitry Medvedev promptly telephoned Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to express his... MORE

On Sunday, March 13, Jamestown met with quarrelsome, nervous, mid-level Libyan rebel commanders underneath the double green arches that mark a police checkpoint on Ajdabiya’s western approach. The commanders fell into a vigorous argument that verged on fisticuffs when asked if the road to the... MORE

The United States has taken a back seat to the European Union regarding Moldova since the final years of the Bush administration. This stance became inevitable due to US over commitments in debilitating conflicts on one hand, and the EU's own initiatives in its immediate... MORE